Visas & immigration
The investor and partner visa
The visa most free zone packages actually issue. Two years, tied to the licence, and cancelled with it — which is fine until the day you want to restructure.
What it is
Who this is actually for.
When a free zone quotes a package with 'one visa included', this is usually what it means: an investor or partner residence issued against your shareholding in that company, typically for two years, administered by the zone and renewed on the zone's cycle. Mainland companies issue the equivalent through the emirate's immigration channel. It is straightforward, it is bundled, and for most people starting a company here it is the first UAE residence they hold.
Its limitation is structural rather than practical. Because the residence is attached to the licence, anything that happens to the licence happens to the visa: closing the company, moving to a different zone, transferring your shares or converting to mainland all become immigration events layered on top of the commercial decision. Founders discover this when they want to restructure and realise that their family's residence, their tenancy and their children's school enrolment are all downstream of a licence they were planning to cancel. The five-year Green Visa for investors and partners exists precisely to decouple these, and it is rarely offered because it is not the zone's product.
The conditions, precisely
- Duration
- Typically 2 years; some zones and mainland routes differ
- Basis
- Shareholding in the licensed company
- Administered by
- The free zone, or the emirate for mainland companies
- Quota
- Follows the premises — flexi-desk packages are capped low
- On closure
- Cancelled with the licence
- Alternative
- The five-year Green Visa for investors and partners
How long it takes
The sequence
How it runs, in order.
- Incorporate and get the establishment cardThe company must exist and its immigration file must be open before any visa can be issued.
- Confirm the quotaIt follows the leased area. A flexi-desk package typically supports one to three visas, which is also your hiring ceiling.
- Apply for the entry permit or change statusIn-country applicants change status without leaving; others enter on the permit.
- Complete medical and Emirates IDThen the residence is stamped and family members can be added.
- Diarise the renewal against the licenceThe two dates are related but not always identical, and a lapsed establishment card freezes visa transactions.
Related
Questions
It depends on the premises rather than the package name. A flexi-desk usually supports one to three; an office is assessed on floor area.
It is cancelled with the licence, along with any dependants sponsored under it. Plan the sequence before cancelling anything.
Working for another employer requires that employer's work permit. The shareholding and the employment are separate questions.
Administratively they are close variants — both rest on ownership. The terminology varies between authorities more than the substance does.
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