Dubai virtual work visa
ICP covers all emirates except Dubai. Dubai residence and visa services sit with GDRFA. Emirates ID is federal, always ICP. The route is Dubai only, through GDRFA. Do not read the GDRFA conditions below as federal rules. No federal virtual-work route is described, because none was verified on an official federal page.
Virtual work, as GDRFA words it, is remote employment for an organisation outside the country. The GDRFA Dubai route has three services, in order: an entry permit, a residence permit, and a renewal. The residence permit is for one year, without a guarantor or host, subject to renewal. The income test on the GDRFA pages is one test: proof of a monthly income or salary of no less than 3,500 US dollars, or its equivalent in another currency. The three GDRFA services are followed exactly as quoted, service by service, and nothing beyond what those pages state is stated.
Virtual work visa entry permit window
The GDRFA entry-permit service is titled “Visa Issuance (Virtual Work)”. It states that the service allows a foreigner who is in remote employment (Virtual Work) to be given a residence visa without employment, which entitles him to remain in the country for 60 days from the date of entry until the completion of the residence requirements. That 60-day period is the completion window on this entry-permit page. Read it as the entry-permit window, not as a grace period after expiry. The grace period after expiry or cancellation belongs to the residence permit, below.
The documents for the entry permit are:
- a colour personal photo with a white background
- a copy of a passport valid for no less than 6 months
- evidence that he works for an entity outside the UAE and that the work is done remotely
- proof of monthly income of no less than 3,500 US dollars or its equivalent in another currency
- valid health insurance
The fees for the entry permit are stated as a virtual work visa fee of AED 200 plus Value Added Tax (VAT) of 5 percent. If the applicant is inside the country, three additions apply:
- Knowledge fee AED 10
- Innovation fee AED 10
- a fee for being inside the country AED 500
The page states that the total fee may vary depending on the circumstances surrounding the application or for other reasons. No total is stated.
On duration and family, the entry-permit page states that a one-year, extendable period of residence from the date of issuance of the residence permit is granted to the foreigner in remote employment (Virtual Work), and that for the same period, he can sponsor his family. That is the only family line verified for virtual work. No family documents, fees, or dependent conditions are stated on this page, and none are stated.
The channels are:
- digital (UAE Pass or username) 24/7
- a Customer Happiness Centre
- Amer service centres
The service completion duration is 48.0 hours.
Residence permit one year and grace period
The GDRFA residence-permit service is the issuance of a residence permit for a foreigner in remote employment (Virtual Work) without guarantor or host for one year, subject to renewal.
The conditions are twofold. The applicant must prove remote work with an organisation outside the country, and must prove a monthly salary of no less than 3,500 US dollars or its equivalent in another currency.
The documents are all marked compulsory on this page:
- a coloured personal photo
- a copy of the passport
- a copy of health insurance
- the result of a medical fitness test
- proof of remote work outside the country
- a salary certificate for 3,500 US dollars or its equivalent
- an ID receipt
Every item in that list is compulsory on the page wording, including the medical fitness test result and the ID receipt. Do not drop an item from the list when you prepare an application.
The fees on the residence-permit page are itemised as follows, with no total stated:
- residence permit AED 200
- Knowledge fee AED 10
- Innovation fee AED 10
- fee for being inside the country AED 500
- delivery fee AED 20
The page also carries this fee note: “The issuance fee increases by 100 dirhams annually whenever the residency is more than 2 years.” The virtual-work permit is a 1-year permit, so the note is stated as it appears on the page and is not applied to this permit. The residence-permit page does not list a VAT line. Do not add a 5 percent VAT line to the residence-permit fees. The VAT line appears on the entry-permit page only.
The service completion duration is 48 hours. The grace period is 60 days after the expiry or cancellation of the residence.
Renewal on the same terms
The GDRFA renewal service is the renewing of a virtual-work residence permit without guarantor or host for one year, renewable under the same terms of granting it for the first time.
The renewal page states the same document list as the residence-permit page: photo, passport copy, health insurance copy, medical fitness test result, remote-work proof, USD 3,500 salary certificate, and ID receipt. It states the same fees: residence permit AED 200, Knowledge fee AED 10, Innovation fee AED 10, fee for being inside the country AED 500, and delivery fee AED 20, with the same AED 100 per year note. It states the same service completion duration of 48 hours and the same 60-day grace period after expiry or cancellation. Those are the figures stated on the renewal page; the issuance figures are stated in the section above.
Unstated points on GDRFA pages
The three GDRFA pages do not state a second income tier, a freelancer category, an employment-contract requirement, a bank-statement rule, a prohibition on working for UAE employers or clients, a tax or tax-residency consequence, an Emirates ID fee or medical-test fee total, a minimum-stay or days-outside rule for this category, a rule about entering on a tourist visa first, or a procedure for switching to an employment visa. The GDRFA pages state one income test. One income test is stated here. The pages do not state whether the applicant must be outside the UAE at application, an age minimum, a nationality restriction, or a health-insurance minimum coverage, and none of those items is stated here. Family sponsorship beyond the single sentence on the entry-permit page is not described, because the pages do not describe its mechanics. Re-check the current GDRFA pages before you act, and follow the three services in order: entry permit, residence permit, then renewal.
Related guides
- UAE guides
- UAE Golden Green Visa
- UAE Visa Cancellation
- UAE Visa Types Explained: A Verified Index by Category and Authority
