Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza, who hails from Hyderabad, and her husband, Pakistan cricket team's star player Shoaib Malik, who hails from Sialkot in Pakistan, have been granted the much-coveted 10-year Golden Visa by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Sania married Shoaib in 2010 and they have a three-year-old son named Izhaan. For the past several years, the much-loved sports couple have been residents of Dubai.
On Thursday, Mirza and Malik issued a brief press release that said: "Both Sania and Shoaib are excited to spend time in the UAE with their son and explore the country. They are keen on launching their own entrepreneurial venture in the sports industry starting with Dubai."
Indian tennis star Sania will be seen in action at the Tokyo Olympics starting July 23. She will take the court along with Ankita Raina in the women's doubles event.
What is the UAE Golden Visa?
The Golden Visa allows long-term (5 and 10 years) stay in the UAE and are renewed automatically. The Golden Visa is granted to a certain class of people, including investors, entrepreneurs, individuals with outstanding talents such as researchers, medical professionals, scientists and students.
Significantly, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) implemented a new system for long-term resident visas in 2019. Under this new rule, foreign nationals will be able to do business in the UAE with 100% ownership. In the month of May this year, film actor Sanjay Dutt got the Golden Visa. Earlier Shahrukh Khan, from the Indian entertainment industry, received this visa.