Director visa in the UAE

There is no permit called a director visa here. There is a long-term residence category written for senior officers, an ordinary residence sponsored by the company, and a founder's route for the person who owns the business rather than runs somebody else's.

How this compares with Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong is set out on director and executive visas; everything else we handle here sits on our UAE page.

Which route reaches the office you hold

Long-term residence for senior officers

Granted for ten years to skilled professionals in senior occupational levels, which expressly includes chairpersons and chief executives at level one and specialists at level two, under the labour ministry's classification.

What that route reads

A valid work permit under an approved employment contract, a bachelor's degree or equivalent, a monthly salary of at least AED 30,000, and health insurance covering you and the family for the whole term.

The founder's alternative

Where you own the business rather than draw a salary from it, the entrepreneur category asks for a registered small or medium venture in an approved field with annual revenue of at least AED 1,000,000.

Ordinary residence, sponsored

The company sponsors you like any employee. Cheaper and faster to obtain, tied to that employer, and renewed every two years instead of every ten.

What the authorities charge

The work permit price is set by the employer's grade, not by the employee: A, B or C, awarded on the company's record with labour law, the wage protection system and workforce diversity. A C-grade employer makes every hire dearer, including yours.

Living with the permit once it is granted

The ten-year status is reviewed against its own conditions for as long as it runs. Where the salary falls below AED 30,000 or the employment contract is cancelled, the permit is cancelled with it, and the authority keeps the right to check that the conditions still hold.

One rule runs the other way. A holder of the long-term permit is outside the ordinary rule that voids residence after 180 days abroad: the permit lapses only if it expires while the holder is outside the country. For a director who lives between offices, that single exemption is usually the reason the route is worth its paperwork.

Sources: category, occupational levels, salary, contract, degree and insurance conditions — Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security, updated 10 September 2026; documents, charges, cancellation trigger and the exemption from the 180-day rule — General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs, Dubai; work permit price by company grade — the official portal.