DST
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Consultation

Talk to someone about a Dubai residency

Most residency conversations spend their first twenty minutes establishing facts that were already knowable. Settle the two below before you speak to anyone — us included — and what is left is the part a conversation is actually good for.

One: which route, and what it is tied to

A sponsored residence runs 1, 2 or 3 years and belongs to the sponsor; an unsponsored one runs 5 or 10 years and does not. That single distinction decides more than any fee comparison, because the cheap route is the one that ends when the job does. The routes themselves are set out on the section overview, the property route on the Golden Visa page, and what a family costs on top on the family page.

Two: which documents already exist

A residency application is largely an exercise in producing documents that take weeks to obtain and minutes to submit. Before a first conversation, establish which of these you hold today:

An attestation that has not been started is the usual reason a straightforward application takes a season instead of a fortnight.

Nothing on these pages is immigration advice, and no one outside ICP and GDRFA decides an application. Where the published conditions conflict — and on the Golden Visa's duration through property, two official sources currently do — get the answer in writing from the authority that will process your file, before money moves.

Ask a question

Say which route you are looking at and what you already hold. A reply that names the next document is more use than one that offers a meeting, and that is easier to write when the question is specific.

Leave an email or a phone number — whichever suits you. One is enough.

For anything that is not a residency question — a partnership, the press, one of the group's other subjects — there is the general contact page. A residency site with its own feed sits at visas.dst.llc.

Do I have to be in the UAE to apply?

For the Golden Visa through property, yes. The Dubai Land Department's service requires the applicant to be inside the UAE and to attend in person; escorts and representatives are not permitted, and the service takes 7 to 10 business days.

Which route is cheapest?

A sponsored employment residence, because the employer carries the cost and the application. It is also the one that ends when the job does. The unsponsored routes cost more and are not tied to an employer — that is the whole of the trade.

What should I have ready before the first conversation?

Passport, current residence permit if you hold one, the title deed or e-Certificate of Title if the route is property, a bank no-objection letter if the property is mortgaged, and — if family is involved — attested marriage and birth certificates.

Can you guarantee an outcome?

No one can. Applications are decided by ICP and GDRFA, and the published conditions are stated by the authorities themselves to be subject to change. Anyone promising an approval is selling something other than the visa.

Residence validity by sponsorship and the medical and security checks: Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security, via the Official Platform of the UAE Government. In-person attendance, the 7 to 10 business day service time and the required documents for the property route: Dubai Land Department, Golden Visa application — Investor. Both read 15 September 2026.