Dubai · visa route
Emigrating to Dubai
Dubai doesn't assess you on points but on what you bring: an employer, an investment or an income. The application is the fastest of all visa routes — days, not months. This page shows the routes, and the trade that comes with them: the highest net on the site, against zero accrual and a right of residence that hangs on your sponsor.
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- Kind of journey
- Sponsored visa — employer, investment or income
- Lead time
- About 5 months; the application itself takes days
- Note
- Zero tax, but also zero accrual — no pension, no safety net
Last updated: August 2026
The journey
Five phases, from the route choice to the first cheque
The order is different from what you expect: not the application but the preparation takes time — documents through the legalisation chain, the school chosen before the neighbourhood, and the pension plan before the first payslip. The sixty-day clock only starts at landing.
- 1
Orientation
The honest trade, out loud
Five routes, no points: the employer route as standard, the Golden Visa (ten years) for AED 2 million in property or a salary from 30,000 a month, the Green Visa on your own income, the remote-work visa from USD 3,500 a month, and the retirement visa for the over-55s. In this phase you also make the trade explicit: zero income tax and the highest net on the site — against zero accrual, a right of residence that hangs on your sponsor, and a country that formally never becomes yours.
- 2
Your visa
The application is fast — the stamps aren't
Dubai decides on an entry permit within 48 hours, and the fees are hundreds of dirhams — the mirror image of Australia. The time is in what has to happen around it: the UAE isn't an apostille country, so every certificate goes through the full legalisation chain via the Consular Service Centre and the embassy. The family visa asks for legalised marriage and birth certificates, health insurance for the family is your duty as sponsor, and with children you choose the school before the neighbourhood — all education is private.
- 3
Closing the Netherlands
The world upside down
This is the phase in which Dubai shows its price, and it's the mirror image of every EU route. The AOW for singles drops back to the married rate — fifty percent, irreparably, because it hangs on the country of residence. There's no CAK route: private insurance is the only way. The protective assessment has no automatic deferral — sometimes you have to provide security. All benefits and the child benefit stop. And because nothing is accrued there, the most important step without a form belongs here: your own pension plan, laid down before departure.
- 4
The move
The border is strict on other things
Used household goods pass tax-free on first settlement, with inventory list and residence permit as keys. The real list is what's not allowed along: alcohol never in the container, medicines only on your person with papers — ordinary Dutch prescriptions like ADHD medication and sleeping pills are controlled substances here with a permit procedure. The dog has a banned list that includes the Rottweiler and the Dobermann. And the car you sell at home: no BPM refund outside the EEA, but a GCC market full of cheap alternatives. The landing itself starts the sixty-day clock.
- 5
Arrival in Dubai
Sixty days, one order — and then the discipline
Medical examination, Emirates ID, visa in the passport — after that everything opens at once: the bank (your salary runs compulsorily via the Wage Protection System), the family you now sponsor, and the home that wants to be paid a year ahead, in cheques, with Ejari as compulsory registration and the RERA index as protection. The driving licence exchanges without a test. And the most important habit starts with the first payslip: being your own pension every month — because the gratuity is a farewell gift, not an old age.
Look inside
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the Dubai journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 1.2 of your plan
Choose your route: employer, gold, green or income
- Lead time
- an evening of comparing
- Costs
- none
Five routes, no points and no lottery. The employer route is the standard: sponsor found, visa arranged — two years, renewable. The Golden Visa (10 years) you buy with AED 2 million in property, or earn with a specialist salary from AED 30,000 a month. The Green Visa (5 years, without a sponsor) asks as a freelancer AED 360,000 annual income over the last two years, or as a skilled worker AED 15,000 a month. The remote-work visa (1 year) is possible from USD 3,500 a month for whoever brings their Dutch job along. And the retirement visa (55+, 5 years) asks in Dubai AED 240,000 annual income, or AED 1 million in savings plus AED 1 million in property. Choose on the basis of what you have, not what you hope — the thresholds are hard.
What this step rests on
This is step 1.2 of 33. The other 32 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
What it costs
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 6.300 – € 20.000
Where does that difference come from?
- De eerste maanden€ 6.000 – € 18.000
Open the breakdown below: there you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 100 – € 1.300
- De verhuizing
- € 250 – € 700
- De eerste maanden
- € 6.000 – € 18.000
View the itemsPer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Emirates ID€ 50 – € 50
- Visum, medische keuring en sponsoring(estimate)€ 0 – € 1.000
De werkgever draagt wettelijk de kosten van het werkvisum van de werknemer zelf; wat overblijft is het gezin dat jij sponsort — entry permit, medische keuring en visumleges per gezinslid, plus servicekosten die per kanaal en emiraat verschillen. Wie zonder werkgever komt (Golden, Green, remote of retirement visa) betaalt alles zelf en zit aan de bovenkant van de band. Marktindicatie per persoon: AED 1.500-4.000 alles-in.
- Documenten legaliseren(estimate)€ 60 – € 250
De verhuizing
- Reis(estimate)€ 250 – € 700
Een enkele vlucht Amsterdam-Dubai per persoon, plus ruimbagage. De band is breder dan bij de Europese corridors omdat het seizoen hier echt telt.
De eerste maanden
- De eerste maanden(estimate)€ 6.000 – € 18.000
De grootste post van deze corridor, want Dubai betaalt vooruit: de wettelijke standaard is jaarhuur in maximaal vier termijnen vooráf (vaak in cheques), plus borg, makelaarscourtage, de housing fee van 5% van de jaarhuur, de DEWA-borg (AED 2.000 appartement / 4.000 villa) en Ejari-registratie. Wie kinderen heeft, telt de eerste schooltermijn mee — al het onderwijs is privaat. En vrijwel iedereen koopt in de eerste maanden een auto. Zonder eigen buffer begint Dubai niet.
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 6 to 10% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 15.000 to € 25.000.
De grootste post is de 4% overdrachtsvergoeding van het Dubai Land Department. Formeel deelt de verkoper mee, in de praktijk betaalt de koper het hele bedrag. Daar komen administratiekosten (AED 4.700 tot 5.500) bij en, bij een bestaande woning, 2% makelaarscourtage plus btw. Koop je rechtstreeks van de ontwikkelaar, dan vervalt die courtage. Contant koop je voor 4 tot 6%; met hypotheek loopt het naar 6 tot 8%. Buitenlanders betalen exact hetzelfde tarief als inwoners.
Note: buying isn't simply allowed here
Volledig eigendom kan alleen in de aangewezen freehold-gebieden — dat zijn er inmiddels veel (Dubai Marina, Downtown, Palm Jumeirah, JVC, Business Bay en meer), maar het is geen vrije keuze over de hele stad. Binnen die gebieden koop je als buitenlander met honderd procent eigendom.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 21 August 2026.
Your complete, personal cost picture — with your route, your documents and your deadlines — you get in Vertrekklaar.
That was the move. And once you live there?
Who may tax your pension once you live in Dubai, is there a favourable regime, and how do you become insured? That depends on where your income comes from. Tick it and you see which rules apply to you — with the source.
See the financial conditionsThe departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for Dubai: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that only a short update when something in Dubai really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Read on
The knowledge base on Dubai
Per phase, the articles that are already there. They're written from the same journey and go deeper than what fits above.
Your visa
- 3 min
The visa routes to Dubai: employer, gold, green or income
No points and no lottery: the UAE right of residence hangs on what you bring. The employer route is the standard, the Golden Visa (10 years) asks for AED 2 million in property or a salary from 30,000 a month, the Green Visa runs on your own income, and there's a route for remote workers and the over-55s. Plus what does not exist: permanent residence.
Updated 21 August 2026
- 2 min
Documents for Dubai: the legalisation chain explained
The UAE is not an apostille country, so the single stamp that suffices within Europe doesn't exist here. Every certificate goes through a chain: any pre-legalisation, the Consulair Dienstencentrum in The Hague (€ 10 per document), and the UAE embassy. Which documents you need, in which order the stamps go, and why you do this before departure.
Updated 21 August 2026
- 2 min
Schools in Dubai: everything is private, and this is how you choose
For expat children there is no public education in Dubai: everything runs through private schools under the supervision of the KHDA, with seventeen curricula side by side. The good news: the fees are regulated, for 2026-27 even frozen, and the "registration fee" is legally an advance that is offset against the fees. This is how you choose a school — and how you prevent your neighbourhood from choosing the school instead of the other way round.
Updated 7 September 2026
Arrival in Dubai
- 3 min
No pension in Dubai: the gratuity, the AOW trap and what you have to do yourself
The state portal says it literally: there is no pension scheme for expats. The end-of-service gratuity is capped at two years' salary, your AOW (the Dutch state pension) accrual stops, and single people see their AOW in the UAE fall back to half — irreparably, because it hangs on the country of residence. The zero-tax trade only works for whoever puts the difference aside themselves.
Updated 29 August 2026
- 2 min
Buying a house in Dubai: freehold in the designated zones, 4% at the DLD — and after that no tax, but a fee
In Dubai you buy full ownership as a foreigner, but only in the designated freehold areas. The transfer runs through a Registration Trustee office of the Dubai Land Department, with a 4% registration fee on the sale price and a digital title deed as proof. There's no annual property tax — there is the housing fee of 5% of the rental value that runs monthly through your DEWA account, and for apartments the service charges.
Updated 28 August 2026
- 3 min
Renting in Dubai: cheques, Ejari and the RERA index
Dubai rents in advance: the legal standard is a year's rent in at most four instalments up front, in practice cheques. Against that stand two protections newcomers rarely know: the compulsory Ejari registration that activates your tenancy rights, and the RERA index that reins in rent increases. Plus the items that come on top of the rent — from housing fee to DEWA deposit.
Updated 21 August 2026
Leaving the Netherlands — for every destination
- 2 min
Keeping a bank account and DigiD: the two lines you never cut
After your deregistration you still need the Netherlands for years — for the M return, refunds and your pension. Within the EU your bank account is a right, towards Australia a favour from the bank. And your DigiD you arrange before departure, not after.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
The protective assessment: the bill that travels with you, and that never expires for one item
On emigration the Netherlands imposes an assessment on your pension, your annuity and your substantial shareholding that you don't have to pay — as long as you do nothing that makes it collectable. For pension and annuity it usually lapses after ten years. For a substantial shareholding it doesn't: that one remains valid indefinitely.
Updated 27 August 2026
- 2 min
Emigrating with children after a divorce: the consent that comes before everything
With joint custody you can't just go abroad with the children — you need the consent of the other parent, or substitute consent from the court. What the court weighs, and why leaving without consent is legally child abduction.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Emigrating on early retirement: the CAK route is expected to close as of 1 November 2026
Whoever moves to the EU or Switzerland with a Dutch pension arranges their healthcare via the CAK. That door is closing to a crack: as expected, from 1 November only new applicants with AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong will be admitted. Early retirement and RVU fall outside it — whoever is already a customer keeps their rights.
Updated 16 August 2026
- 2 min
The M form: the tax return for the year in which you emigrated
For the year of your departure you lived partly inside and partly outside the Netherlands, and a separate return goes with that. Nowadays it can be done online — but you have to think of it yourself, because an invitation rarely comes by itself.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 2 min
Your AOW accrual stops on departure — and you have one year to repair that
Every year outside the Netherlands costs you 2% AOW (the Dutch state pension), for life. The SVB has a voluntary continuation that closes that gap — but signing up is only possible in the first year after departure, and almost everyone misses that deadline.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Your Dutch pension abroad: what comes along, and who levies
The AOW (the Dutch state pension) travels fully to the EU and to Australia — the latter thanks to a treaty from 2001. Your company pension too, but *where* you pay on it depends on the tax treaty, and the exemption you arrange yourself.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Cancelling your health insurance without a gap
Your Dutch basic insurance is tied to living or working in the Netherlands and stops being a given on emigration. The art is to have the end date match your new cover — and to know which route belongs to your situation.
Updated 28 August 2026
- 2 min
Taking medicines across the border: certificates, supply and the 90-day ceiling
For medicines under the Opium Act you need a certificate — and the Dutch system only carries you for three months. What you arrange with the CAK, what Australia wants to see at the border, and why finding a local doctor simply belongs to your first weeks.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 9 min
Partner comes along without a job of their own: deregistering, healthcare, AOW and the house
Your partner has a job, a visa or a right of residence there; you come along without a job of your own. Administratively you're then no passenger: the deregistration, the end of your health insurance and your AOW accrual apply to you separately. What you get back if you arrange it well, what it costs if you let it slide — and why "just staying registered" isn't an option.
Updated 7 September 2026
- 2 min
Stopping allowances on emigration: do it yourself, and in time
Housing allowance, healthcare allowance, childcare allowance and child budget don't stop by themselves on the day you leave. Whoever lets them run gets a reclaim months later — this is what you arrange per allowance.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 3 min
Deregistering with the municipality: when exactly, and what stops then
Deregistering from the BRP is only possible from five days before departure, and is compulsory as soon as you're away for more than eight months a year. What stops at that moment, what stays, and which piece of paper you have to ask for right away.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 6 min
When does your pension stay taxed in the Netherlands? The three pots and the three conditions
"Your pension is taxed in your new country of residence" is right by approximation and not in the details. Your AOW, your company pension and your government pension each follow a rule of their own, and with the company pension the Netherlands can still levy if three conditions apply at once. This article explains which three, and which four questions you have to answer for your own situation.
Updated 27 August 2026
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