The UAE expanded the scope of its wildly successful Golden Visa program to promote long-term value creation in the economy rather than just luring in foreign cash and investments.

According to Gaurav Keswani, founder and managing director of JSB, an advisory firm based in Dubai that specializes in company formation and visa services, investors, entrepreneurs, and tech founders are now being considered not only on the size of their investments but also on the overall impact they can bring to the local ecosystem.

The government’s primary objective after COVID-19 was to draw in foreign investment. For this reason, many Golden Visa holders in the first wave in 2022–2023 were real estate investors, Keswani told Khaleej Times in an interview.

But starting in 2023–2024, we entered the program’s second phase. The government authorized several agencies, such as the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Sports, and the Abu Dhabi Residents Office, to search the world for people who may settle in the United Arab Emirates and contribute significantly to the country’s economy.

Keswani emphasized that the program is now about more than just raising funds. The focus is on possibilities for long-term growth. Candidates are coming from fields including private wealth management, cloud computing, IoT, and artificial intelligence. The government’s strategy has changed; it now focuses on people who can benefit the larger community and have specialized capabilities.

The UAE launched its long-term residency scheme in 2019 to attract international investment. The most recent statistics show that in 2023, 158,000 Golden Visas were granted in Dubai alone.

About 40% of these were investors, with the remaining 60% being distributed among different groups. Professionals from the banking and non-banking industries, including those working in AI and climate change, made up about 22% of the total, according to Keswani. “The government has made significant investments in a number of industries and is now actively looking for talent that is compatible with those industries.”

He added that the program’s initial phase was capital-centric. In recent years, eight of the top 20 hedge funds in the world have established operations in the UAE, generating over $48 billion in revenue. To maximize and expand that investment, however, such a financial boost requires the right people, including CEOs, CTOs, and other important leaders. Because of this, the government is now concentrating on a more strategic, talent-driven approach rather than just capital.

More categories

Currently, a wide variety of people, including exceptional students, scientists, graduates from prestigious international colleges, programmers, and highly skilled professionals, are eligible for a 10-year residency under the Golden Visa.

More categories are expected to be added soon, according to Keswani, whose company has handled visas for more than 250 people in the last six months.

“Yes, absolutely—particularly in fields like cloud computing, IoT, AI, and climate tech,” he said. We’ve noticed a notable increase in the number of private bankers, AI consultants, and cloud specialists being selected in just the last five months. The program is changing in accordance with these experts, who frequently lead major initiatives or are major investors themselves.

Greater flexibility for professionals

Keswani also highlighted how flexible the UAE’s Golden Visa program is.

“People can change employers or even quit their jobs to pursue entrepreneurship while still staying in the UAE thanks to the long-term residency,” he said. The government has done a great job of focusing on the talent pool in Asia-Pacific. Senior professionals with high incomes, such as CEOs and CTOs, can also invest in real estate here, settle down, and handle their assets on their own.

“Residency and investment are treated as two separate legal entities,” he highlighted as a significant benefit of the program. Therefore, a person’s residency status is unaffected if they wish to sell an investment and switch to a different asset type. Because of the flexibility and control this framework provides skilled professionals, the program has become incredibly popular with talent from around the world.