The UAE has continued expanding eligibility for its golden visa program to include nurses, teachers and other skilled professionals, part of an effort to keep attracting and retaining the foreign talent that makes up roughly 90% of the country’s population even after missile and drone strikes tied to the Iran war temporarily shook residents’ confidence earlier this year.
Since launching in 2019 as a 10-year residency track for real estate investors putting at least $545,000 into UAE property, the golden visa program has broadened considerably through expansions in 2020 and 2022, now extending to doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers, researchers, tech workers and even e-sports professionals. Dubai alone has issued golden visas to more than 1,400 nurses and midwives and over 223 educators from private schools and universities.
The push comes after a difficult stretch for the emirate: Dubai lost roughly 61,000 residents, a 1.3% population drop, in March following Iranian missile and drone strikes that hit targets including hotels and the city’s airport. The UAE assisted around 500 golden visa holders in returning after the conflict disrupted their residency.
Despite the shock, one expert cited in reporting on the trend described the slowdown in residency demand as “a moderation in demand rather than a fundamental shift” in the UAE’s broader appeal to expatriates and investors.
A London School of Economics professor characterized the evolution of the program as transforming the golden visa into what amounts to "an umbrella program for both capital and talent, blending labor and industrial policies," reflecting how far the initiative has moved beyond its original investor-only design.
The expansion also ties into the UAE's broader economic diversification goals, including a push into the gaming industry aimed at creating 30,000 jobs and adding $1 billion to GDP, underscoring how the golden visa has become a tool for building out entire sectors rather than simply attracting wealthy individual investors.
The original reporting on this story was first published by Fortune.
