Abu Dhabi: Indian tennis star and six-time grand slam winner Sania Mirza and husband and Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik revealed that they received the UAE’s coveted ‘Golden Visa’ or long-term residence visa for 10 years.
Sania Mirza on Thursday took to Instagram and shared a story of getting a UAE’s golden visa.
ANI quoted Sania Mirza, “First of all I would like to thank Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, Federal Authority For Identity And Citizenship & General authority of sports Dubai for giving us the Dubai Golden Visa. Dubai is extremely close to me and my family.”
“This is my second home and we are looking forward to spending more time here. Being one of the few selected citizen from India, this brings an absolute honour to us. This will also give us an opportunity to work on our tennis and cricket sports academy which we are aiming to open in the next couple of months,” she added.
Over the past years, Sania Mirza and her family spent a considerable amount of time in the UAE. The Sania’s family regularly shares photos from their trips to Dubai.
The golden visa was created by the government in 2019 that allowed long-term residence for a foreigner to live, study and work without the need for a national sponsor. The visas are valid for 5 or 10 years and are automatically renewed.
Sania Mirza is currently in London for the 2021 Wimbledon Championships to make history. She advanced to the second round in the women’s doubles and even allowed the third round of mixed doubles with her tennis partner, Rohan Bopanna.
Sania Mirza all set to represent India in Tokyo Olympics 2021 in Women’s doubles. Entries for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics have been officially announced on Thursday, July 1, which will take place on July 23. Sania will also be accompanied by another prolific Indian tennis player who will be celebrating her debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Ankita Raina.
Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik tied knot in a private wedding ceremony on April 12, 2010 in Hyderabad blurring the geographical lines between the two countries. And since then, they have stood with each other through thick and thin, despite being targeted for each other’s performances. and overcame every obstacle like a perfect team!
Eight years after their wedding, the couple had embraced parenthood and had welcomed their baby boy, Izhaan Mirza Malik in 2018.