Visas & immigration
Green Visa for investors and partners
Owning or holding a share in a UAE company can carry a five-year self-sponsored residence rather than the two-year investor visa most free zones issue by default.
What it is
Who this is actually for.
The third Green Visa limb covers investors and business partners. The condition is proof of investment in or contribution to a commercial venture in the UAE, together with the necessary licences and approvals from the relevant authority. In practice that means a trade licence showing you as shareholder or partner, supported by evidence of the capital committed — a share certificate, an audited valuation, or the memorandum of association depending on what the assessing authority asks for. The residence runs for five years and is not tied to an employer.
What makes this worth knowing is that it is not what most free zones will offer you. A standard free zone package issues an investor or partner visa with a two-year term, because that is the product the zone sells and it renews on the zone's own cycle. The five-year Green Visa is a federal route that runs alongside it, and applying for it is your decision rather than the zone's. The difference is not merely the term: a zone-issued investor visa is administratively attached to that licence, so restructuring, moving zone or closing the company becomes an immigration event. The Green Visa is more robust to all three.
The conditions, precisely
- Evidence
- Trade licence showing shareholding, plus proof of investment
- Approvals
- From the licensing authority for the activity
- Duration
- 5 years, renewable
- Versus zone investor visa
- Typically 2 years, tied to that licence
- Family
- Spouse and children may be sponsored
- Employment
- You may also be the company's manager
How long it takes
The sequence
How it runs, in order.
- Have the licence and shareholding in placeThe company must exist and you must appear on it as shareholder or partner. This route does not precede incorporation.
- Document the investmentShare certificate, MOA, capital contribution evidence or an audited valuation, depending on what the authority requests.
- Check the zone's positionSome free zones prefer to issue their own investor visa and will process that by default. The federal route is separate and available to you.
- Apply through ICP or the emirate's GDRFAWith the licence, the shareholding evidence and your passport.
- Complete medical and Emirates IDThen add family members under your own file.
Related
Questions
No. The free zone issues its own investor or partner visa, usually for two years and tied to that licence. The Green Visa is a five-year federal residence you hold independently.
There is no single published threshold as there is for the Golden Visa. The test is proof of investment or contribution, assessed with the licence.
Yes. The residence is separate from the operational role, and most single-shareholder companies have the same person doing both.
That is the situation the route is most useful in. A zone-issued investor visa is cancelled with the licence; a Green Visa is not automatically, though the qualifying basis would need to be re-established at renewal.
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