Zero personal income tax, world-class infrastructure, and a straightforward renewable visa. Dubai is the highest-cost destination on this site, but it's the only one where your take-home stays 100% yours.
Photo: Unsplash, free-to-use licence
UAE in short
We cover 2 cities in UAE. A mid-range solo month runs from about $2,200 in Abu Dhabi to about $2,800 in Dubai (our planning estimates, method). The visa tracker has 1 record for UAE, read on official pages and last checked 28 Sept 2026.
Sorted from cheapest. Monthly cost is a mid-range solo scenario in US dollars; housing is the accommodation line of the same scenario. Wifi and safety are planning figures, not measurements.
How this page is built: visa rows are read from the audited tracker, which links each figure to an official page and dates the check; city figures are editorial planning estimates (method). Rules change, so confirm with the authority before you apply. Researched from official immigration pages and the site's cost dataset.
Earlier summary of the visa route
Scheme
Virtual Working Programme
Maximum stay
1 year, renewable indefinitely
Income or savings
$3,500/month
Difficulty
Easy
These summary figures were carried over from the earlier site and are not individually dated. Where they differ from the official-source records above, the records win.
