United Arab Emirates vs Republic of the Philippines
A neutral side-by-side of immigration systems, routes and regulators. Each row links to the underlying visa page with its primary government source.
Last reviewed:
Source basis
This comparison combines United Arab Emirates and Republic of the Philippines government portals with the primary sources for each side's dominant skilled route. Every detailed figure links through to the underlying route or data page.
Reviewed
Primary sources
- UAE Government Portal — Visa & Emirates ID
Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Ports Security (ICP) - verified
- Bureau of Immigration
Bureau of Immigration (Philippines) - verified
- UAE Government Portal — Green residence
ICP - verified
- Pre-arranged Employment Visa (9G) - Bureau of Immigration
Bureau of Immigration (Philippines) - verified
United Arab Emirates
The UAE issues residence via employer-sponsored work permits, Golden Visa long-term residence for skilled professionals and investors, the Green Visa for self-sponsored skilled workers, and a remote-work visa for overseas employees.
- Languages
- Arabic
- Currency
- UAE dirham
Republic of the Philippines
The Bureau of Immigration, under the Department of Justice, administers most visas in the Philippines, while the Philippine Retirement Authority runs the well-known Special Resident Retiree's Visa (SRRV). Headline routes include the 9G pre-arranged employment visa (paired with a Department of Labor and Employment work permit), the 13A non-quota immigrant visa by marriage, the SRRV and investor routes (SIRV, SVEG), and a Digital Nomad Visa established by Executive Order in 2025.
- Official portal
- Bureau of Immigration (Philippines)
- Languages
- Filipino, English
- Currency
- Philippine peso
How United Arab Emirates and Republic of the Philippines differ
| Dimension | United Arab Emirates | Republic of the Philippines |
|---|---|---|
| Total routes covered | 6 | 8 |
| Routes without employer sponsor | 5 | 6 |
| Routes leading to permanent residence | 1 | 5 |
| Typical full settlement timeline | Qualifying applicants may obtain 5- or 10-year self-sponsored long-term residence. Citizenship remains a separate, exceptional Presidential-decree process. | — |
| Dominant skilled visa | UAE Green Visa | 9(G) Pre-Arranged Employment Visa |
| Skilled visa salary minimum | — | — |
| Skilled visa processing time | UAE Government Portal — Green Visa does not publish one fixed, route-wide end-to-end processing time that can be stated responsibly for this application route. | — |
| Skilled visa government fees | — | — |
| Official languages | Arabic | Filipino, English |
| Currency | UAE dirham | Philippine peso |
| Primary regulator | MOJ | IBP |
| Policy changes (last 12 months) | 0 | 0 |
Skilled-route head-to-head
Comparing each country’s most-used skilled-migration route side by side.
United Arab Emirates
UAE Green Visa
- Salary minimum
- —
- Government fees
- —
- Processing time
- UAE Government Portal — Green Visa does not publish one fixed, route-wide end-to-end processing time that can be stated responsibly for this application route.
- Sponsor required
- No
- Leads to settlement
- No
Republic of the Philippines
9(G) Pre-Arranged Employment Visa
- Salary minimum
- —
- Government fees
- —
- Processing time
- —
- Sponsor required
- Yes
- Leads to settlement
- No
Routes unique to United Arab Emirates
Visa routes side by side
United Arab Emirates (6)
UAE Golden Visa
No sponsor · Leads to settlement · 5 or 10 years depending on category, renewable while the category conditions continue to be met.
UAE Green Visa
No sponsor · Non-settlement · 5 years, renewable.
UAE Employment (Standard Residence) visa
Sponsor · Non-settlement · 2 or 3 years, tied to employer.
UAE Virtual Working Programme
No sponsor · Non-settlement · 1 year, renewable.
UAE Green Residence — investor / business partner
No sponsor · Non-settlement · 5 years, renewable while the investment and activity conditions remain met.
UAE freelance permit with residence
No sponsor · Non-settlement · 2–5 years depending on scheme.
Republic of the Philippines (8)
9(G) Pre-Arranged Employment Visa
Sponsor · Non-settlement · Granted in line with the employment contract, commonly for periods of one to three years and renewable.
13(A) Non-Quota Immigrant Visa by Marriage
Sponsor · Leads to settlement · Probationary for the first year, then permanent on conversion once the marriage is confirmed subsisting.
Special Resident Retiree's Visa (SRRV)
No sponsor · Leads to settlement · Indefinite stay with multiple-entry privileges while the qualifying deposit and conditions are maintained.
Special Investor's Resident Visa (SIRV)
No sponsor · Leads to settlement · Probationary on issue, then indefinite stay for as long as the qualifying investment is maintained.
Special Visa for Employment Generation (SVEG)
No sponsor · Leads to settlement · Resident status with multiple-entry privileges while the qualifying enterprise and employment continue.
Digital Nomad Visa
No sponsor · Non-settlement · Up to one year initially, renewable once for a two-year maximum.
9(A) Temporary Visitor Visa
No sponsor · Non-settlement · Short initial stay on entry, extendable in increments up to the maximum allowed for temporary visitors.
Quota Immigrant Visa (Section 13)
No sponsor · Leads to settlement · Permanent residence once granted, subject to maintaining status.
Frequently asked questions
Which country has an easier skilled-migration route, United Arab Emirates or Republic of the Philippines?+
United Arab Emirates’s UAE Green Visa is the dominant skilled route; Republic of the Philippines’s 9(G) Pre-Arranged Employment Visa is the dominant skilled route. “Easier” depends on your salary, sponsor situation, and nationality — see each visa’s eligibility detail.
Does United Arab Emirates or Republic of the Philippines have more visa routes without an employer sponsor?+
Republic of the Philippines has more: 6 of its covered routes can be pursued without an employer sponsor, against 5 for United Arab Emirates. No-sponsor routes — such as digital-nomad, self-employment, and points-based skilled migration — matter most if you do not yet have a job offer.
Cite or reuse this dataset
This comparison is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0. Cite the page for the compiled head-to-head table and use the country-comparisons JSON endpoint to retrieve the indexed pair, destination profiles and underlying source datasets.
Suggested citation
Visa Atlas, "United Arab Emirates vs Republic of the Philippines immigration comparison", https://visaatlas.org/compare/uae/vs/philippines. Last verified 1 June 2026.
- JSON endpoint
- https://visaatlas.org/api/public/country-comparisons