United Arab Emirates · Citizenship by naturalisation
Emirati Citizenship by Nomination
Federal Decree-Law 16/2021 amended the Nationality Law from January 2021 to permit naturalisation of investors, doctors, scientists, inventors, intellectuals and creative talents by nomination. It is NOT an application-based programme and NOT citizenship by investment. Still in force as at July 2026, with grants remaining rare and unpublished.
The 2021 reform is regularly mis-sold as a Gulf citizenship-by-investment programme. It is not. There is no cheque size that produces an Emirati passport, no application form, and no appeal — and any adviser offering to secure one is misrepresenting the law.
Qualifying routes
Nomination by a Ruler's Court, Crown Prince Court, an Executive Council or the Cabinet. Categories include investors (property ownership required), doctors and specialists, scientists, inventors, and creatives. No published financial threshold and no application channel.
The facts
- Total landed cost
- No published fee — there is no public application route to price
- Physical presence
- Not published
- Family
- spouse and children of a nominated person may be included
- Permanent residency
- Not applicable
- Citizenship
- Nomination only — no qualifying period a foreigner can rely on
- Language test
- Not published; Arabic proficiency is expected in practice
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- nomination by an authorised UAE bodyfor investors: property ownership in the UAEoath of allegiancecommitment to notify authorities on acquiring or losing another nationality
- There is no application process. Anyone selling 'UAE citizenship by investment' is selling something that does not exist.
- Dual citizenship is permitted for naturalised Emiratis under the 2021 amendments — but only if your own country permits it, and citizenship can be withdrawn under the Nationality Law.
- Numbers granted are not published. Treat the probability as effectively nil for planning purposes.
- Because the UAE passport is the strongest in the Middle East (Henley rank 5, 184 destinations), it attracts a disproportionate volume of fraudulent offers.