Now “Green Visa” Holders Can Work in UAE Without Company Sponsorship
Those holding the new “green visa” will be able to work without company sponsorship
Foreigners in United Arab Emirates are generally only given limited visas tied to their employment, and long-term residency is difficult to obtain.
The UAE, a oil rich country has announced a new visa allowing foreigners to work in the country without being sponsored by an employer. This is going to also loosen the residency requirements and is surely an attempt to boost economic growth.
From now onwards those holding the new “green visa” will be able to work without company sponsorship, and can sponsor their parents and children up to 25 years old, officials said.
“It targets highly skilled individuals, investors, businesspeople, entrepreneurs, as well exceptional students and postgraduates,” said Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani al-Zeyoudi.
Oil -rich Gulf countries such as the UAE are increasingly seeking to diversify their economies and reduce reliance on oil. They already know that fossil energy is on its last leg.
Tourism their mainstay was severely impacted by coronavirus pandemic. It has also impacted businesses in the UAE, whose economy was already slumping in recent years due to low oil prices. In 2019, the UAE launched the 10-year “Golden visa” to attract wealthy individuals and highly skilled workers, the first such scheme in the Gulf.
Similar programmes have since been launched in other resource deprived Gulf countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, whose main
Riyadh said in June 2019 that it will offer permanent residency for 800,000 riyals ($213,000) and a one-year renewable residency costing 100,000 riyals, allowing expats to do business and buy property without a Saudi sponsor.
Doha also flung open its property market to foreigners, with a scheme giving those buying homes or stores the right to longer-term or permanent residency permits.
Foreigners account for 90 percent of the 10 million population in the UAE, the Arab world’s second-largest economy after neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
