How to Get UAE Citizenship: What Emirati Nationality Law Allows, and Why Residents Cannot Simply Apply

Direct answer. You cannot get UAE citizenship just by living in the UAE for long enough and filling in a form. Emirati nationality is governed by Federal Law No. 17 of 1972 concerning Nationality and Passports, as amended, and almost every route in it says the nationality "may be granted". Meeting a residence period is not an entitlement. A grant is made by Federal decree and, under Article 20, it "may not be contested". In practice there are five doors: birth to a father who is Emirati by operation of law (or, in defined cases or after six years from birth under Article 10 bis, an Emirati mother); marriage, for a foreign wife of an Emirati man; long lawful residence of 3, 7 or 30 years depending on origin, which stays discretionary; a decree of the President, which can grant nationality without the residence periods (Article 9); and, since January 2021, nomination of selected investors, doctors, scientists, inventors and creative talents through the Rulers' and Crown Princes' Courts, the Executive Councils and the Cabinet. A UAE passport follows the nationality, never the other way round. Golden, Green and property visas are residence permits. They do not lead to a passport.

What UAE citizenship is, and which law governs it

UAE citizenship and Emirati nationality are the same thing. One federal law controls it: Federal Law No. 17 of 1972 concerning Nationality and Passports. It has been amended by Law No. 10 of 1975 and by Federal Decree-Law No. 16 of 2017.

Article 1 sets out three ways in: by operation of law, by affiliation (rendered "through citizenship" in ICP's English text) and by naturalisation. In plain terms: birth; affiliation, such as marriage for a foreign wife (Article 3); and naturalisation.

The authority responsible is the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security, known as ICP. Its current form was set by Federal Decree-Law No. 14 of 2021.

Three features explain why "how do I apply?" is the wrong first question:

• Discretion. The naturalisation articles use "may be granted". Meeting a residence count makes you eligible to be considered. It does not make you entitled.
• Decree. Subject to Article 14 bis, Article 20 says the "granting, deprivation, withdrawal and recovery of nationality shall be by a Federal decree and it may not be contested." Article 14 bis is the carve-out: there, deprivation follows a court judgment for terrorism or external State-security offences, and that judgment can be challenged before the Federal Supreme Court.
• Regulations. Article 19 leaves "the procedures and system for acquisition of the nationality" to the law's Executive Regulations. The UAE Government portal says those regulations were amended in January 2021.

This guide quotes ICP's English translation of the consolidated law, which includes the 2017 amendments. The law itself was issued in Arabic. Check with ICP for any later amendment before you rely on a specific article.

Residence is a separate legal matter. It is governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 29 of 2021 on the Entry and Residence of Foreigners. Articles 6 and 8 of the nationality law measure continuous, lawful residence, so lawful years on a residence visa are the kind of time those articles count. But the visa itself never converts into nationality, however long you hold it, and any grant stays discretionary.

Citizenship by descent: father, mother and foundlings

Article 2 lists who is Emirati "by operation of law". These are the cases that matter today:

• A father who is Emirati by operation of law. "Anyone born in the State or abroad to a father who is a national of the State by operation of law." The place of birth does not matter. Children of a naturalised father follow him as naturalised nationals (Article 10).
• An Emirati mother, in limited cases. A child born to an Emirati mother is Emirati by operation of law where the child's filiation to the father is not established, or the father is unknown or has no nationality (Article 2(c) and (d)).
• Foundlings. "Anyone born in the State to unknown parents." A foundling is deemed born in the State unless proved otherwise (Article 2(e)).

Children of an Emirati mother and a foreign father

This is the question many mixed families ask. Article 10 bis, added in 2017, says nationality "may be granted" to the children of an Emirati woman married to a foreign national "after the lapse of a period of no less than six years from the date of birth". There is a condition: the mother must have held the nationality from the child's birth until the date of the application.

The period is at least six years from the child's birth. And "may" means it is not automatic.

Article 10 bis also allows a grant to the daughter of an Emirati mother and a foreign father who is herself married to a foreigner, under controls set in the Executive Regulations. Confirm the current conditions with ICP.

Naturalisation routes written into the law

Outside descent, the law lists these routes. Every one of them is discretionary.

For most non-Arab expatriates, Article 8 is the only residence route: three decades and proficiency in Arabic, then a discretionary decree.

The foreign wife's route

Article 3 is often misquoted. The clock runs "from the date of submission of the application to the Authority", not from the wedding. It is ten years if there are no children. Article 3 is the only route where the law names an application to the Authority. Articles 5, 6 and 10 bis also measure their periods from an application, but none of these routes is an entitlement.

If the husband dies, or the couple divorce, before the period ends, and she has one or more children of that husband, she may still be granted the nationality once the period ends. She must remain a widow or divorcee, or marry a UAE national, and keep her residence in the UAE.

Article 4 says she keeps the nationality if her husband dies, and that it can then be withdrawn only if she marries a foreign national, or resumes her original nationality or acquires another one. The general withdrawal grounds in Article 16 still apply to nationality acquired through marriage.

The general conditions in Article 12 bis

Article 12 bis lists nine conditions for naturalisation. The applicant must:

1. renounce the nationality of origin or any other nationality held;
2. have lawful and continuous residence in the UAE;
3. be proficient in Arabic;
4. have a lawful source of income;
5. hold an educational qualification;
6. be of good reputation and good conduct;
7. have no conviction for a felony or misdemeanour involving moral turpitude or dishonesty, unless rehabilitated;
8. obtain security approval;
9. swear allegiance to the State.

A foreign wife of a national may be exempted from condition 5, the educational qualification.

Two more rules apply. "Nationality shall be given only once" (Article 12). And under Article 10, the minor children of a naturalised national are naturalised with that parent. They may choose their nationality of origin during the year after they reach majority, which Article 1 bis sets at 21.

The 2021 nomination route for investors and talent

According to the UAE Government portal's Emirati nationality page, in January 2021 the government amended the law's Executive Regulation to allow "specific categories of foreigners, their spouses and children to acquire the Emirati nationality."

The categories are investors, doctors, specialists, inventors, scientists, intellectuals, artists and creative talents, with their families. Conditions per category:

• Investors must own a property in the UAE.
• Doctors and specialists must work in a scientific discipline in high demand in the UAE, have acknowledged contributions and at least 10 years of practical experience, and hold membership of a reputable organisation in their field.
• Scientists must be active researchers with at least 10 years of experience in their field, and hold a recommendation letter from a recognised UAE scientific institution.
• Inventors must hold one or more patents approved by the Ministry of Economy or another reputable international body, and a recommendation letter from the Ministry.
• Intellectuals and creatives must be pioneers in art and culture, have won at least one international award, and hold a recommendation letter from the related government entities.

The decisive line is how it happens: "You can acquire the UAE's citizenship only through the Rulers' and Crown Princes' Courts, Offices of the Executive Councils and the Cabinet based on the nominations of federal entities." Nobody self-nominates. The portal describes no form, no fee, and no minimum property value or investment amount.

Nominees must take an oath of allegiance, abide by UAE law, and inform the UAE government entity if they acquire or lose any other citizenship. The portal adds: "The citizenship can be withdrawn upon breach of the conditions."

Can you keep your original nationality?

Usually, no. Article 11 says: "No one may be naturalized without renouncing the nationality of origin." Renunciation is also condition 1 of Article 12 bis.

The 2021 nomination route is the exception. The portal says it "allows the naturalised citizen to retain his original nationality." That exception belongs to nominees. It is not a general dual-nationality rule.

The rule also runs the other way. Under Article 15(c), an Emirati who willingly becomes a naturalised citizen of a foreign state is deprived of UAE nationality. Under Article 17, a national by operation of law who did so may recover the nationality by renouncing the foreign one. An Emirati woman who marries a foreigner keeps her nationality and loses it only if she acquires her husband's (Article 14).

How to get a UAE passport

The passport follows the nationality. Article 22 says: "Every national having acquired the nationality by operation of law, naturalization or affiliation may obtain a passport." A UAE passport is for nationals (Articles 22 and 39). The law's only exceptions are narrow: passports for non-national State employees sent on duties abroad, limited to those duties (Article 39), and temporary passports that ICP's Chairman may issue in special cases, regardless of the law's usual conditions (Article 27). Long residence is not a passport route.

So the answer has two steps: acquire the nationality, then apply for the passport through ICP, which the law makes competent "to issue and renew ordinary passports" (Article 32). In Dubai, GDRFA also provides passport services, such as replacing a lost or damaged passport.

A passport is cancelled if the holder's nationality is lost, withdrawn or deprived (Article 42). A temporary passport is valid for one year and renewable up to a total of three years (Article 27).

Passport fees are set by Cabinet decision, on the suggestion of ICP's Chairman and the proposal of the Minister of Finance (Article 45), and can change. Confirm the current figure with ICP or a licensed UAE lawyer.

Golden Visa, Green Visa and property: residence, not citizenship

The UAE Government portal is direct: "The Golden visa is a long-term residence visa", described on its Golden visa page as "a long-term, renewable residence visa valid for 5 or 10 years."

The same is true of the other routes:

• The Golden Visa gives long residence, not nationality.
• The Green Visa is another residence permit.
• A property-linked visa is still a residence visa.

None of these changes your nationality or gives you a passport. Lawful years on a residence visa are the kind of residence Articles 6 and 8 count, but the visa itself never converts into nationality, and a grant stays discretionary. Investors who want long-term status usually need the visa route; this short answer on which investors qualify for a Golden Visa is a starting point. Owning property is one condition of the 2021 investor nomination, but only a nomination by a federal entity opens that route.

How citizenship can be lost, and the risk of "citizenship agents"

Article 16 allows withdrawal from a national by naturalisation or affiliation:

• after repeated convictions for offences involving moral turpitude or dishonesty;
• where forgery, fraud or false information was used to obtain the nationality;
• where the person "has exercised citizenship rights at any other country";
• where the person lives outside the UAE without excuse "for a continuous period exceeding two years".

If a person's nationality is withdrawn, it may also be withdrawn from the wife and minor children.

Other grounds reach every national, including Emiratis by operation of law: a final conviction for terrorism or State-security offences (Articles 14 bis and 15 bis), and the grounds in Article 15, such as willingly becoming a naturalised citizen of a foreign state.

Be wary of anyone offering to sell UAE citizenship or a UAE passport. The portal describes no paid scheme, and nominations come only from federal entities. Obtaining nationality with false documents is a crime. Article 44 sets a penalty of up to 15 years' imprisonment and a fine of up to AED 50,000. A nationality obtained by fraud can also be withdrawn later.

Common mistakes, and your next step

These errors cost people time or money:

1. Counting from the wedding. For a foreign wife, the Article 3 clock starts when she applies to ICP.
2. Assuming dual nationality is allowed. Renunciation is the rule. Retention is a nominee exception.
3. Treating a Golden Visa as a pathway. It is residence. No visa category converts into nationality.
4. Paying an intermediary. No private agent can nominate you. Nominations come from federal entities.
5. Leaving for long periods after naturalisation. More than two continuous years abroad without excuse is a withdrawal ground.

If a family route may fit you, start with ICP. Ask which documents your route needs, and keep your marriage contract, children's birth certificates and proof of continuous residence in order. The procedure sits in the Executive Regulations, so ICP confirms the current steps.

If your case is not simple, an immigration lawyer listed on LEXAI can check which route, if any, applies, and help keep your residence status clean in the meantime. No lawyer can promise a grant: the decision belongs to the State.

This is general legal information, not legal advice. Confirm current procedure with the relevant authority or a licensed UAE lawyer.