Naturalisation and citizenship in the United Arab Emirates

I don't think UAE should give citizenship to any body. Once UAE start giving citizenship to expatriate it will be like other Arab countries.

Hi Bhavna,

In my opinion, Emirati citizenship is not such valuable and prestigious citizenship to  seek for it. I do not deny that it could have some privileges but on the other side its will known its not the country for spending a whole life in and of course as known too the different treatment depending on your nationality which could be sorted as a racism. I guarantee for you if you seek for like Canadian or Australian citizenship and succeeded in obtaining one of them, You will be treated much better than even the Emirati people themselves and you will be treated respectfully in every country in the world. And by the way the procedures of Canadian or Australian or even New Zealand citizenship is much easier than Emarati one.

Of course this is my personal opinion as i am Arabic and working in Dubai.

Good luck

Forget about it - you are not getting any citizenship.  Just be a legal resident once you have a job OR you can be married to someone having a valid residence visa.

Bhavna wrote:

Hello everyone,

What are the requirements for acquiring citizenship in the United Arab Emirates? For example, length of residence, language requirements, employment etc..

What formalities are involved in the process?

What is the policy on dual-citizenship in the United Arab Emirates? Do you have to give up your former nationality?

What are the advantages and benefits of acquiring Emirati citizenship, in your opinion?

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Bhavna

Hi there, it is extremely rare case to obtain it. There are cases though "you may" get it through:
- Getting married with Emirati, marriage span should be more than 15+ years, approval by husband... The procedure is very long, but it is not guaranteed. (In case it got approved, you must withdraw your all citizenships).
- Significant contribution in any ways that can make the country's reputation rise economically, ...etc., for example: read about Khansaheb unique history in the UAE: http://www.khansaheb.ae/about-us/unique-history.html

Let me know if you need further info.

Regards,

Hi Bhavna,

You cannot get a citizen ship to the UAE. You can only live here if you have a job, the visa system is 2 years renewal. You can purchase property which will give you an investors visa, but this is only valid for 6 months, and you will need to apply for a visa every year. Some passports permit visa on arrival, not sure which one those are.

It is a good place to work and live. No Crime (almost) safe and world class amenities.

I have heard of people handing over the passport of origin and getting a UAE passport but that was after 32 or 35 years and millions in investment. Also this could just be urban mith!

To:
mahmoud asal,

Merhaba and Ramadan Kareem, regarding your statement, read below points about UAE passport:
- UAE passport power rank: "25" (Globally)
- UAE passport power rank: "1" (Arab countries)
Talking about benefits from UAE's passport, for us Emiratis it precious and unique. "Emirati citizenship is not such valuable and prestigious citizenship to  seek for it" You can't seek for it in the first place, it is unique and has extraordinary reasons.
And treatment, racism? It has nothing to do with "where you come from or which race you are in", it is more about relationships either diplomatically or trading benefits with countries that are affiliated with the UAE's foreign affairs. Canadians or Australians have better treatment than Emiratis in the UAE? I never seen that or heard about it, would be better if you would share with us facts or your experience regarding that.

Regards,

Yea talking about racism and people being treated according to their nationality in UAE. Yes that's a big ISSUE. It does exist! The treatment you get if you are European, American or white skinned is 100% differently favourable than when u are Asian, African or Of a darker shade. That's why the first thing people want to know when they see a person is where he or she is from. Even job offers people are graded by nationality. Even if the qualification is the same We never get same salary as our European counterparts. It's really a big ISSUE here and I don't see that changing anytime soon. So better get citizenship from Canada where everyone is treatment as equal humans irrespective of where you are from. Simple.

Dear Saeed,

I appreciate your feelings and your reaction and just want to make sure for you that my intention is not at all trying to depreciate the UAE citizenship at all or even insult UAE by any means. Do not forget that i am working and living here in Dubai.

Make sure what i am gonna write is a truth and i do not mean at all to disrespect anyone or any country.

Unfortunately my statement about UAE citizenship and life here is truth (whatever u accept it or not) and unfortunately u as a citizen will not be able to understand what i am talking about (with all my respect) cause u do not encounter lots of problems we face here as in UAE as expats.

Also an important notice ... difficulty in getting a citizenship does not mean its a good country to live in and raise a family and regarding citizenship ranking is controlled my many political and non-life-qualities factor.

At the end i hope you accept my honest opinion.

Dear saeed_alsuwaidi

That is just a very very small part of real expat-life here in UAE ... sorry for disappointing u but this is the truth and from any expat point of view who wanted to have a good and respectful life (unfortunately cause we did not find it in our countries) UAE citizenship is not valuable for us and do not worth to seek for it (even if its difficult to obtain).

I understand your frustrations and concerns. Could you please give us facts or share with us your real life experience supporting/backing up your statement? And also, please enlighten us about that Canadians and Australians have better treatment than the Emiratis in the UAE.

Dear Saeed,

Please read the comment of (marychi18) cause its truly fact 100%. i do not deny i found here in Dubai a better career path and laws here is very good But for me personally i faced some situations which could not happen to me if i were European or American.

Mr. Mahmoud, that is understandable, however, kindly read my statement regarding that:
"it is more about relationships either diplomatically or trading benefits with countries that are affiliated with the UAE's foreign affairs."
If you have slight background about International relations, diplomacy, trading with countries and foreign affairs, you would elaborate more. Now, the concern here is with those countries that are in weak-muted or pending relation with the UAE scheme, therefore agreement between the two countries would not come to final closure, so the expats would suffer from this.

Just small scene i faced here ... i was working in a place where i get 5500 AED/monthly with no benefits or allowances despite my very high qualifications in my career (all job offers i got with a range of 2500 to 4500 AED monthly from Arabic business owners  including Emirati) where in the same workplace a fresh high-school Emirati is getting a salary of 12000 AED/month + benifits and allowances.

Such a situation u cant find at all in country like Canada or New Zealand for example ... in such countries u r treated fairly according to your qualifications, skills and attitudes and of course have equal opportunity for growing up and develop you life.

i do not want to talk about other things (like Accommodation for example) cause u will not believe how much suffer we face and also its difficult for you to understand what i mean cause u did not encounter such situations before (all my respect).

Exactly Saeed, Thats why i am telling you we are as expat prefer to live in a country like Canada or Australia ... Cause diplomatic relationship and political issues do not affect the way of how you being treated or appreciated ... In such countries no matters what political issues or problems you have in ur country ... u r gonna treated respectfully and fairly though ... u have equal chances even with local citizen.

For example i know a Philippino Accountant here in Dubai working in a multinational corporation with fully western management having a salary of 11000 AED + benifirs despite his qualification is less than me ... but he is treated fairly cause management is western whose care about ur qualification not ur citizenship ... i hope u got a little idea about what i mean.

Hi,

There's no way possible to get the emarati passport. You can get an Employment Visa valid for two or three years depends on company contract or you can visit the country with three kinds of visas..shirt term 14 days another short term 30 or long term stay 90 days.

Applying for a citizenship here is not even exist in UAE law.

So you mean Canada is in good diplomatic or international relationship with all the countries of the world hence their friendly and open- mindedness towards all nationality? No sorry sir I think it's just about the mindset and what is being portrayed on tv about certain countries and continents. And the low standard of education of the minds here. As long as people here still think all black people are Africans then sorry to say their opinions and mindset will never change.

I think the easiest way to approach this subject is to say it doesn't exist.

Ok.. I'm back to Singapore Expat so I don't have to read some FU questions and opinions anymore.. TC All.

Hello Bhavana, Gulf states including the UAE has no route or tier system to grant citizenship to the expatriates. However, there are rare specific instances in which people have acquired UAE citizenship politically or through marriage (an emirati man marrying a foreign woman) but a general perspective is that a foreigner remains as a foreigner extending visas until exit even if they were to live for 50 years. Hope this helped your query.

xxx

Doesn't happen and please do NOT ever count on an Emirati man marrying you. Don't even get it in your pretty head. Emirati men will "play" and cheat on their wives, but they will NEVER marry an expat...this is common knowledge. 😉 Good luck!

Hi
You can't get citizenship / nationality or any kind of green card etc in UAE.
Even if a UAE national women want to get marry to any expat she will give up her nationality as per law.
Hope got the answer for the question.

When every emirati is running after European citizenship what is the value of acquiring UAE citizenship?
All middle class and above are outside the UAE most of the year.
UAE has inherently nothing to give .it just surviving on tourism and fines and levies.
It's just a artificial world which drains you out to spend just to show off acquaintance.
I opine that running or gunning for a UAE citizenship is vanity.

jennifer_wilkey wrote:

Doesn't happen and please do NOT ever count on an Emirati man marrying you. Don't even get it in your pretty head. Emirati men will "play" and cheat on their wives, but they will NEVER marry an expat...this is common knowledge. 😉 Good luck!

I'm afraid I have to disagree with you, there are some Emirati men who are married to non-Emiratis and have children, either as their first or second wife. Therefore, you mustn't include all Emirati men into it. Thanks.

naveedm wrote:

Hi
You can't get citizenship / nationality or any kind of green card etc in UAE.
Even if a UAE national women want to get marry to any expat she will give up her nationality as per law.
Hope got the answer for the question.

That is not true, Emirati woman can marry an expat (should be Muslim for a male, female can be Jewish or Christian only) without dispensing her passport/family book. Thanks.

You are correct. I miscommunicated by including ALL Emirati men. I have heard of some who do acquire other wives like cars, but it is my understanding that this is quite rare and really only occurs with the more wealthy and "pure" Emirati bloodlines. For others, especially those who are not as wealthy, it just isn't likely to happen.  Usually, because the family objects to the woman or the cost of maintaining two households is simply too great. I simply say this as a warning to the young lady not to rely on marriage as a means of finding citizenship. I have seen first hand the trouble a young woman can find themselves. So, when I say "common knowledge" this includes all men...not just Emirati. Regardless, I was referring to citizenship, and as such, for the purpose of this thread, I included Emirati men. Which I think you will agree and was my point...she's not going to get citizenship by simply marrying an Emirati man.

Dear Madam,
By now you must be known to the fact there is no such option here in UAE.
They can't afford it anyway. Being very small in number,their identify will be lost within one year of such permission.You better try for Israel,may be that let you understand why this region can't afford it.
Apply for Israeli nationality to their embassy in Dehli and the answer you get please share for all of us.
Thanks