Green visa UAE requirements for freelancers and investors

A sponsor is the employer or company that stands behind your residence visa. The UAE green visa, officially called the Green Residence, works without one and lasts five years. There are three categories, and the one you fall into depends on how you earn your living or how you hold your stake in a business.

Of the three, the freelancer category has the clearest rules. The investor category has the least published detail, and the skilled worker category only works through an employer.

What the Green Residence is

The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) is the federal body that issues residence permits. Its Green Residency guide of 12 September 2026 says the Green Residence is granted for five years and can be renewed. You don't need a sponsor or an employer. The three categories are skilled workers, freelancers and self-employed people, and investors and business partners.

ICP issues the permit. In Dubai, though, you apply for the investor and partner permit through the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA), the emirate's residency office. GDRFA Dubai lists it as a green residence permit of up to five years with no guarantor or employer (October 2026).

Holders can sponsor family members, including a spouse and children, as long as they meet the approved requirements (ICP Green Residency guide, 12 September 2026). Keep in mind that the Green Residence lets you live in the UAE. It isn't a trade licence, the document that lets a company do business. A freelancer still needs a permit to work, and an investor still needs a licensed company.

Green visa requirements for freelancers and the income test

ICP sets four conditions for freelancers (September 2026):

• a freelance or self-employment permit from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE), the federal labour ministry;
• at least a bachelor's degree, a specialised diploma or an equivalent qualification;
• proof of a stable yearly income, or of financial solvency, for the whole time you hold the residence;
• income from freelance work of at least AED 360,000 a year over the previous two years, or the same amount in another currency.

The dirham is pegged to the US dollar at 3.6725, which puts that income at about USD 98,000 a year.

Two things affect your planning. First, don't copy the MOHRE permit fee from a guide. Look it up in the MOHRE app on the day you apply. Second, the income test looks back two years. In your first year as a freelancer you won't have that record yet. Ask ICP whether income from before the permit counts, and what kind of proof it wants.

Free zones sell freelance permits as well. DMCC lists its FreelanceUAE package at AED 4,020 for a one-year licence without a visa, and says its visa packages are on hold. RAKEZ lists a freelance permit from AED 6,100 that makes you eligible for a residence visa, but it comes without a corporate bank account or extra visas (October 2026). ICP and GDRFA ask for a MOHRE permit for the Green Residence. Neither says whether a free zone permit is accepted, and you should check with them before you count on one.

The guide to freelance visas and permits compares the options, and the freelance visa cost guide breaks down the fees. Ajman Free Zone also offers a freelancer company, which you can read about in our profile of Ajman Free Zone.

Your proof of income has to hang together. If invoices, contracts and bank statements don't match, the total you can prove may fall short of AED 360,000, and you'll have to put the application together again. Before applying, match two years of invoices to the payments in your bank account. Name each client, and prepare one document that adds up your income year by year. None of this needs outside help.

Green visa for investors and partners

Investors and business partners need proof of their investment or business contribution, plus the relevant licences. On the amount, the official pages don't agree. ICP's Green Residency guide (12 September 2026) gives no capital figure. An ICP residence permit service page, with content dated 11 December 2024, lists a minimum contribution of AED 1,000,000 in cash or the same value in a foreign currency. GDRFA Dubai's green visa issuance page for investors and partners asks for a paid share of at least AED 1,000,000, but its residence permit page names no figure. Before you fix your company's share capital, the money the owners commit to the company, ask ICP which figure applies. If you're applying in Dubai, ask GDRFA Dubai.

Some free zones have capital thresholds of their own, but these are for the zone's company visas and not for the Green Residence. DMCC's visa guidelines keep its investor visa for a sole shareholder and give its partner visa to shareholders with at least AED 50,000 of share value. Meydan's FAQ puts the share capital for a partner visa at AED 50,000 (zone pages, as of October 2026).

This category comes down to documents. Expect to show the trade licence, the partnership or investment agreement and proof of the contribution. If part of your contribution is in kind, meaning goods or assets instead of cash, find out what proof of value the authority accepts. A PRO, the person who handles government paperwork for a company, can check your documents against the authority's list before you submit them.

Skilled worker category

This category rests on an employment contract. ICP asks for a valid UAE employment contract and a MOHRE skill level of 1 to 3. You also need at least a bachelor's degree and a monthly salary of at least AED 15,000 (September 2026). The employer's paperwork forms part of your application. That makes this category a better fit for people already hired in the UAE than for founders working on their own.

Do you own a company and pay yourself a salary from it? Then check with ICP whether that contract counts. The official pages are written with a separate employer and employee in mind.

Fees and renewal

GDRFA Dubai lists a fee of AED 200 for the investor and partner permit. On top of that come two charges of AED 10 and AED 10 for knowledge and innovation, AED 500 if you apply from inside the country, and AED 20 for delivery. Each year of validity beyond two adds AED 100, and processing is expected to take 48 hours (GDRFA Dubai, October 2026).

ICP's residence permit service page lists AED 100 for the application and AED 100 for smart services. It then adds AED 100 for each year the Green Residence is valid (as of October 2026). The page has a separate fee block for each category, so read the one that matches yours on the live page. The Emirates ID, the national identity card, is priced by the years of residence, and ICP lists five days for it.

Renewal is described as an option. GDRFA Dubai says the investor and partner permit is renewed on the same terms. In practice that means an investor has to keep meeting the conditions. If the company shrinks or the contribution is withdrawn, that can affect the next five years. Freelancers should ask ICP what a renewal application needs before their first five years are up.

Green versus Golden Residence, and the Golden term

The Golden Residence is a separate permit with its own rules. ICP's Golden Residency guide (10 September 2026) gives it a term of 10 years in every category it lists, entrepreneurs and real estate investors included. GDRFA Dubai's October 2026 page also shows 10 years for entrepreneurs. The u.ae government portal, in a summary dated 28 July 2026, still shows 5 years for entrepreneurs and real estate investors. That summary is older material. Check the details on the ICP or GDRFA application page before you apply.

The thresholds are different too. ICP's investor options are built around AED 2 million. That can be a deposit with an investment fund or a national bank, company capital, or a partner's share. For these public investment options, the money can't come from a loan. A company that pays at least AED 250,000 a year in federal taxes also qualifies, and so does property worth at least AED 2 million in total.

Entrepreneurs have three ways in, according to ICP's guide. You can run a registered SME (small or medium-sized enterprise) with annual revenue of at least AED 1 million. You can have an idea approved by an accredited incubator, an organization that supports start-ups, or by a competent authority. Or you can be the founder of ventures that sold for at least AED 7 million. An older ICP service page, with content dated 11 December 2024, mentions a project value of AED 500,000 confirmed by an auditor. The 2026 guide no longer uses that figure.

So the Green Residence runs for five years. The Golden one needs one of the AED 2 million options or an approved business, and ICP's 2026 guide gives it 10 years. Confirm the Golden threshold with ICP or GDRFA before you weigh one against the other.

Which category fits a company owner

Start from how you hold your stake or earn your income. With a licence, a partnership agreement and proof of what you put in, you fit the investor and partner category. A sole practitioner with a MOHRE permit, a degree and two years of income at AED 360,000 fits the freelancer category. An owner paid a salary of AED 15,000 or more under a contract may fit the skilled worker category, though ICP should confirm that.

It helps to compare each one with a company-sponsored visa. That visa depends on the establishment card, the immigration record that lets your company sponsor visas, and on the zone's quota, the number of residence visas your company may apply for. It stays tied to the company, as the guide to the free zone visa explains. The Green Residence needs no sponsor or employer. The real difference between the two is what your right to live here depends on.

Content creators have one more step. The media regulator's Advertiser Permit is a separate requirement, and the influencer licence guide explains how it works.

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