# What are visa rules if I wish to retire in Dubai?



## oilman4345 (Aug 27, 2008)

Hi;

I currently live and work in Kuala Lumpur.
I am a British Citizen who has lived (in the 80s) in Dubai and has been back on business many times since leaving.

I am considering retiring in Dubai later this year and would initially rent an apartment before considering purchase after a while.

What type of visa would I need to apply for? (as most I see are linked to employment).

I would presumably need a visa to rent, open a bank account , buy and insure a car etc?

Can anyone put me in touch with a reputable company who I could approach re all this.

Thanks


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

There's no such thing as a retirement visa in the UAE. The only way to get a visa realistically is to purchase a property above 1 million dirhams that has the option of a residence visa with it - only certain developers offer this. Even then I believe the visas are only valid for something stupid for something like 6 months. Retirement in the UAE really isn't an option.

It's possible to rent hotel apartments/serviced apartments without a visa. But without residency it's impossible to buy a car or anything like that.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi,
I would get a freezone visa as a consultant. These are not so expensive and you can sponsor your family.
There are no requirements to actually undertake any business and even if you did - there are no taxes or accounting requirements.
Fujairah and Ajman have the least expensive freezone company setups.
Cheers
Steve


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

Ah good idea Steve - totally forgot about those - DOH!


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## arabianhorse (Nov 13, 2013)

Just curious as to why you would want to retire inDubai when there a a couple of dozen other countries that welcome Retirees with opn arms
Malaysia has the MM2H scheme. Panama, Belize, Costs Rica, Thailand, Philliphines, Sri Lanka ..... The list goes on


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## oilman4345 (Aug 27, 2008)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> I would get a freezone visa as a consultant. These are not so expensive and you can sponsor your family.
> There are no requirements to actually undertake any business and even if you did - there are no taxes or accounting requirements.
> Fujairah and Ajman have the least expensive freezone company setups.
> ...


Thank you for this. I will follow up.


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## oilman4345 (Aug 27, 2008)

arabianhorse said:


> Just curious as to why you would want to retire inDubai when there a a couple of dozen other countries that welcome Retirees with opn arms
> Malaysia has the MM2H scheme. Panama, Belize, Costs Rica, Thailand, Philliphines, Sri Lanka ..... The list goes on


Two main reasons: Distance is far less from my grown up family in UK and my lady likes the Dubai option.
Also, although I do like Malaysia, I love cars and EVERY decent car is x3 the UK price!!!


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## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

Stevesolar said:


> There are no requirements to actually undertake any business and even if you did - there are no taxes or accounting requirements.


I'm not saying people don't open companies to buy a visa but you have to provide an independent financial audit with each license renewal. This is mean to prevent this.


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## Chocoya (Dec 9, 2013)

oilman4345 said:


> Two main reasons: Distance is far less from my grown up family in UK and my lady likes the Dubai option.
> Also, although I do like Malaysia, I love cars and EVERY decent car is x3 the UK price!!!


I don't mean this in a nasty way, but Your "Lady" or your "wife"??? You do know it is illegal to live with some who is not your wife or family member don't you. This is a Muslim country and follows Muslim morals and laws.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

Mr Rossi said:


> I'm not saying people don't open companies to buy a visa but you have to provide an independent financial audit with each license renewal. This is mean to prevent this.


You don't have to provide audit for RAKIA, Ajman and Fujairah freezones. There is no such requirement. With Fujairah they don't even require you to show any capital.

I agree this is the best possible solution for any type of residency. The visa will cost you from 4000 to 7000 AED every 3 years with Ajman being the cheapest. However I am not sure if Ajman is that great as you have to deposit your passport with Ajman authority every few months. RAKIA licence will cost you AED 15,500 / yearly, Fujairah AED 17,500 and Ajman AED 24,500. All fees are including the required flexi office space. I have been doing a review of the free zones fees recently and I am personally leaning towards Fujairah. There is also a lengthy thread on this aspect here.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

You will have to fund your own health insurance, which gets more expensive the older you get. Just be aware of it.


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## oilman4345 (Aug 27, 2008)

Chocoya said:


> I don't mean this in a nasty way, but Your "Lady" or your "wife"??? You do know it is illegal to live with some who is not your wife or family member don't you. This is a Muslim country and follows Muslim morals and laws.


No offence taken. Thanks for info. I was aware of this but could have been disastrous if I was not!


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## arabianhorse (Nov 13, 2013)

Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Italy... I can think of dozens of far better places to retire than the Dubai.

Surely your lady doesnt enjoy the 40+ degree heat and humidity, and dude does she really shop all year round ?


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## taeli (Aug 24, 2011)

*Living in Dubai ( Retirement )*

I personally love living in Dubai.
In my view, for European expats it is a perfect location:
Near to family and friends in Europe ( just 5 - 6 hours flight )
Nice climate from Oct - May ( Rest you can spend in Europe )
Safe city, no criminals ( as long as you stay in the right places )
Clean city, hygienic ( --" -- )
Lots of doctors, clinics, health and beauty facilities
No nature catastrophes
No political unrest
Many people from the same culture here to meet
Many people from other cultures to meet
You can have an absolute western, 1st world livestyle here

I would not like to live in countries like Philippines or Thailand, Kenya,..
where you have to fear for your live, everytime you go out
and where you have several taiphoons, earthquakes, vulcanos, tsunamis and political unrest all the year.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

I second what @taeli wrote. Also in South East Asian countries, except Singapore, corruption is really high. I would also feel uncomfortable knowing that caucasians are considered as walking $. Beside, I am sure that OP has already made his research. There are people on this world who have enough money to retire anywhere they wish.


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## Canuck_Sens (Nov 16, 2010)

Oilman,

Although you like cars (so do I and many others in this forum), you have to be cognizant of other cost factors and other factors that you seem to be overlooking as a future retiree (or you just have not expressed to us).

1) UAE is unstable because they change the rules all the time. It is annoying.

2) You may open a company to get the "VISA", but authorities will eventually clamp this down. 

3) Health is expensive

4) Countries like Spain and Portugal are literally selling "citizenship" if you purchase a property (there is minimum value). I think Spain property prices are a steal (nice deals). The infra there is better.

5) Panama, Belize and Malaysia sport pretty good infra for retirees. By that I mean hospitals and affordability. You can discard these if you have no concerns about health costs...nto to mention they are beautiful places.

6) You mentioned your wife/lady likes Dubai. In which sense ?


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## taeli (Aug 24, 2011)

I would not like to live in Panama and Belize.
In many countries the government can change the rules overnight, not only in UAE. 
I think, Panama and Belize, as well as most south asian countries can and will do this.
In Dubai, the many expats and visitors are the only business for Dubai. So I think, the governmet will take care of their rights.


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## indoMLA (Feb 6, 2011)

taeli said:


> I personally love living in Dubai.
> In my view, for European expats it is a perfect location:
> Near to family and friends in Europe ( just 5 - 6 hours flight )
> Nice climate from Oct - May ( Rest you can spend in Europe )
> ...


You're from Switzerland and you think Dubai is clean and hygienic? Are you mad? Do you not see the number of chest infections people have here and the the idiot doctors who always prescribe antibiotics? Which leads me to my next point.... The country may have a lot of doctors, clinics, health facilities, but that doesn't mean that they are very good. Half of any expat's time is spent searching for a reputable and honest doctor or facility.

Yes, there is no political unrest, but when the government makes rule changes when it feels like it, the people that feel it are the expats, not the locals.

What parts of the countries you listed are you visiting. I have visited these countries and have never feared for my life. I have visited countries when I have been issued travel warnings (due to demonstrations, riots, etc.) and I am American.



taeli said:


> I would not like to live in Panama and Belize.
> In many countries the government can change the rules overnight, not only in UAE.
> I think, Panama and Belize, as well as most south asian countries can and will do this.
> In Dubai, the many expats and visitors are the only business for Dubai. So I think, the governmet will take care of their rights.


I agree with your point that most any country can change the rules overnight, but not many change the rules so it affects the people you depend on to run the country. Expats and visitors are what this country needs to survive and depends on yet rents are increasing, more salik gates are going up, retails wares are increasing, etc. Is that how you think the govt. should take care of its residents?

Sorry, but I just don't think you are from from where you say you are from, either that or you got some crazy blinders on.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

indoMLA said:


> [...]
> I agree with your point that most any country can change the rules overnight, but not many change the rules so it affects the people you depend on to run the country. Expats and visitors are what this country needs to survive and depends on yet rents are increasing, more salik gates are going up, retails wares are increasing, etc. Is that how you think the govt. should take care of its residents?
> [...]


Really? How about UK changing rules pretty much overnight before JAN 2014 immigration wave hit UK from Romania and Bulgaria? Rules that affect other current expat UK residents as well, such as polish citizens?

How about Singapore, country which is dependant on expats pretty much as UAE? One of the most stable and reputable governments is reviewing or "enhancing" its immigration and employment laws very often in order to get rid of lower paid expats.

How about property tax that increased in UAE from 2% to 4% lately (which is completely fine for tax free country), but in Singapore for instance (low tax, NOT tax free) they have increased property tax on purchases of residential units from 3% to 13% (in 2012) and to 18% (in 2013) for how they call it "cooling measures" which obviously didn't cool anything... But a smart government seeing the demand, will turn things into good profit, sucking money from foreigners or expats working and living here.

I really can't stop laughing when people start to complain that they pay a lot of indirect taxes in UAE such as for parking, utilities etc. :lol: Please tell me which countries are these people coming from, where apparently everything is free, because I am moving there tomorrow!


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## PoppyP (Jul 9, 2013)

And I can't stop laughing while reading this:



taeli said:


> In Dubai, the many expats and visitors are the only business for Dubai. So I think, the governmet will take care of their rights.


Oh, my! Sorry taeli, but with all respect, you didn't work neither live in Dubai, you are just a retired man who wants to buy property in Dubai, so you know nothing about real Dubai life. There are too many examples which prove the fact that the UAE government *does not *take care of the rights of expats.

Do you know, for example, that in Dubai, as a laborer, you are likely to experience a modern form of slavery. Although not legal, it isn’t at all uncommon for employers to apprehend the passports of laborers during their contract. This way, even if a worker is unhappy, he won’t be able to quit, change jobs or leave the country. To add to this, sometimes laborers get paid not monthly but at the end of their contract, making it even more impossible for them to make a move. Ok, they are laborers, but they are also human beings and part of expat community...This is only one example (among many others) of human rights violation.


Generally, what /snip/ me off the most, is that if you live in Dubai for too long, things that might have not felt normal to you when you arrived, start becoming acceptable, and you start losing touch with other realities. Many expats don't care what is going around them, because ultimately it doesn’t affect them directly. For many, it’s “every man on their own”, no compassion, no sense of society...
All in all, Dubai can't be a home for expats and they don't expats for a long period. Bear in mind that Dubai/UAE is made for locals, not for expats. 
And there are many more beautiful countries where you can live when you retire.


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## INFAMOUS (Apr 19, 2011)

I love how everyone on here is a prophet... The OP clearly is older and has been many places and probably has more life experience than all of the people chiming in their 2 cents. 

The question was simple, "What are the visa rules so I can retire in Dubai?" it was not "Please talk me out of Retiring in Dubai and give me a million different reasons and convince me to live your retirement dream instead of my own while tossing in your rants about Dubai and other countries"

I understand forums are for discussion, but if what your typing does not relate to the original post, then start a new thread.


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## PoppyP (Jul 9, 2013)

I am not trying to be a prophet, I just say that Dubai is not the ideal place for anyone who wants to 'live retirement dream'. Or maybe it's better not to take off rose colored glasses?


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