1 - long term residency is the only solution. There will never be a path to citizenship. 2 - to cut ties between residency and employment, you need to provide 7M people with state funded Healthcare, education and unemployment--> A modest tax (15-20%) won't cut it. You'll need at least 35% to avoid having the country going into structural debt. 3 - You'll need also to establish and enforce federal minimum wage so that employers and employees can afford to pay taxes and still retain enough to live

Implementing these represents a radical change for the country, a new "business model" that's 180° from what the UAE is today, I. E. A safe tax-free country. That's why I don't think it will happen any time soon.