FREE ZONE VISA
A Concise Guide to Getting a Free Zone Visa in UAE
If you are looking to settle in the United Arab Emirates, then you would require a UAE Visa. Now, getting a ‘normal’ visa might take some time. However, you can apply for a free zone visa in UAE which might be a bit easier to get. In the following article, we would take a look at the things that you should know about the free zone visa. So, without much further ado, let’s begin!
You can obtain a free zone visa in the UAE Free Zones through various ways. In UAE, Residence Visa of every kind is issued by the General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs (GDRFA) in the UAE. They are the authorities who possess all the files related to visa applications, included free zone visa.
Every free zone is administered by a Free Zone Authority (FZA). When you are applying for a free zone visa in UAE, The Free Zone Authority would be the sponsor of your visa. Today, there are more than 45 free zones in the 7 emirates in the UAE. Therefore, all the application for free zone visa in UAE and all government related matters need to be done in the respective Emirate.
Types of Residence visa in the Free Zone
There are many ways in which you can get a free zone visa in UAE. The most popular method to obtain a free zone visa is to get an employment contract from a free zone company. In such a contract, the employee and employer shall enter into an agreement. Based on the employer’s discretion, the contract can either be unlimited or limited. The free zone visa issued in such cases is normally valid for 3 years On the other hand, onshore visas are normally valid for 2 years.
The Free zones are not deemed to be ‘Onshore’. This means that there are certain restrictions on a free zone company and they are not allowed to do business in UAE. They can import or export products or sell their products, anywhere across the world. For getting a Free zone visa, you do not deal with UAE Ministry of Labour (Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation – MOHRE) at all. This reduces the hassles. You only need to deal with the Immigration department (GDRFA). This means that Free zone visa do not allow you to work outside the Free Zone as they do not have a full UAE Labour contract.
There is another way of getting a free zone visa in UAE. If you are an entrepreneur, then you can open a UAE Free zone company and become eligible for a free zone visa with an Investor visa. An Investor visa is likewise valid for 3 years you don’t need to make any deposit at the immigration. A lot of people actually prefer Investor visa as the application process is simpler and submission of the legalized diploma is not mandatory in most Free zones.
Both Employment and Investor visa holders can apply for visa for their dependents’ residence visas i.e. wife, children, husband, housemaid, etc. If you have a free zone visa through employment, you need to meet a specific range of salary and also conform to a set of requirements to apply for the dependent’s residence visa.
Requirements
You need to fulfill certain requirements to get free zone visa. You must be present in the UAE for the period starting from applying for the visa up to the time when you receive back the passport from the free zone with the stamped residence visa on it. Apart from that, you would also need the following documents:
- Blood test and X-ray results from the medical test at the UAE immigration department
- Original valid passport
- Legalized and Attested Educational Certificate. This is needed for free zone visa with higher job category or Professionals i.e. Manager, Engineer, Nurse, Teacher, etc.
If you want more information on the free zone visa and you want to reduce the hassles of getting a visa, then you can get in touch with Arab Business Consultant. They would help you in every way possible. So, get the help of the experts and get a free zone visa without any hassles.
