Visas & immigration
Green Visa for freelancers and the self-employed
A MOHRE freelance permit, a degree, and AED 360,000 of self-employed income over the two preceding years earns a five-year residence with no employer and no company. The income test is the part people miss.
What it is
Who this is actually for.
This is the self-employment limb of the Green Visa and it has three conditions that must all hold. You need a freelance or self-employment permit issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation. You need a bachelor's degree, a specialised diploma or equivalent. And you need to show annual income from self-employment of not less than AED 360,000 in each of the two preceding years, or otherwise prove financial solvency for the period of your stay. Satisfy all three and you hold a five-year residence that no employer and no free zone controls.
The income condition is where most applications fail, and it fails for a reason that is administrative rather than financial. AED 360,000 a year is AED 30,000 a month, which a great many established freelancers clear comfortably — but they clear it through a mixture of overseas bank transfers, payments to a personal account, and invoicing through a free zone company they also own. Proving it to an immigration authority requires a coherent, documented trail attached to the permitted freelance activity, over two full prior years. That trail either exists because somebody set it up deliberately, or it does not exist at all. It cannot be reconstructed retrospectively.
The conditions, precisely
- Income
- AED 360,000 per year for the two preceding years
- Alternative
- Proof of financial solvency for the period of stay
- Permit
- MOHRE freelance or self-employment permit
- Education
- Bachelor's degree, specialised diploma or equivalent
- Duration
- 5 years, renewable
- Sponsor
- None — family may be sponsored under your file
How long it takes
The sequence
How it runs, in order.
- Get the freelance permit firstMOHRE's freelance or self-employment permit is a condition, not an alternative. Free zone freelance packages are a different instrument and do not automatically satisfy it.
- Build the income trail deliberatelyInvoices issued under the permitted activity, paid into an account in your name, reconcilable to a stated annual figure. Start this two years before you intend to apply.
- Attest the qualificationDegree or specialised diploma, attested in the issuing country.
- Assemble the two-year evidence packBank statements, invoices and any tax filings, presented as a coherent record rather than a folder of screenshots.
- Apply, then medical and Emirates IDFive years, self-sponsored, and the permit continues to license the work.
Related
Questions
Not automatically. The condition names a MOHRE freelance or self-employment permit. Free zone freelance packages are a separate instrument and should be checked against the current requirement before you rely on one.
There is an alternative limb resting on proof of financial solvency for the period of stay. It is assessed less predictably, so most applicants aim at the income test.
It complicates the trail, because the income then belongs to the company rather than to you as a self-employed person. If the Green Visa is the goal, structure the invoicing around the permit.
It is cheaper and self-sponsored but harder to evidence. A free zone company gives you a licence, a visa and a bankable entity; the Green Visa gives you five years of independence. Many people end up with both.
One question
Who is going to sponsor this residence?
Then most of this is out of your hands and that is usually fine — the employer holds the quota, files the permit and carries the cost. What is worth checking before you sign is the job title going on the permit, because it decides your skill classification, and that in turn decides whether you can sponsor a family later.
How the employment route runsOr just ask usThen the visa and the company are one decision. Quota comes from the licence and the premises, so a package chosen on price can quietly cap you at one or two visas — which is discovered at the point you want to bring your spouse or your first hire.
Compare the 40 authoritiesOr just ask usThen you are looking at the Golden Visa, the Green Visa, or the remote work permit, and they are not interchangeable. The Green Visa needs a freelance permit and an income history; the Golden Visa needs an asset, an endorsement or a nomination; the remote work permit needs a foreign employer and lasts a year.
The three self-sponsored routesOr just ask us