On January 30th, 2021. The UAE’s Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said they approved an amendment that allows some selected categories of non-UAE residents to gain citizenship. change was made to attract and retain individuals with specialized skills. It seems that among the specialized skills are Doctors, Artists, Investors, and people with special talents.
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/news/uae-citizenship-law-full-list-of-announcements-reactions
This news came from Ruler of Dubai.
This is a great news for many people that if this happens can call UAE home, and for the UAE local population as well. This is a huge step into immigration reform in the region. Anything that UAE and especially Dubai does eventually get adopted by the other GCC countries especially, Qatar and Bahrain.
The local population (citizens) in UAE constitute only around 10% of total UAE population, and resident above the age of 62 will have their work permit revoked and encouraged to travel back to their country of origin. Allowing citizenship will help some expats to become locals and feel safer to invest in UAE, also many instead of sending money back home, they can consider UAE home and reinvest in the country.
However, this law was not passed before because many locals disagree due to their fear that this can create fast change in their country’s cultural and social fabric. Till now, the only nationals that are not been born from local father are the wives of some local men, and this may change if the above announcement become law.