INTRODUCTION
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), and in particular Dubai, has become a stronghold for international business and investment. With the aim of attracting entrepreneurial talent and reinforcing its status as an international business and investment center, the UAE government developed the Golden Visa program, which allows certain categories of individuals to hold long-term residency in the UAE, including entrepreneurs and investors. The 10-year Golden Visa—one of several long-term visa options gives significant advantages to business owners, as they can reside, manage, and grow their business in the UAE with security and confidence.
While the process is intended to be business-friendly, the complexities of the legal and regulatory framework require experienced and knowledgeable qualified legal practitioners in Dubai to lead you through the process. This note intends to provide you with the process for receiving a 10-year visa and the role played by qualified legal practitioners in the UAE in helping you to be successful.
OVERVIEW OF THE UAE GOLDEN VISA
The UAE Golden Visa is the result of the Cabinet Resolution No. 56 of 2018 and updates to the policy in 2020 and 2022. The visa provides a ten-year renewable residency without local sponsorship. The Golden Visa permits foreign nationals to:
- Own and run businesses independently.
- Sponsor their families and personnel.
- Build a life and work in the UAE long-term.
- Improve access to opportunities and facilities locally.
Especially for business owners wishing to establish security and stability in the region, this has been a popular visa.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR BUSINESS OWNERS
In order to be eligible for the 10-year Golden Visa as a business owner or investor, the applicant must meet very specific legal and financial requirements:
- inimum Investment
Must have a public investment of at least AED 2 million, which can consist of:
- Starting a company in the UAE with a capital of not less than AED 2 million
- Holding shares worth AED 2 million in one or more UAE based entities; or
- Investing AED 2 million in a government-approved fund or venture capital scheme
- Economic activity
The company must be continuing to operate and must be financially sound, which means it must provide:
- Audited financial reports;
- Reports on commercial activity;
- An active trade license; and
- An active rental contract or equivalent showing office space.
- Evidence of ownership
Applicant must show clear evidence of ownership, or more than 25% ownership, of the UAE registered business.
- Legal Issues/Security
No previous criminal offenses or legal disputes outstanding;
Necessary clearances to comply with UAE immigration and labor business consultants
- Health and Insurance
- Medical fitness certificate; and
- Health insurance policy that is compliant in the UAE.
ESSENTIAL DOCUMENTS NEEDED
When applying for a visa, you are going to need to submit various documents. These documents need to be correct, verified, and in many cases, legally attested. The list includes:
- A valid passport (with at least six months’ validity remaining)
- An Emirates ID (if you are a past or current resident of the UAE)
- A Trade License and Memorandum of Association (MoA)
- Personal and company bank statements for the last 6 – 12 months
- An audited financials document for the business
- The title deed or tenancy contract for the business premises
- Recent passport-size photos (white background)
- A police clearance certificate
- Health insurance documents
STEP-BY-STEP APPLICATION PROCESS:
- Preliminary Evaluation
Legal consultants will examine the client’s financial status, business structure and eligibility under the Golden Visa Program.
- Document Preparation
Experts will review and ensure that all necessary documents are with the proper formatting, translated (if necessary), and notarized.
- Application Submission and Nomination
The application will be submitted to Dubai Economy & Tourism Department (DET), a free zone authority (such as the DMCC or DIFC), or directly to the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security (ICP). Upon confirming eligibility to obtain a Golden Visa, the investor will be nominated for a Golden Visa.
- Background and Medical Checks
Once the application is approved, the applicant will then undergo the required medical testing and background checks through accredited government offices.
- Visa Issuance
If the visa is issued to someone outside of the UAE, they will be given an entry permit (valid for 90 days). If the investor is already in the country, they will receive a stamp in their passport. The investor will be approved for residency for 10 years.
WHY EXPERT LEGAL ASSISTANCE IS IMPORTANT
Even though the Golden Visa process is more investor-friendly, they are still guided by very strict scrutiny of the legal, financial, and regulatory aspects of the application for the visa. Enlisting the help of an experienced legal counsel has the following strategic benefits:
- Regulatory Navigation
With multiple business zones throughout the UAE, i.e. mainland, free zone, and offshore, each with its own governing rules, a business consultantyer will provide a plan detailing the visa and business investment that suit your particular needs.
- Structuring and Due Diligence
Legal experts provide help with corporate structuring, investigate tax issues, and if it’s necessary, confirm your investment is legitimate through due diligence processes.
- Accuracy and Compliance
Mistakes in the application, or documents in support of the application, may cause delays, or even loss of your approval. Legal service firms will handle application filings, track the application, and ensure that you, and all documentation remain in full compliance with USA authorities.
- Rejections
If your visa application is denied, legal experts are able to review the circumstances causing the reject, file an appeal, or help you re-apply with stronger documents.
- Family Sponsorship
Experts will help you expand the visa benefits you receive to family and household staff, charting it all under one application.
- Ongoing Advising
Once your visa has been issued, your attorney will help you remain compliant, assist with planning for visa renewals, safe and sound ways to optimize your tax status, and to structure future investments.
WHY BUSINESS OWNERS CHOOSE DUBAI
Dubai offers business-minded people an incredible mix of incentives and stability:
No income tax, which is appealing along with a corporate tax structure.
100% foreign ownership of company in many free zones.
A global banking network, global talent and access to a global logistics network.
World class infrastructure and standards of living.
A digital smart services alternative to government services.
A place that sits in the middle of both East and West.
CONCLUSION
The UAE’s Golden Visa secures access to long-term stability, opportunity, and integration into a global economy. For business owners, Golden Visa residency goes beyond residency; it guarantees a future of business opportunities in one of the world’s most exciting economies. Importantly, the application process and the residency requirements require careful legal, financial, and procedural alignments. By leveraging legal expertise in Dubai, business owners can navigate compliance with legal, financial, and procedural implications easily, avoid the pitfalls, and secure their 10-year Golden Visa with comfort and certainty. Legal advisors act as trusted partners throughout the permanent residency process, and they assist business owners know how to move forward next from documentation and approvals to renewal and structure the business.
1. Overview of UAE Employment Business Consultant
UAE employment business consultant aims at finding a balance between thecause of protection of the rights of employees with a business-friendly stance
for the employer. UAE Labour Business Consultant applies to all private sector workers, the various matters included under which are:
- Employment contracts, which guarantee the formalization and employment legal forces of employment terms.
- Working hours, where regulation takes place to establish fair treatment for the employees.
- Leaves and holidays, which guarantees entitlements of annual, sick, maternity, and more other types of leaves.
- Occupational health and safety, which imposes duties on employers to provide a safe working environment.
The key legislative and authoritative documents which LEGALLANDS help its clients navigate through in this regard include the following:
- Federal Decree-Business Consultant No. 33 of 2021: Governing general employment terms and conditions.
- Ministerial Resolution: By the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, MOHRE in order to clarify some provisions of the business consultant.
- Court Decision: Labour courts in the UAE, interpreting and administering of these business consultants in disputes between employers and employees, set out precedents for the business consultant.
2. Contracts of Employment
Employment contracts are the cornerstone of the employer-employee relationship. According to Federal Decree-Business Consultant No. 33, any employment relation shall be documented in a written contract. In such contracts, the following main features are also to be included; job title, job description, wage, work hours, and terms of leave.
2.1 Types of Employment Contracts
The UAE Labour Business Consultant categorizes into two types of contracts:
Fixed-Term Contracts: The period of time specified under this contract can never be more than three years. However, the contracts can also renew. Termination at the end of the contract is not based on cause.
Unlimited-Term Contracts: The contracts whose end dates are unspecified are generally unlimited term. Such contracts become more frequent if the employment relationship is to last for a long time. They can only be terminated based on proper reasons like for poor performance, misconduct, and other reasons specified.
2.2 Conditions of Valid Employment Contract
In order to be effective, each employment contract shall comply with the following fundamental legal conditions:
- Offer and Acceptance: an employer is to offer the contract to the employee who accepts it.
- Consideration: there must be sufficient remuneration or consideration, either in cash or in kind that the employee is paid for the service he or she rendered as required by the contract.
- Capability: The contracting parties have to be legally capable of forming a contract. This, in the UAE, implies that the worker must be over 18 years of age.
- Legal purpose: The contract should be for business consultantful employment and the employee has to be business consultantfully allowed to work within the UAE.
2.3 Equal Pay and Non-Discrimination
In fact, the UAE Labour Business Consultant holds that discrimination on any ground of gender, race, nationality, or disability is strictly forbidden. Article 4 of Federal Decree-Business Consultant No. 33 stipulates that a man and a woman shall receive equal remuneration for work of equal value. This is highly relevant to international companies operating from the UAE as the businesses usually employed diverse workforces there.
3. Termination of Employment
Termination at work is one of the highly legalized procedures, and mainly differentiates between business consultantful and unbusiness consultantful termination. Federal Decree-Business Consultant No. 33 enumerates the causes and practice of employment termination.
3.1 Business Consultantful Termination
Employees can be dismissed under certain conditions. These include:
Performance Issues: Failure to perform at an acceptable standard for such a long period that failure to improve occurs even after being warned qualifies as business consultantful to dismiss.
Misbehaviour: The grave acts that comprises of theft, disclosing, or even the breach of the rules of the workplace may also lead to the loss of job.
End of a Fixed-Term Contract: If a fixed-term contract has run its course, then dismissal is legal without there being any other cause for dismissal.
3.2 Illegal Termination
Termination is deemed unbusiness consultantful if it is based on discrimination or as a retaliation to filed complaints, or on any other arbitrary reasons. Federal Decree-Business Consultant No. 33, Article 47 prohibits dismissal not for a justifiable cause and on an arbitrary basis. If an employee has been unjustly discharged, he is entitled to an award equivalent to up to three months’ salary.
3.3 Notice Period and Severance Pay
For the contractual notice periods, this usually ranges between 30 and 90 days, depending on the length of service in addition to the nature of the contract the employer must follow. Severance pay is given to employees that have been retrenched after spending one year in service. The pay depends on the length of time worked and the last salary drawn.
LegalLands assists the employers in managing termination procedures to avoid any sort of dispute or penalties concerning the statutory provisions.
4. Workplace Disputes and Resolution
Workplace disputes can arise from termination, wage disparities, and breach of contract. The UAE Labour Business Consultant provides various ways to resolve disputes:
Internal Grievance Procedures: The UAE Labour Business Consultant encourages employers to develop internal grievance procedures.
Mediation by MOHRE: The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation is offering mediation before any case gets put into court and reaches the courts.
Labour Courts: If mediation fails, then cases may move to Labour Courts. These courts always adapt speedy trial and provide labour cases using expedited procedures.
5. Employee Rights and Employer Obligations
5.1 Employee Rights
Employees under UAE have a lot of statutory rights by business consultant. These include:
Minimum Wage: The minimum wage in the UAE is set with a pay system to ascertain equitable payment of all employees.
Work Hours and Overtime: An employee should not have more than 48 hours’ workload per week, and overtime should be paid at a rate above the minimum prescribed by business consultant.
Leaves: Employees are granted annual, sick, and maternity leaves according to Federal Decree-Business Consultant No. 33.
Post-Termination Benefits: Upon the end of service, the employees are entitled to compensation upon the end of their services and any other arrears in wages or bonuses.
5.2 Obligations by the Employer
Under UAE labour business consultant, employers have several obligations, including the following:
Adherence to Employment Contracts: The employment contracts must be in conformity with the provisions under UAE labour business consultant.
Safety of Working Conditions: Provisions with respect to occupational health and safety business consultants must be adhered to by the employers and are bound to provide a safe workplace for workers.
Equal Treatment: As mentioned earlier, the employer has to also adhere to the principle of non-discrimination at the workplace and ensure that all employees are treated equally, not considering such aspects as gender, nationality, or race.
6. Practical Guidance for Employers and Employees
6.1 For Employers
• Review and Redraft Contract: The employers have to review and renew employment contracts periodically in accordance with the latest legal provisions.
• HR Policies: Defining explicit HR policies on recruiting, promoting, leave entitlement, and the procedure for termination prevents disputes.
• Compliance Training and Programs: Continued training at work on workplace discrimination, health and safety, among other compliance-entailing things, are also important.
6.2 For Employees
Know Your Contract: Employees need to be known all about their contract of employment for matters like salary, benefit, and notice periods.
For grievances, an employee should look for legal representation, where their rights will be protected and whichever grievance they have against their employer will be discussed, as the case may be, according to the business consultant.
7. The Role of LegalLands in Facilitating Compliance and Legal Protection
Having broadly discussed the employment business consultant framework in the UAE, it is now time to focus on what LegalLands offers: professional legal services to employers as well as employees so as to find their way out in the thorny thickets of UAE employment business consultant. Some of the services, based on the broad
arenas of business consultant covered above, that are offered by LegalLands are:
7.1 Employment Contract Drafting and Review:
Employment contracts are the main pillars of any employment relationship. LegalLands will offer to its clients a draft, review, and negotiate employment
contracts that may ensure compliance with the UAE labour business consultants. Those contracts must comprise offer, acceptance, capacity, and legality; LegalLands ensures that the rights and duties of both the employers and employees upon the contractual terms are understood. Contracts are the basic pillars of any
employment relationship in the UAE. According to Article 6 of the UAE Labour Business Consultant, all employment relationships are required to be formalized through a
contract in writing. The core contents of these contracts, as discussed previously, include:
Non-Fixed-term or Unlimited Contracts: The kind of contract must be clear-and fixed or unlimited term, as it makes a difference to the conditions of termination and severance between them.
Equal Pay and Non-Discrimination: Article 4 states that both men and women must receive the same pay for the same work, and employers should not discriminate in any way on grounds of race, sex, or nationality.
Wages and Benefits: The policy has set minimum wage standards and payment schedules to protect the employees’ rights regarding finances.
LegalLands will ensure that such crucial terms are well put in place within the employment contracts to prevent legal disputes.
7.2 Workplace Dispute Resolution: LegalLands
allows clients to resolve disputes through mediation, arbitration, or
litigation, making chances of legal risks and unnecessary costs more distant. Legal
representation and mediation services are also conducted in cases involving the
workplace. In many cases, whether it is about unpaid wages or wrongful
termination, as well as some cases of harassment, the firm will do its best to
protect the rights of employers or employees according to UAE labour business consultant.
Conflicts may emanate from wrongful dismissal, unpaid
salaries or discrimination. The UAE Labour Business Consultant has several dispute resolution
tools:
Mediation and Arbitration: MOHRE retains primary
mediation tools in conflict resolution before formal case, such as court
approaches.
Labour Courts: If mediation does not work, then labor
courts take the cases and settle the issues via expedited procedures.
LegalLands prepares its clients properly and ensures all requirements about
legislation representation in such disputes.
LegalLands also advises on preventive measure like regular
audits of employment practices to prevent workplace disputes
7.3 Provisional for Terminations: Employee termination, as already discussed, is strictly regulated in the UAE. The grounds for dismissal and the compensation liabilities are defined. LegalLands advises on the business consultantful procedures for termination to avoid disputes and ensures compliance with the legal obligation regarding the severance payment and notice as well. LegalLands helps employers with legal procedures for termination and ends up advising employees on their rights regarding that. Termination must be based on the provisions set in the Federal Decree-Business Consultant No. 33 and any amendments thereafter. Main contents are as follows:
No Business Consultantful Termination: According to article 44, the reasons for termination are possible on grounds of poor performance, contravention of conditions agreed upon in a contract, or due to misconduct.
Notice Period and Severance Pay: Notice periods are obligations employers must pay, which range from 30 days to 90 days according to the contract. Severance pays, paid in terms of years served, is another obligation followed according to Article 51.
7.4 Training and Compliance: LegalLands starts training programs with departments of Human Resources so that labour business consultant compliance is ensured and the potential of dispute is kept at bay and a very fair work place environment can be ensured. With complete legal guidance, LegalLands ensures that its clients are always in compliance with employment business consultant and eliminate all types of risks pertaining to business consultant, thus ensuring harmony in the workplace.
Concluding Remarks
It is undoubtedly crucial to know and understand UAE employment business consultant for employers and employees who intend to avoid disputes and protect their own rights in achieving legal compliance. Because the business consultants and rules are dynamically evolving, gaining specific legal advice becomes highly important. Here, LegalLands turns out to be a proper companion in ensuring legal protection at the same time knowing its knowledgeable support on contracts, terminations, and workplace disputes. LegalLands fosters fairness, compliance, and transparency, allowing businesses and their workforce to thrive under the wide legal umbrella of the UAE.
LEGALLANDS assist in services related to Entity Formation, Contract Conveyancing and Corporate Services, Warehousing Services, Foreign Trade Policies, Immigration Services, Online Gaming, Regulatory Compliances, Legal Compliances, International Dispute Resolution, Trade Regulations, and many more. We also offer services in Due Diligence, Logistics Strategy Analysis, Risk Assessment etc. Feel free to connect with us at connect@legallands.ae. For further information visit our website on www.legallands.ae
