UAE Golden Visa: Which universities make you eligible? Here's the full list

In April 2022, the UAE Cabinet launched an updated Golden Visa system to attract global talent, offering long-term residency to graduates from the world's top 100 universities. This initiative aligns with the UAE's Centennial 2071 vision, emphasizing science, technology, and entrepreneurship. The policy shift allows Golden Visa holders to sponsor family members, encouraging long-term settlement and professional growth.
UAE Golden Visa: Which universities make you eligible? Here's the full list



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:
  1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

  2. University of Oxford

  3. Stanford University

  4. University of Cambridge

  5. Harvard University

  6. California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

  7. Imperial College London

  8. University of London

  9. Zurich Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich)

  10. University of Chicago

  11. National University of Singapore (NUS)

  12. Nanyang Technological University (NTU)

  13. University of Pennsylvania

  14. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)

  15. Yale University

  16. University of Edinburgh

  17. Tsinghua University

  18. Peking University

  19. Columbia University

  20. Princeton University

  21. Cornell University

  22. University of Hong Kong

  23. University of Michigan

  24. University of Tokyo

  25. Johns Hopkins University

  26. University of Toronto

  27. Australian National University

  28. McGill University

  29. University of Manchester

  30. Northwestern University

  31. Fudan University

  32. University of California, Berkeley

  33. Kyoto University

  34. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)

  35. King’s College London

  36. Seoul National University

  37. University of Melbourne

  38. University of Sydney

  39. Chinese University of Hong Kong

  40. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

  41. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)

  42. New York University

  43. University of New South Wales

  44. PSL Research University (Paris Sciences et Lettres)

  45. Zhejiang University

  46. University of British Columbia

  47. University of Queensland

  48. University of California, San Diego (UCSD)

  49. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

  50. Shanghai Jiao Tong University

  51. Technische Universität München (TUM)

  52. Duke University

  53. Carnegie Mellon University

  54. City University of Hong Kong

  55. University of Amsterdam

  56. Tokyo Institute of Technology

  57. Delft University of Technology

  58. Monash University

  59. Institut Polytechnique de Paris

  60. Brown University

  61. University of Warwick

  62. University of Bristol

  63. Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg

  64. Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

  65. Universiti Malaya

  66. Hong Kong Polytechnic University

  67. University of Texas at Austin

  68. National Taiwan University

  69. Universidad de Buenos Aires

  70. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven)

  71. University of Zurich

  72. Sorbonne University (formerly Paris IV and UPMC)

  73. University of Glasgow

  74. Korea University

  75. University of Wisconsin-Madison

  76. Osaka University

  77. University of Southampton

  78. Lomonosov Moscow State University

  79. University of Copenhagen

  80. Yonsei University

  81. Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)

  82. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  83. Tohoku University

  84. Durham University

  85. University of Washington

  86. University of Auckland

  87. Lund University

  88. Georgia Institute of Technology

  89. Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)

  90. University of Birmingham

  91. University of St Andrews

  92. University of Leeds

  93. University of Western Australia

  94. Rice University

  95. University of Sheffield

  96. Pennsylvania State University

  97. Sungkyunkwan University

  98. University of Science and Technology of China

  99. Technical University of Denmark

  100. University of North Carolina

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