The UK is a long-standing second home for families from the UAE and the wider Gulf, and a common next step for expatriates who have built wealth in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha or Riyadh. The biggest change is not the visa. It is moving from a low or no income tax environment into the UK tax system.
Visiting first
Nationals of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman can visit with an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), at £20, rather than a visa. Expatriates living in the Gulf follow the rules for their own passport, not their country of residence. See visiting before you move.
Routes Gulf families and expatriates use
- Innovator Founder: building a new UK business.
- UK Expansion Worker and Senior or Specialist Worker: for Gulf businesses opening or staffing a UK office.
- Global Talent and Skilled Worker: for senior professionals.
- UK Ancestry: for Commonwealth citizens among Gulf expatriates.
There is no investor visa. See is there a UK golden visa?
Tax: plan before you land
- If you have been non-UK resident for at least 10 years, you are likely to qualify for the 4-year foreign income and gains regime, which can keep foreign income and gains free of UK tax for four years.
- From year five, worldwide income and gains are taxed in the UK. Restructuring is far easier before you arrive.
- Watch your days: frequent trips while still Gulf-based can trigger UK residence earlier than planned. See the Statutory Residence Test.
- Long stays bring your worldwide estate into UK inheritance tax.
Property
If you buy before you have spent 183 days in the UK in the previous 12 months, the 2% non-resident stamp duty surcharge applies, on top of the 5% surcharge if you keep a home in the Gulf. See buying property.
Talk to a regulated adviser
Every route has its own traps. A specialist can check your plan before you commit time and money to it.
Business and private client firmsBrowse all solicitorsLast checked: 2 November 2026 against GOV.UK. General information, not legal or tax advice. See our disclaimer.