The Verdict: Clear Path
You qualify for the UAE's one-year remote work visa, which lets you live there while you keep working for your employer or company abroad. The income test is USD 3,500 a month.
The remote work visa (Cabinet Resolution 65 of 2022, Articles 49 and 50) lasts one year and is renewable. It does not need a UAE sponsor, you can sponsor your family for the same period, and it is available in every emirate. It does not let you work for UAE employers or clients, it lapses if you spend more than six months in a row outside the country, and it never leads to citizenship. The test is proof that you work remotely for an employer or your own company outside the UAE, a monthly income of USD 3,500 or more, and health insurance valid in the UAE. Some blogs report a higher figure of USD 5,000; the government portal (updated August 2026) and Dubai's immigration authority still say USD 3,500.
What to do next: gather a letter from your employer confirming remote work, or proof that you own your company, and recent payslips and bank statements; one adviser reports that six months of statements are now asked for, which we could not confirm officially. Apply to the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP), or in Dubai to the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA). You enter on a 60-day permit and then complete a medical test and get your residence.