In an article published by The New Statesman in February, 2018, the author asked when he would get to call Abu Dhabi home. As the child of expatriates and having spent his childhood and adolescent years in Abu Dhabi, the author considered himself an “Abu Dhabian” yet lamented the fact that the UAE government did not offer expatriates the choice to become an Emirati citizen, no matter the length of their stay in the country. These and many other stories by expatriates such as Deepak Unnikrishnan, explore the theme of unattainability of Emirati citizenship. Much of the literature on the UAE tends to veer toward the notions of transience, forms of political governance and treatment of migrant workers. Not offering citizenship to the expatriate population in the Gulf states, has become a topic of contention both in Western academia and media. What this discourse does not take into consideration, is the context behind why the expatriate population of the Gulf states are not offered citizenship in these nations. Using a case study approach, this paper examines how citizenship in the United Arab Emirates developed and what historical local and international factors contributed to its formation. The paper posits that the arrival of the expatriates was not simply due to the discovery of oil in the UAE but their presence and relationship with the federation was transactional and reciprocal, based on economics. The first part will begin by providing a brief historical background of the Trucial States (as the UAE was then known), from the early-1900s to its formation as a federation in 1971, using archival sources to trace the trajectory of its demographic. With a focus on the policies of the British who oversaw the development of the Trucial States, the second part will detail the arrival of the expatriates to the country during this time and how their presence was never viewed as being a permanent one. In conclusion, the paper will analyze how this context has changed from 1971, how it has defined and shaped Emirati citizenship and the impact this has had on how citizenship is viewed by the expatriates in relation to the Emiratis themselves. Keywords: citizenship, Emirati, expatriates, belonging, identity