Plan your move
Find your Dubai residence route. Build your moving checklist.
Turn your work, family and departure-country circumstances into a practical starting plan — with the right questions to ask before you commit.
This planner from Dubai Tax Resident combines a residence-route comparison with a checklist you can tick off and download. It helps you prepare for a consultation; it does not approve a visa or determine tax residence.
What the result does — and does not — establish
The result highlights a route to investigate and practical tasks for the circumstances you select. It does not verify your documents, legal status, nationality-specific requirements, health cover or authority approval. Residence permission, work permission and tax residence are separate questions.
For a business-owner move, the consultant should compare the activity, jurisdiction, immigration requirements and renewal costs together. For a family move, each dependent needs the appropriate application and supporting evidence. A convenient package does not remove those requirements.
Bring a clearer brief to your consultation
Use the checklist to explain your work, family and timing. Ask for an itemised plan covering the steps, documents, fees and renewals that apply to you.
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Official requirements behind this planner
Checked 26 October 2026. The virtual-work income reference comes from GDRFA’s virtual-work residence requirements. Family applications follow the UAE government’s family residence guidance. Company decisions should follow the relevant authority’s rules for business setup options. Check the current rules when applying.
Frequently asked questions
The planner compares residence routes and builds a practical moving checklist based on how you will work, your departure country, who is moving with you and where you are in the process. You can tick off and download the checklist. It helps you prepare for a consultation but does not approve a visa or determine tax residence.
No. The planner requires no name, email or passport details, and your answers are processed in your own browser. Saving checklist progress on your device is optional. If JavaScript is disabled, the planning guidance and consultation link on the page remain available, so you can still review the recommended order of decisions.
It covers running your own business, staying employed by a company outside the UAE, working for a UAE employer, joining a resident family sponsor, or still comparing options. Property, retirement, Golden Visa and specialist routes need a separate assessment, and the short planner does not screen every nationality or individual condition.
Match the residence route to your actual work and family situation, review departure-country obligations before setting a date, prepare documents and a realistic first-year cash budget, then complete residence, identification and practical settlement in the required sequence. Residence permission, work permission and tax residence remain separate questions throughout the process.