Residence visa

A UAE Residence Visa Through Your Own Company

Inside the AED 10,800 package. Entry permit, medical, Emirates ID and stamping, with one short trip to the country.

The company is the route, the visa is the point. Once your Ajman NuVentures Centre licence is issued it carries a visa allocation, and you sponsor yourself on it as the owner. That gives you UAE residence, an Emirates ID, a personal bank account, the ability to rent and to drive, and the right to sponsor your family afterwards.

Start my visa file See what it costs

Visa inside the package

AED 10,800

Licence plus one residence visa. Entry permit, medical, Emirates ID and stamping are all in that number.

Already hold a UAE visa

AED 4,888 licence only

Take the licence on its own and keep the visa quota open for later.

In short

A Ajman NuVentures Centre company carries a residence visa allocation, so the owner sponsors themselves. The visa runs two years and the package covers the establishment card, eChannel, security approval, entry permit, medical, Emirates ID and stamping. One short trip to the UAE is required.

Visa term: Two years, renewableInvestor visa
Inside the package: AED 10,800Licence plus visa
Time in country: A few daysMedical and biometrics
After the licence: About two weeks
Family sponsorship: After yours is stampedIncome conditions apply
Medical insurance: MandatoryNot included

Figures on this page were last checked on 2026-10-04. Government fees can change without notice.

How the visa actually runs

Five steps, in this order. Nothing about you starts until the company exists.

Establishment card

Your company is registered with the federal immigration system. Nothing about you happens until the company exists on that system, which is why the licence comes first.

eChannel registration

The company is enrolled in the immigration portal that visa applications are actually filed through. It is included in the package and it is the step most timelines forget to mention.

Investor security approval

A background clearance on you as the shareholder. Routine in the ordinary case, and the point at which a previous overstay or a name mismatch surfaces if there is one.

Entry permit and status change

An electronic permit is issued in your name. If you are outside the UAE you enter on it. If you are already here, your status is changed inside the country instead, which is also inside the package.

Medical fitness test

A blood test and a chest X ray at an approved centre. Taking it in Dubai rather than Ajman carries a small additional fee on the zone's own rate card, which is worth it if your trip is short.

Emirates ID and stamping

Fingerprints and a photograph at an ICP centre, booked back to back with the medical, then the residence permit is issued electronically and the card is delivered.

Visa term: Two years, renewable
Inside the package: Yes, licence plus visa
eChannel and security approval: Included
Status change: Included, no exit needed
Dubai medical instead: Small extra fee
Medical insurance: Mandatory, not included

Which visa this actually is, and what it is not

A residence visa obtained through company ownership. Not a golden visa, not a freelance permit, and not a tourist visa with extra steps.

The visa described on this page is a standard UAE residence permit sponsored by your own company. Because you are the shareholder, it is usually issued as an investor or partner visa rather than an employment visa, though both routes exist and both produce residence. The practical outcome is identical for daily life: an Emirates ID, a residence permit linked to your passport, and the right to live, bank, rent and sponsor family here.

It is not a golden visa. The golden visa is a separate long term residence scheme with its own qualifying categories covering investors at significant thresholds, entrepreneurs, specialised talent and outstanding students, and it runs for five or ten years. Setting up a company at this price level does not qualify anybody for it, and any agent implying that it does is misleading you. If golden visa eligibility is your actual goal, that is a different conversation with different numbers.

It is not a freelance permit either. Freelance permits are issued by some zones as a lighter weight alternative for individuals working alone, and they can carry a visa. What they do not give you is a company: no separate legal entity, no shareholder register, and a narrower basis for banking and contracting. For some people a freelance permit is genuinely the better fit, but it is a different product and it should be compared honestly rather than conflated with this one.

The term is two years for a free zone investor visa, renewable on the same basis as long as the licence stays live. Your Emirates ID matches that term. Some categories and some zones issue three year permits, and the term applied to your file is confirmed at the point of issue rather than promised in advance.

One thing it genuinely is: independence. An employment visa ends when the employment does, and the timing of that is not yours. A visa sponsored by a company you own ends when you decide to end it, or when the licence lapses, which is also your decision. For people who have held employer sponsored residence in the UAE and found out what a cancellation timeline feels like, that is usually the whole reason they are reading this page.

If you are already in the UAE on a visit or tourist visa

There is an in country route that avoids leaving and re entering, and it is usually the faster and cheaper path.

If you are already in the UAE when the licence is issued, you do not necessarily have to exit and return to activate the residence process. A status change is done inside the country, converting your current visit or tourist status to the entry permit issued by your company, without a flight and without a border run. It carries its own government fee, which is inside the package price, and it saves both the airfare and the days.

The timing matters. A status change has to happen while your current status is valid, so leaving it until the last few days of a visit visa creates unnecessary risk. If you are here on a visit visa and intending to set the company up, tell us the expiry date at the first conversation so the file can be paced against it rather than against a generic timeline.

Overstaying is a separate problem and it is worth being blunt about. Fines accrue daily and an overstay on record complicates the immigration file rather than simply costing money. If you are already overstayed when you contact us, say so plainly. It is a solvable situation and it is dealt with far more easily when it is disclosed at the start than when it surfaces at the immigration counter.

If you are outside the UAE, the sequence is simpler: the entry permit is issued electronically, you travel on it, and the medical and biometrics happen after you land. Either way the presence requirement is the same few days in the country for the medical and the Emirates ID, and everything else is electronic.

For people transferring from an existing UAE residence visa, whether employer sponsored or through a spouse, the previous visa has to be cancelled before the new entry permit is issued. That handover has a gap in it by definition, and the gap should be short and planned rather than open ended. We sequence the cancellation and the new permit deliberately so you are not sitting uncovered, and if your current employer controls the cancellation timing, that is the constraint to raise before anything else starts.

If you are on a visit visa, tell us the expiry date in the first conversation. It changes how the file is paced.

The medical test and the Emirates ID, step by step

This is the only part of the entire process that requires you to be standing in the country. It takes a morning.

The medical fitness test is a screening requirement for UAE residence. It consists of a blood test and a chest X ray, carried out at an approved medical fitness centre. It is screening for a small number of communicable conditions and it is not a general health examination: nobody is assessing your cholesterol or your fitness to work. The appointment itself takes well under an hour, most of which is queueing.

Results on the standard service return within about a working day. Premium and VIP lanes exist at higher fees and return results in a few hours, which is worth paying for when you are in the country on a short trip and the schedule is tight. The standard service is inside the package price and the faster lanes are a small addition, so it is a decision you can take on the day rather than in advance.

One detail worth knowing from One detail worth asking about: where you take the medical can change the fee slightly, and a quote should say so. It is the kind of detail that never appears in a quote because nobody thinks to ask, and it matters when you are in the country for three days.

Emirates ID biometrics are separate and take place at an ICP centre: fingerprints, a photograph and a signature capture. The appointment is short. We book it back to back with the medical wherever the schedule allows, which is what makes a two or three day trip sufficient for the whole in country portion.

After both are complete, the residence permit is issued electronically and linked to your passport. The physical Emirates ID card is produced afterwards and delivered, and it typically arrives within a couple of weeks. You can operate on the electronic record in the meantime for most purposes, though some banks and landlords want the physical card in hand.

Two practical points. Bring your original passport to both appointments, not a copy. And if you have any existing medical condition requiring documentation, or if a previous UAE medical has ever returned a result requiring follow up, mention it at the start rather than at the centre. The process handles these situations routinely when they are known about and handles them badly when they arrive as a surprise.

The whole in country requirement is a morning at the medical centre and twenty minutes at an ICP counter. Everything else is electronic.

Sponsoring your family in detail

Your family sits on your file, not the company's. That distinction decides most of the questions people have about it.

Once your own residence visa is stamped, you become a sponsor in your own right and can apply for residence for your dependants. This is a personal sponsorship rather than a company one, which means dependants do not consume the company's visa allocation, and the conditions applied are the family sponsorship conditions rather than anything to do with the licence.

Those conditions centre on income and accommodation. There is a minimum income threshold to sponsor a spouse and children, evidenced through a salary certificate or, for a company owner, through the company's documentation and bank records. There is also an accommodation requirement, meaning a tenancy contract of an appropriate size registered in your name. A studio does not support a family of four, and the tenancy is checked rather than assumed.

Documentation is the part that catches people out. A marriage certificate is required for spouse sponsorship and birth certificates for children, and for most nationalities these have to be attested through the chain in the country of issue and then here, plus legal translation if they are not in English or Arabic. That process runs on foreign government timelines that nobody in the UAE can accelerate, and it is regularly the difference between a family arriving in time for the school year and arriving a term late. Start it before the company is even registered if you know family sponsorship is coming.

Sponsoring parents is possible and it is meaningfully harder. It carries a higher income threshold, a refundable deposit per parent, mandatory medical insurance, and in some cases evidence that the parents are genuinely dependent on you. The conditions are applied strictly and they change from time to time, which is why we price this case by case rather than quoting a figure that might be stale by the time you act on it.

Each dependant goes through the same medical and Emirates ID process you did, with the exception that children under a certain age are exempt from parts of the medical screening. Each also requires medical insurance as a condition of residence. Budget for the insurance separately: for a family it is often the largest recurring cost after the licence itself, and it is not something any setup package can honestly include.

Keeping the visa valid, and what breaks it

One rule matters more than the rest: enter the country at least once every six months.

A UAE residence visa lapses if the holder remains outside the country for a continuous period of six months. That is the single rule most people need to manage, and it is why the Ajman licence and visa combination suits people who split their time between countries. There is no minimum number of days you must spend here beyond that re entry, and nobody counts your nights.

The six month clock runs from your last exit, not from the date of issue, so a single short trip resets it. People who travel frequently rarely have an issue. People who set up, get the visa and then do not return for eight months do, and recovering from a lapsed residence permit is more involved than simply flying in.

The second thing that breaks it is the licence. Your residence is sponsored by the company, so if the licence lapses, the immigration file underneath it is affected and the visas sponsored by it come into question. This is the practical reason licence renewal is not an administrative afterthought: it is holding up your residence and your family's. We send reminders ahead of the date for exactly this reason.

Insurance has to come from an authorised provider, which the zone states as a condition on visa applicants rather than as a suggestion. A policy bought abroad, or a travel policy, does not satisfy it. This is worth checking before renewal rather than at the counter.

Medical insurance is a condition of residence and of renewal. Letting a policy lapse does not cancel your visa on the spot, but it will block the renewal when it comes, and it leaves you exposed in the meantime. It is a small recurring item that is easy to let slide and annoying to be caught by.

Renewal itself is a repeat of the medical and the Emirates ID, and it is cheaper than first issuance because the company registration and the establishment card already exist. Start it before expiry rather than after: a lapsed visa attracts fines that accrue daily and a renewal in good time is an ordinary appointment rather than a problem to be resolved.

Enter the UAE at least once every six months
Keep the trade licence renewed, because it sponsors you
Keep medical insurance current, or renewal is blocked
Renew before expiry, not after, since fines accrue daily
Tell us before a long absence so the timing can be planned
Keep your passport valid well beyond the visa term

Residence is not the same as tax residency

A residence visa gives you the right to live here. Whether your home country stops taxing you is a separate question with separate tests, and we are not the people to answer it.

Holding a UAE residence visa means you are legally resident for immigration purposes. It does not automatically make you tax resident in the UAE, and it certainly does not automatically end tax residency wherever you were before. These are three distinct concepts and conflating them is the most expensive misunderstanding in this entire subject.

UAE tax residency has its own criteria, generally centred on physical presence in the country over a period, along with a permanent place of residence and the centre of your personal and financial interests. A tax residency certificate is applied for separately and is issued on evidence, not on the fact of holding a visa. If you need one, for a treaty claim for instance, it is a specific application with specific requirements.

Your previous country of residence applies its own tests to decide whether you have left. Some use day counts, some use domicile concepts that are considerably stickier, and some tax on citizenship regardless of where you live. Setting up a company in Ajman does not interact with any of that automatically. People who move without taking advice sometimes find they have acquired a UAE company and retained their original tax residency, which is the worst of both arrangements.

What we will say plainly is that we are company formation specialists, not tax advisers, and that this is a question for a qualified adviser in your own jurisdiction. We can tell you exactly what the UAE side looks like: the visa, the presence requirement, the company's corporate tax position and the absence of personal income tax here. What happens to your obligations elsewhere is genuinely outside our competence and anybody in this industry telling you otherwise with confidence should worry you.

The practical suggestion is to get that advice before you set up rather than after. The structure that works best for someone leaving a high tax jurisdiction is sometimes slightly different from the default, and it is far cheaper to incorporate correctly than to restructure. Tell us at the first conversation if this is part of your reasoning and we will make sure the setup does not foreclose options your adviser might want.

We are company formation specialists, not tax advisers. The UAE side we can describe precisely. What your home country does is a question for a qualified adviser there.

What to do in the first month after the visa

The Emirates ID unlocks everything else. Here is the order that saves the most time.

Open the personal bank account first. It is easier as a resident than as a visitor, it is required for almost everything that follows, and the process is quicker when the Emirates ID application is already in the system even if the physical card has not arrived. Take the electronic residence record, your passport and the company documents with you.

Sort medical insurance immediately if it is not already in place. It is a condition of residence rather than an optional extra, it will block your renewal if it lapses, and going uninsured in the meantime is a bad trade on a cost that is modest for a single person. If you have dependants coming, ask the broker to quote the family together rather than adding people one at a time.

Convert your driving licence if your country is on the direct exchange list, which covers a large number of nationalities. Doing it with an exchange is a fraction of the cost and the time of sitting the full UAE test, and the eligibility depends on holding residence, so it is a first month task rather than something to defer. If your country is not on the list, budget properly for lessons and a test, because the pass rate is not generous.

If you are renting, the tenancy has to be registered, and the registration is what you will be asked for when sponsoring family, connecting utilities and enrolling children in school. Sign a tenancy that is large enough for the family you intend to sponsor rather than the one currently in the country, because the accommodation requirement is checked against the contract.

Then the ordinary administration: a UAE mobile number in your own name, utilities connected, and the company's corporate tax registration completed if it has not been already. None of these is difficult and all of them are faster with an Emirates ID in hand, which is why the order matters more than the individual steps.

Personal bank account, with the residence record and passport
Medical insurance, for you and anybody you will sponsor
Driving licence exchange if your country qualifies
Registered tenancy, sized for the family you will sponsor
UAE mobile number and utilities in your own name
Corporate tax registration for the company

The things that go wrong, and what happens next

None of these is rare and none is fatal. All of them are cheaper to disclose at the start than to discover at the counter.

A previous overstay or a fine on record is the most common. It does not prevent a new residence application, but it has to be settled and it will surface during processing whether or not you mention it. Telling us at the start means it is dealt with as a known step with a known cost. Not mentioning it means the file stops midway while it is resolved, usually at the least convenient moment.

A name mismatch between documents is the second. Your passport, your previous UAE visa, the shareholder register and the bank mandate all have to carry the same name in the same order, including middle and family names. Nationalities with patronymics or multiple family names are affected most. If your existing UAE records spell your name differently from your current passport, raise it before the licence is issued, because correcting it afterwards means amending the licence rather than correcting a form.

A medical result requiring follow up happens and it is handled routinely. The screening covers a small number of communicable conditions, and where a result requires further testing there is an established process for it. What makes it difficult is when it arrives as a surprise on a three day trip. If you have any reason to expect a follow up, say so when the trip is being scheduled so there is room in it.

A gap between a cancelled visa and a new one is a timing problem rather than a legal one, and it is avoidable with sequencing. The previous visa must be cancelled before the new entry permit issues, so if your current employer controls the cancellation date, that is the constraint the whole file has to be planned around. Raise it first rather than last.

A passport expiring during the process is the one that is entirely preventable and still happens. Residence stamping links to a specific passport, and a renewal mid process means repeating steps. If your passport has less than a year left, renew it before starting rather than during. The same applies to a passport that is nearly full, since the visa needs a page.

Everything on this list is ordinary. What turns any of it into a problem is finding out about it at the immigration counter rather than at the first conversation.

Bringing the family

Spouse

Sponsored once your own visa is stamped, subject to the income and accommodation conditions in force. The marriage certificate has to be attested for use in the UAE, which runs on a foreign timeline, so start it early.

Children

Sponsored on the same file, with birth certificates attested. School enrolment needs the Emirates ID, so starting the process well before the school year saves a scramble.

Parents

Possible, with a higher income threshold, a deposit and medical insurance for each parent. We price this case by case because the conditions move and they are applied strictly.

What the visa actually gets you

An Emirates ID

The document everything else in the country runs on. Banking, tenancy, utilities, schools, health insurance and most government services start with it.

A personal bank account

Residents have a materially easier route to a personal account than visitors do, and to a salary or corporate card attached to it.

A UAE driving licence

Exchangeable directly from many countries once you hold residence, rather than sitting a full test from scratch.

No personal income tax

The UAE levies no personal income tax on salary or dividends. Corporate tax applies to the company, not to you personally.

Family on one file

You become the sponsor, so your family's residence runs off your own company rather than an employer who can end it.

Renewal you control

As the owner you are not dependent on an employer keeping you on. The visa renews as long as the licence does, and the licence is yours.

One number, in writing

Tell us what you are setting up

Fill in the form and we pass your details to the right licensing partner for your case. They come back with one itemised price covering the licence, the visa, the government fees and VAT. If Ajman NuVentures Centre is the wrong answer for your business, you will be told that instead.

No call centre, no cold calling, and nothing shared with anybody until you press send.

Free written quote

Tell us what you need

Fill this in and we pass it to the right licensing partner. Your quote comes back in writing.

Visa questions

What people ask before starting a visa file, and a few things they should ask.

Do I have to live in the UAE to keep the visa?

You have to enter the country at least once every six months or the residence permit lapses. There is no minimum number of days beyond that re entry and nobody counts your nights. This is why the Ajman licence and visa combination suits people who split their time between countries, and it is the single rule most people need to actually manage.

Can I do the whole thing remotely?

Almost. The company, the licence and the entry permit are all handled remotely, the last one electronically. The medical fitness test and the Emirates ID biometrics have to happen in person, so you need one trip. We schedule them back to back so two or three days in the country covers the entire in person requirement.

How long is the visa valid?

Two years from issue for a free zone investor visa, renewable on the same basis as long as the licence stays live, and your Emirates ID matches that term. Some categories and zones issue longer permits, and the exact term on your file is confirmed at issue rather than promised in advance, because it depends on the category applied.

What if I already have a UAE visa?

Take the licence only package at AED 4,888 and keep the visa quota open for later. If you are on an employment visa and want to move to your own company, the existing visa has to be cancelled before the new entry permit is issued, so the handover needs sequencing to avoid a gap. If your current employer controls that timing, raise it before anything else starts.

Is health insurance required?

Yes. Valid medical insurance is a condition of residence and of renewal, for you and for every dependant you sponsor. The premium depends on age, family size and level of cover, so no honest setup package includes it. We can introduce a broker. For a family it is often the largest recurring cost after the licence, so budget it properly rather than meeting it at renewal.

Is this a golden visa?

No. The golden visa is a separate long term residence scheme running five or ten years, with its own qualifying categories for significant investors, entrepreneurs, specialised talent and outstanding students. A company at this price level does not qualify anybody for it, and an agent implying otherwise is misleading you. If golden visa eligibility is the actual goal, it is a different conversation with different numbers.

Can I sponsor my spouse and children?

Yes, once your own visa is stamped. Dependants are sponsored by you personally rather than by the company, so they do not consume the company's visa allocation. The conditions are an income threshold and appropriate registered accommodation, and the documents needed are an attested marriage certificate and attested birth certificates. Start the attestation early, because it runs on foreign government timelines nobody here can speed up.

Can I sponsor my parents?

It is possible and it is meaningfully harder than sponsoring a spouse or children. It carries a higher income threshold, a refundable deposit per parent, mandatory medical insurance, and in some cases evidence of genuine dependency. The conditions are applied strictly and they change periodically, so we price this case by case rather than quoting a figure that may be stale by the time you act.

What happens at the medical test?

A blood test and a chest X ray at an approved fitness centre, screening for a small number of communicable conditions. It is not a general health examination and nobody is assessing your fitness to work. The appointment takes under an hour, standard results return in about a working day, and faster lanes exist for a small additional fee if your trip is tight.

Does the visa make me a UAE tax resident?

No, those are different things. A residence visa is immigration status. Tax residency has its own criteria based on presence, a permanent home and the centre of your interests, and a tax residency certificate is a separate application made on evidence. Your previous country applies its own tests to decide whether you have left. That part is a question for a qualified adviser in your own jurisdiction, not for a company formation specialist.

What happens to my visa if I close the company?

Visas sponsored by the company have to be cancelled before the licence can be cancelled, which is why liquidation follows a strict order. If you are moving to a different sponsor, sequence the cancellation and the new sponsorship so there is no gap. If you are leaving the UAE, the cancellation is straightforward and it matters that it is done properly, because an open immigration file complicates any future UAE company or visa.

Can my employees get visas on this licence?

Yes, within the allocation attached to the licence, which is tied to the facility rather than to your hiring plans. A standard package with a registered address supports a small number of visas. Beyond that you need a physical office, with the visa count set by the zone according to the space. Employee visas also bring obligations: contracts in the correct form and mandatory medical insurance for each person.