Open4Business reports that Dubai issued more than 167,000 Long-Term Resident Golden Visa to family members of specialised professionals from 2021 to the first quarter of 2026, according to data from Dubai’s General Directorate of Residents and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA Dubai).
According to GDRFA Dubai, a total of 167,124 residence permits were issued to families of specialised talent during the period. Another 100,286 residency permits were granted to families of property investors, 70,247 to family members of academics and subject matter experts, 37,022 to relatives of major investors, and 3,259 to families of foreign retirees. In addition, thousands of additional visas were issued to relatives of entrepreneurs, outstanding students and humanitarian workers.
Statistics show that family relocation is becoming one of the key areas of Dubai’s migration policy. The Emirate relies not only on attracting individual specialists, investors and entrepreneurs, but also on keeping their families in the country for a long period of time. According to local authorities, the growing number of family residence permits reflects foreigners’ confidence in Dubai’s social infrastructure, education, medicine and digital government services.
The most active groups of foreigners in this segment, based on the pattern of permits issued, remain skilled professionals and their families, property investors, academics and experts, and large investors. A separate large category is related specifically to the property market: more than 100,000 residence permits for families of real estate investors show that buying a home remains one of the important channels for long-term relocation to Dubai.
By nationality, the official statistics of GDRFA Dubai in the published data does not disclose the distribution of family Golden Visa. However, the demographic structure of the UAE as a whole remains predominantly expat: foreigners make up about 88.5 per cent of the country’s population, and the largest communities are traditionally represented by people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Iran, Egypt and other countries in the region and Asia.
The UAE Golden Visa is a long-term resident visa that allows foreign talent, investors, entrepreneurs, academics, professionals, students and other categories to live, work or study in the country.
For Dubai, the programme has become a tool to compete for capital and human resources, as well as a way to retain wealthy and professionally sought-after foreigners with their families.