Your Guide to Employment Visas in the UAE With Meydan Free Zone
June 15, 2025
June 15, 2025
What if you could live and work in the UAE — tax-free, with full compliance, paperwork free — while building a team under your own business license?
The employment visa in UAE is your golden ticket to making that happen. Why? Because you’re looking at one of the fastest-growing hubs for business, talent, and peak opportunity.
So, whether you’re sponsoring talent under your license or relocating to launch your business in Dubai, Meydan Free Zone makes it surprisingly easy to turn that vision into reality with digital-first processes, 0% income tax, fast setup experiences, and a pro-growth environment built for ambitious talent.
This blog guides you through every step, from entry permits to final visa stamping, so you can confidently move from getting a business license to running a fully operational company.
Why UAE Is the Best Place to Get an Employment Visa
Let’s be real. Not every country makes it easy for you to live, work, and grow simultaneously. But guess what?
The UAE does.
This is a country designed for movement. Ideas move fast. Businesses scale quickly. People from over 200 nationalities come here to build without barriers.
What makes the UAE stand out?
- 0% personal income tax, so you keep what you earn
- Sponsor team members under your license
- Business-friendly laws, with clear visa pathways and less red tape
- A booming free zone ecosystem that lets you own 100% of your company
- Easy access to visas, even on flexible licenses, you don’t need to look for a local sponsor
- Access to over 3 billion consumers in an 8-hour flight radius
- World-class digital infrastructure, from banking to ID and visa renewals, you’re set up for success.
And with Meydan Free Zone, you can tap into this holistic ecosystem of Dubai free zone benefits for employees without the usual roadblocks.
Your business license comes with built-in visa allocations, so you can apply for your own investor visa and legally sponsor additional team members under your company.
Step-by-Step Employment Visa Sponsorship Process at Meydan Free Zone
Here’s how the free zone employment visa process works when you’re setting up through Meydan Free Zone:
- Choose your license: Choose the license that fits your structure best — Fawri is ideal for solo founders looking for a fast, one-license-one-visa setup, while the standard license suits businesses with multiple partners, shareholders, or visa allocations.
- Get your investor visa: As soon as your license is active, you can apply for a 2-year residency visa, as an investor. It gives you the right to live, work, and sponsor others.
- Get your establishment card: This creates your immigration profile. It’s what gives your company the power to sponsor visas, and once it’s active, you’re good to go.
- Unlock your visa allocation quota: Each license comes with a set number of eligible, exclusive visa slots.
- Sponsor employees under your license: Now you can bring in employees under your company at Meydan Free Zone.
We help with everything including medicals, Emirates ID, and visa stamping, to be in compliance with the labor law in Dubai. - Get your visa: Once approved, your UAE residency visa is issued digitally — no passport stamping required. You can view and manage your visa anytime using the official ICP mobile app.
The entire process takes 10-20 working days, if your documents are clean and ready.
Documents You Need to Secure an Employment Visa for Your Team at Meydan Free Zone
Here’s your simple checklist:
Why Meydan Free Zone Is the Smarter Choice for Your Employment Visa Sponsorship
The Dubai free zone visa process comes with real advantages for you and your employees.
Here’s what that means:
- Sponsor yourself and your entire team under a single license. You choose whom to hire, and when to.
- No NOC needed from a previous employer
- Visa eligibility and sponsorship possible even with flexi-desk packages
- Fully digital with end-to-end support
- Easy renewals and full compliance with local labour law
At Meydan Free Zone, we go a step further in making things simple for you by including visa allocations with your license. So, there’s no need to apply separately.
The Future of UAE Residency: No Stamps, No Cards
According to Gulf News, residency in the UAE is going fully digital. As of 2024, residency visas are no longer stamped into your passport — they are issued electronically and accessible via the ICP UAE Smart app.
What’s more, the UAE has begun phasing out physical Emirates ID cards in favour of facial recognition technology. Soon, your face will serve as your passport, your ID, and your access to services.
At Meydan Free Zone, we’re already aligned with these changes. From digital visa processing to paperless licensing, we give you a smart, future-proof way to live and work in the UAE.
In Conclusion
Business moves fast in the UAE, and so should you. With an employment visa through Meydan Free Zone, your team doesn’t just get a residency stamp — you unlock a smarter way to build, grow, and scale on your own terms. Whether you're setting up solo or bringing in top talent, everything from licensing to visa sponsorship happens in one place, fully digital, fully guided.
No hidden steps. No red tape. Just a clear path from vision to operation.
If you're ready to launch with confidence — and hire without limits — Meydan Free Zone is where it starts.
FAQs
1. Can I sponsor employees through my investor visa?
Yes, once you receive your investor visa and establishment card, you can sponsor employees under your business license. At Meydan Free Zone, we offer visa allocations even on flexi-desk packages, making it easy to grow your team legally and efficiently.
2. Does Meydan Free Zone issue employment visas directly?
Not directly. Meydan Free Zone issues investor visas to business owners. Once you have your license and investor visa, you can sponsor others for employment visas under your company’s name.
3. How long does the visa process take at Meydan Free Zone?
Timelines can vary depending on your setup and documentation, but our fully digital process is designed to keep things quick, simple, and seamless from start to finish.
4. What documents are needed for a UAE investor visa?
You’ll need a valid passport copy, photo, trade license, entry permit, medical fitness certificate, and Emirates ID registration. If you're sponsoring employees, their documents and employment contracts will also be required to process the visa.
5. How many visa slots are included with my license?
Your Meydan Free Zone licence can include up to 6 visa slots, depending on your business setup. If you need more, our team can guide you through the options to expand your quota as your company grows.
6. Can I apply for a UAE visa online?
Yes. The entire process, from investor visa to employee sponsorship, is handled through Meydan Free Zone, fully online. There’s no paperwork, no queues, and support is available 24/7.
7. Is the visa process aligned with Dubai’s labour laws?
Absolutely. Meydan Free Zone’s process is fully compliant with labour law in Dubai. From employment contracts to visa stamping, everything is done legally and transparently.
