The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government pointed out in a statement, that it will grant citizenship to foreign nationals as the nation known for its hubs of Dubai and Abu Dhabi recovers from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The major policy shift is aimed at attracting talent in a way that will boost growth in the UAE, home to the Middle East’s finance and travel hubs Dubai and Abu Dhabi and millions of expatriate residents.
Foreign residents make up more than 80% of the population of the UAE’s seven sheikhdoms and have been a mainstay of the UAE economy for decades but have lacked a clear path to citizenship, including if they were born and raised in the country.
Although the UAE has occasionally granted citizenship to foreigners, it has been used infrequently despite its economy being completely reliant on expatriate labor and expertise since its formation back in 1971. Millions of foreigners live and work in Dubai, some for decades.
UAE Vice-President and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum said, the offer could apply to artists, authors, doctors, engineers and scientists, and their families.
Sheikh Mohammed said it would be the rulers of the country’s seven emirates and the government at the federal level that would decide who would be nominated for citizenship. It would allow those that take up the offer to retain their original citizenship.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the citizenship also would grant rights to the UAE’s cradle-to-grave social programs for its nationals.
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The UAE is home to over 9 million people, only a tenth of them citizens. In November, the UAE announced plans to overhaul of the country’s Islamic personal laws and criminalizing so-called “honor killings.”
The texts of the amendments of its laws governing citizenship that would grant citizenship to investors, entrepreneurs, professionals, and people with special talents in accordance with the terms and conditions stipulated.
Two other amendments to the UAE’s Citizenship Act would also include prohibiting the use of a passport except for the purpose for which it was issued while another stipulates prohibiting the withholding of a passport in cases other than those legally established.
Investors will need to own a property in the UAE, for example, while doctors and other medical specialists must be focused on a scientific discipline in demand in the UAE. Scientists are required to be actively involved in research and have at least 10 years’ experience, among other requirements. Inventors must have obtained one or more patents for their creations, while intellectuals or artists “should be pioneers in the culture and art fields” and have won international awards to prove it.
Last year in September, the Dubai government announced the launch of the “Retire in Dubai” program that will offer resident expatriates and foreigners aged 55 and above to apply for a retirement visa in its bid to turn the emirate into a retirement destination.
