The UAE’s Golden Visa has become a powerful symbol of the country’s ambition to attract the best minds from across the world. Ten years of residency, no need for a local sponsor, family sponsorship rights, and the promise of professional freedom in one of the most connected hubs of the 21st century—few offers are more attractive to high-achieving graduates.That allure only grew stronger after a landmark policy update in April 2022. In a bid to sharpen its competitive edge in the global talent race, the UAE Cabinet expanded the eligibility criteria to include graduates from the world’s top 100 universities. Whether you studied in Boston, Beijing, Bengaluru, or Berlin, if your alma mater features in the upper echelons of the QS World University Rankings, you now have a gateway to the Emirates.The reforms are part of the UAE’s broader strategy to pivot from an oil-based economy to a knowledge-powered one, as outlined in its ambitious Centennial 2071 vision. Science, technology, research, and innovation aren’t just buzzwords—they’re pillars for national transformation.In addition to global graduates, the programme now welcomes high-performing students in UAE schools and exceptional local university alumni. Assessment criteria include academic performance, year of graduation, and the global standing of the institution—making this one of the most merit-based visa regimes in the world.Experts say the UAE is making a deliberate shift from a traditional sponsorship model to a self-sponsored, skills-first approach. Read: Why UAE is a great destination for students
Who is eligible?
According to the Emirates News Agency, the new visa policy is designed to “attract and retain global talents and skilled workers” and enhance the UAE’s competitiveness in the global job market. The Golden Visa is open to:
- Graduates from the top 100 universities worldwide
- Outstanding graduates from UAE universities
- High-performing students in UAE schools
Applications from graduates will be evaluated based on:
- Academic performance
- Year of graduation
- University classification
These criteria are aligned with QS World University Rankings, which consider factors like teaching quality, research output, and employability. “The UAE’s visa program shows that university rankings are an important tool for comparing university performance in a global context,” said Leigh Kamolins, Director of Analytics and Evaluation at QS. “It highlights the importance that governments and employers are placing on reputable, quality education for enabling career mobility and driving knowledge economies.” The updated policy also allows Golden Visa holders to sponsor family members, another step toward encouraging longer-term settlement and professional development within the UAE.“The recent changes… mark a shift from immigration based on a sponsorship model to a self-sponsored model,” said Abeer Husseini, Partner at immigration law firm Fragomen.
Top 100 universities eligible for UAE Golden Visa
Below is the complete list of the top 100 universities worldwide, whose graduates are eligible to apply for the UAE Golden Visa:
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- University of Oxford
- Stanford University
- University of Cambridge
- Harvard University
- California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
- Imperial College London
- University of London
- Zurich Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich)
- University of Chicago
- National University of Singapore (NUS)
- Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
- University of Pennsylvania
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
- Yale University
- University of Edinburgh
- Tsinghua University
- Peking University
- Columbia University
- Princeton University
- Cornell University
- University of Hong Kong
- University of Michigan
- University of Tokyo
- Johns Hopkins University
- University of Toronto
- Australian National University
- McGill University
- University of Manchester
- Northwestern University
- Fudan University
- University of California, Berkeley
- Kyoto University
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)
- King’s College London
- Seoul National University
- University of Melbourne
- University of Sydney
- Chinese University of Hong Kong
- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
- Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
- New York University
- University of New South Wales
- PSL Research University (Paris Sciences et Lettres)
- Zhejiang University
- University of British Columbia
- University of Queensland
- University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
- London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University
- Technische Universität München (TUM)
- Duke University
- Carnegie Mellon University
- City University of Hong Kong
- University of Amsterdam
- Tokyo Institute of Technology
- Delft University of Technology
- Monash University
- Institut Polytechnique de Paris
- Brown University
- University of Warwick
- University of Bristol
- Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg
- Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
- Universiti Malaya
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- University of Texas at Austin
- National Taiwan University
- Universidad de Buenos Aires
- Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven)
- University of Zurich
- Sorbonne University (formerly Paris IV and UPMC)
- University of Glasgow
- Korea University
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Osaka University
- University of Southampton
- Lomonosov Moscow State University
- University of Copenhagen
- Yonsei University
- Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Tohoku University
- Durham University
- University of Washington
- University of Auckland
- Lund University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
- University of Birmingham
- University of St Andrews
- University of Leeds
- University of Western Australia
- Rice University
- University of Sheffield
- Pennsylvania State University
- Sungkyunkwan University
- University of Science and Technology of China
- Technical University of Denmark
- University of North Carolina
