Dubai golden visa holders to get exclusive Esaad privilege card

Discounts include reductions on school fees and medical procedures

Lebanese singer Najwa Karam is one of many celebrities offered UAE's golden visa.

Lebanese singer Ragheb Alama

Egyptian actor Mohamed Ramadan Chris Whiteoak / The National

Fashion influencer Ola Farahat

Tunisian singer Latifa El Arfaoui

Lebanese singer Marwan Khoury

Egyptian actress Nelly Karim

Lebanese singer Walid Toufic

Egyptian singer and composer Hani Shaker

Lebanese television presenter Annabella Hilal

Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan

Chef Izu Ani

Chef Reif Othman

Lebanese actress Nadine Nassib Njeim

Syrian actor Kosai Khauli

Indian actor and director Sanjay Dutt

Lebanese designer Karen Wazen

Lebanese-Canadian basketball player Ali Kanaan

Film director Mohammed Samy with his wife, actress Mai Omar

Lebanese actress Jessy Abdo

Lebanese singer Myriam Fares

South Indian actor Mohanlal

Kerala star Mammootty

Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty

Kerala actor Tovino Thomas

South Indian actor Prithviraj.

Moroccan singer Imad Benaomar

Egyptian actor Karim Fahmi.

Egyptian actress Safia Alemary

Bollywood film producer Boney Kapoor.

Indian Bollywood singer Sonu Nigam.

Lebanese singer Elissa.

Giorgio Armani with his UAE golden visa in Dubai. Photo: Giorgio Armani

Pakistani actor Ali Zafar. Photo: Yash Raj Films

Pakistani actor Fakhr-e-Alam.

Bollywood star Ranveer Singh being presented his UAE golden visa in Abu Dhabi by Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi, the chief executive of Miral. Photo: Yas Island

Golden visa holders in Dubai are now eligible for a special privilege card issued by police in the emirate.

The Esaad card gives members a host of offers and discounts on a range of services, including school fees and medical procedures.

The green and gold discount card can be used at 7,237 brands and businesses in the UAE and in 92 countries worldwide.

The card is free to anyone who has been issued a five or 10-year golden visa in Dubai.

“The stability and incentives will encourage holders of the golden visa to continue contributing to Dubai’s wider economy,” said Abdulla Al Basti, secretary general of The Executive Council of Dubai.

“They will also help the city attract fresh and exceptional talent from across the world.”

First approved in 2020, golden visas are awarded to people who have made outstanding contributions to the UAE, have highly-prized abilities or work in industries regarded as vital to the economic growth of the country.

“In addition to benefiting from Dubai’s advanced infrastructure, state-of-the-art services and a unique modern lifestyle, golden visa holders will now enjoy attractive and exclusive benefits through their Esaad cards, including a host of discounts on a wide range of services, products, attractions and experiences,” said Saeed Almarri, director general of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism.

Golden visas are designed to enable foreigners to live, work and study in the UAE without the need for a national sponsor and with 100 per cent ownership of their business on the UAE mainland.

Anyone who purchases a property worth Dh2 million or more is automatically eligible for a golden visa.

If a person is awarded a golden visa, their spouse and children can also apply.

Those applying for a golden visa should register their interest on the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) website. People applying in Dubai can use the emirate's General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs website.

Dubai Media Office announced on Monday that the Esaad card would also be given to citizens in receipt of social benefits, military and civilian retirees from the government and private sectors jobs, as well as disabled and senior citizens in the emirate.