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I can't seem to find the answer to this anywhere else, so perhaps someone can help..

I plan to move to Dubai early next year. Initially, I will be renting a house but plan to look for and buy a property whilst renting.

I work for myself with no staff.

What type of visa would I require for this and how do I go about obtaining one?

I did read that one can obtain a visa by buying a property, but the chances are that my property search will take several months, maybe even more than a year.

Investor visa if you invest with a UAE company (see UAE visa table).
Or set up as a freelancer in one of the free zones (cheapest way) or a free zone company (see UAE free zones).
Or if you have a free visa on arrival passport, do a visa run to Oman every month (but that has its limitations).

Sorry, should have made myself clearer. I work from home, and want advice on getting a visa to allow me to stay in Dubai on that basis.

The advice I seek is about obtaining a visa, not setting up a business.

Yes, that's what I understood. Unless you're a housewife with a husband to sponsor you, same answers apply .

You have to get a work visa under one of the freezones then I'm afriad. Residence/visit visas do not allow you to work.

Apologies, maybe I'm being stupid here. I want to work from home, and I want my home to be where I want it to be, not necessarily in a specified free zone, so how do I achieve this?

And FYI I'm a man with a family, if this helps.

And my business is already up and running and is international, so it's not like I need any permission to run it. I ran it from the Burj Al Arab Hotel for two weeks last year.

Surely someone here must work for themselves and can give me some help?

Let me jump in as well.

Legally you cannot work form home without a work permit, in order to get this you have to work for a registered company, start your own or, as was pointed out get a freelancer visa through one of the freezones.

You may not represent yourself in the UAE as a business entity without registration (which includes doing a spot of freelancing from home), in this part of the world it is considered fraud and you can go to jail for it.

The same applies to working without a valid work permit; you can under extreme circumstances be arrested and jailed/ fined or even deported.

Most things in Dubai revolve around money, company registration is the vehicle the government and municipality use to regulate business and generate revenue through.

At the moment the only way you can get "permanent" residency in the UAE (as a foreigner) without being employed by someone, is to either start your own business (investor visa or FZ freelance visa) or buy a property in which case the developer (if reputable) will be able to sponsor you for residence (residence only - not work)

the freezone option is by far the easiest and safer route.

the freelancer visa allows you to work from home, but the registered company address must be in the FZ

Money is not an issue for me - the business is 100% web based and is currently run as an offshore Ltd company, which I see no reason to change. Surely there must be a way for me to do this - I will be investing a small fortune in property.

Perhaps, reading between the lines, the simple option is to simply obtain a resident's visa when I buy my property and just keep quiet about my business?

that does it. just keep a very low profile

Thanks. Or if I wanted to be legit I could stick the AED 70k into a local business and get an investor visa?

would cost you a lot more than 70K got a local business start-up, the company has to be financed to a tune of 300k on registration. add to that all the registration and legal costs ... etc

70k should however get you a freelance visa at media city though ...
i may have some contact details somewhere, let me check i'll get back to you in 5 min

sent you a pm, hope this helps

Thanks, but as I haven't made 10 posts yet I am banned from picking up or sending pm's - not a very helpful feature.

Can u email it to me please at r7689n@live.co.uk and post here when u have done so, as it's an account I don't check very often?

Thanks in advance

dbxsoul wrote:would cost you a lot more than 70K got a local business start-up, the company has to be financed to a tune of 300k on registration. add to that all the registration and legal costs ... etc

I meant something different. Instead of you setting up a business, you invest 70k into someone else's UAE business as an investor and get a visa that way. I think it has to be with an Emirati. I don't know any further details, it's just one of the visa types I'm vaguely aware of.

I give up on sboxster though. I know exactly what s/he is asking. There must be a new feature on the forum that translates my replies into Oompa Loompa language or something equally obscure .