- Dubai's residency authority published details of a service granting residence permits to wives and children of GCC nationals on foreign passports
- The permit applies to family members of citizens from six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, with no additional conditions attached
- Qualifying families can apply through the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai
Source: Getty Images
Dubai has opened a straightforward path to legal residency for the families of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nationals who travel on non-GCC passports. The service, published on the official portal of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFAD), is active in 2026 and carries no additional requirements based on the foreign passport's country of origin.
The move is particularly relevant for mixed-nationality families where the GCC national head of household holds citizenship in one of the six member states, but their spouse or children carry passports from outside the GCC bloc.
The 6 countries covered
The Gulf Cooperation Council is a political and economic alliance of six Arab nations. All six are covered under this residence permit service:
1. Saudi Arabia
3. Kuwait
4. Qatar
5. Bahrain
6. Oman
If a citizen of any of these countries has a wife or children holding foreign passports, those dependants are eligible to apply for a Dubai residence permit through the GDRFAD's dedicated service.
Source: Getty Images
How the Dubai residence permit works
The GDRFAD is the authority responsible for all residency and immigration matters in Dubai. This particular service was designed with mixed-nationality families in mind, removing the hurdle of additional conditions that might otherwise apply depending on the passport a dependant holds.
By making the process condition-free, Dubai effectively widens the door for a broad range of nationalities to gain legal residence in the emirate, provided the sponsoring family member is a verified GCC national.
Families who believe they qualify can access the full application details through the GDRFAD service page on the official Dubai government portal.
Read the full article here.
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Source: Briefly News
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