UAE Golden Visa for entrepreneurs: cost and routes

The two entrepreneur routes

The UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism describes an entrepreneur Golden Visa for individuals who have previously implemented a successful project with a minimum value of AED 500,000, or who have obtained approval from an accredited business incubator in the UAE.

For the project route, you generally need an auditor's valuation letter, and the relevant emirate authorities may need to confirm that the project is of a technical or future-oriented nature. For the incubator route, an acceptance or approval letter from an accredited incubator is the key document.

• Project route: successful project valued at AED 500,000 or more.
• Incubator route: approval from an accredited UAE incubator.
• Evidence: auditor valuation letter or incubator acceptance letter.

What it costs and what it does not include

For a single applicant, government and service fees commonly fall in the AED 10,000 to 15,000 range. That figure excludes the cost of actually setting up or investing in the business itself, which is usually the larger commitment.

Applicants are often first issued a six-month multiple-entry permit while completing medical, biometrics, and stamping steps. Processing commonly runs between 30 and 90 days depending on documents and case complexity.

Confirm current thresholds and required documents with the official UAE sources before committing, and never rely on a guarantee of approval.

Who the visa can cover

The entrepreneur Golden Visa can extend beyond the founder. It commonly covers business partners, up to three executive directors, and the holder's spouse and children, subject to the conditions being met.

Because each additional person adds documents and fees, ask a provider to price the founder, partners, directors, and family separately rather than quoting a single bundled number.