The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security (ICP) has unveiled a dedicated five-year Golden Residency track for outstanding secondary-school students who score at least 95 percent and secure a Ministry of Education endorsement. Successful applicants can sponsor parents and siblings, giving entire families long-term stability without an employer guarantor. Education consultants say the move fills a missing link between the well-known 10-year Golden Visa for university achievers and shorter study-linked visas. By targeting high-school talent, the UAE hopes to lock in future STEM graduates before they pick overseas universities. For multinational companies running scholarship programmes, the new visa creates an early-pipeline incentive: firms can co-sponsor promising students, fast-tracking their path to internships and, eventually, employment under the skilled-professional Golden Visa category. Parents weighing private-school tuition in Dubai or Abu Dhabi also gain a tangible return on investment; if a child meets the 95 percent threshold, the family’s residency horizon is suddenly five years, cutting renewals and associated medical-test costs. Immigration advisers caution that documentation must be immaculate—MOE letters and attested transcripts are mandatory—and warn that students who defer post-secondary study abroad may need to convert to another residency category before the five-year term lapses.
Source: Pakistan Connect
