Frontline workers to get golden visas, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed says

Crucial personnel and their families to be offered long-term residency

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, has instructed that frontline heroes be offered long-term residency. Rashed Al Mansoori / Crown PrShow more

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, has directed the authorities to issue golden visas to frontline workers and their families.

"Those eligible include the families of fallen frontline heroes, and distinguished individuals whose extraordinary efforts helped protect the nation and its people throughout the Covid-19 pandemic," state news agency Wam reported.

This initiative will provide enhanced stability to frontline heroes and their families, Wam reported.

It will also reinforce the UAE’s commitment to maintain a "world-class first line of defence" by granting long-term residency to the professionals who help protect the nation’s public health.

A golden visa grants residency in the country for up to 10 years. Normal visas are usually valid for two or three years.

To date, medical staff and other essential personnel who worked on the front lines of the pandemic have received help with schooling costs and other benefits and free flights home to see their families.

This month, 500 doctors in Abu Dhabi were granted long-term residency under the visas initiative.

As part of a continued push to attract talent to Abu Dhabi, the Department of Health Abu Dhabi and the Abu Dhabi Residents Office this month said that more doctors and healthcare practitioners are scheduled to be awarded golden visas.

On Sunday, Abu Dhabi's government set out two options for securing health insurance if you have a golden visa. Under the first option, your employer continues to cover you as they did when they provided you with a company-sponsored visa.

The second covers people, such as those with their own businesses, who sponsor their own family and children.

The streamlined service makes the "process simpler and more accessible to the public", Abu Dhabi Residents Office said. Applications can be made via the residents' office.

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