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Dual citizen = dual residency in UAE: Possible to get 2 residence visas with 2 passport in same country?

insanebrain

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Jun 30, 2020
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I am holding two EU passports. I plan to set up my residency in Dubai, with both my citizenships that have different last names. Is this legal?

I know its perfectly fine to enter/leave the country with the same passport if you are a dual citizen, giving you a different tourist visa. But what about getting actual permanent residency with both...?

This is all needed because I need to tell the almighty tax-man in my country that I have a 0%-tax-residence on all my money I have earned the day I return back to EU.

I am well aware UAE is in love with iris/eye scan and facial recognition but would they really be upset if I get 1 residence visa by buying an apartment and another visa by company formation? From what I understood is as long as you spend money here and behave good its ok. Will most likely consult with a lawyer but thought I could ask here first if anyone already have the info or experience.
 
I would definitely consult a lawyer but from my experience no country allows you to legally be resident (or hold any visa status) under two identities.
So trying to have two legal residencies simultaneously in the same country with two different names is not a good idea I think.
Unless you really need both names, I would just change one of your names to align them, and then do the Dubai residency in that name.
 
Not possible in the UAE. They do a Retna scan when you enter the country so if you enter on a passport in a different name from the last one you will have some explaining to do. Not a problem if they are legit but they won't issue you 2 ID cards/ residency.
 
Does anyone know if the airline data can cause an issue?

If you leave country 1 on passport A and arrive country 2 on passport B, immigration in countries 1 and 2 presumably have access to the passport number on the flight booking, but do they care? If so then you'd need non-connecting flights via country 3.
 
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Does anyone know if the airline data can cause an issue?

If you leave country 1 on passport A and arrive country 2 on passport B, immigration in countries 1 and 2 presumably have access to the passport number on the flight booking, but do they care? If so then you'd need non-connecting flights via country 3.
Americans with dual citizenships do this all the time, because -- under U.S. federal law -- you can only enter and leave the U.S. using your U.S. passport. You cannot lawfully use a second passport.

So, for example, if you leave the U.S. and also have a EU citizenship you can then enter the EU with your EU passport.

Edit: Perhaps I misunderstood. If you have two passports with different last names (for example, one with the Spanish dual surnames) I suppose that could cause an issue.
 
I am holding two EU passports. I plan to set up my residency in Dubai, with both my citizenships that have different last names. Is this legal?

I know its perfectly fine to enter/leave the country with the same passport if you are a dual citizen, giving you a different tourist visa. But what about getting actual permanent residency with both...?

This is all needed because I need to tell the almighty tax-man in my country that I have a 0%-tax-residence on all my money I have earned the day I return back to EU.

I am well aware UAE is in love with iris/eye scan and facial recognition but would they really be upset if I get 1 residence visa by buying an apartment and another visa by company formation? From what I understood is as long as you spend money here and behave good its ok. Will most likely consult with a lawyer but thought I could ask here first if anyone already have the info or experience.
You are treading dangerous waters, if the passports with different names are found at a border crossing you might face serious questions if not detention
 
You are treading dangerous waters, if the passports with different names are found at a border crossing you might face serious questions if not detention

I don't think so. They will be puzzled how you entered the country. They will normally ask for your other passport and if you can't produce it there's a problem. They don't instantly jail you for giving them wrong documents.
 
I don't think so. They will be puzzled how you entered the country. They will normally ask for your other passport and if you can't produce it there's a problem. They don't instantly jail you for giving them wrong documents.
They will be puzzled why you have a different name and why you did not corrected the mistake. I am quite sure that in their eyes nobody is innocent
 
I have about the same case (different names on two passports).

You can't be two persons at the same time. So, my advice would be to keep things simple and just use one for Dubai. I would pick the one that where you currently have tax residency (if you want to migrate that). Don't use the other one because of the retina scan so you don't run into problems when entering the country...