Steps to sponsor your family in Dubai
If you work or planning to migrate to the UAE and are unaware of how to sponsor your spouse, we can help!
Typically, to support the sponsorship application for family members migrating the UAE General Directorate of Residency (“GDRFA”) will require (i) the birth certificate of the Children, if applicable; (ii) a UAE registered tenancy agreement (Ejari); (iii) a marriage Certificate; (iv) attested personal UAE bank statements.
All documents must be super legalised in the country of origin. The documents will need to pass three stages in sequence prior to being sent to the UAE:
- Attested by a solicitor in the country of origin;
- Legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the country of origin;
- Legalised by the UAE Embassy for attestation in the country of origin.
In the UAE:
- Legalisation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in UAE;
- English to Arabic translation;
- Legalisation by the UAE Ministry of Justice.
Based on the specifics of the situation, there may be additional requirements to consider (see below specifics).
Husband sponsoring wife
A resident employed in the UAE can sponsor his wife and children, subject to conditions which include a minimum salary of Dh4,000 or Dh3,000 plus accommodation.
Note: A Muslim resident may be allowed to sponsor his two wives.
Wife sponsoring husband
Basic category
A wife may sponsor her husband and children if she is earning a basic salary of Dh3,000 plus accommodation or a total salary of Dh4,000 without accommodation if she is a teacher or in any role in the medical sector.
Other categories
For woman employed in other categories, she may still get approval to sponsor her family if her monthly salary is more than Dh10,000 and with special permission from the GDRFA.
Note: The prevailing regulations in the UAE do not allow a husband to be employed while he is under the sponsorship of his wife. Therefore, upon securing employment in the UAE, the husband will have to cancel the visa and obtain an employment visa from the employer.
Mother sponsoring children
A woman can sponsor her children if she holds a residence permit and her monthly salary is not less than Dh10,000 or Dh8,000 plus accommodation. She should have a valid Ejari tenancy contract for her accommodation. She needs to provide additional documents as stipulated by the respective authority.
Further, she will also need to secure a letter of no-objection or NOC from the husband stating that he has no objections with children staying with mother under her sponsorship. The NOC should also be duly notarised and legalised from the home country. She needs to provide additional documents as stipulated by the respective authority.
A single mother can sponsor her child. The authorities might ask for documents similar to those required to sponsor stepchildren (see below).
Sponsoring children above 18
An expatriate resident can sponsor his daughter/s only if she is unmarried. He can sponsor his son/s only up to the age of 18. If after the age of 18, the son is studying in the UAE or abroad, he can be sponsored until the age of 21 on providing the proof that he is studying.
However, for his residence visa to stay valid, he has to enter the UAE at least once every six months. The resident will need to place a deposit with the respective GDRFA for his son’s visa. The residence visa is granted on a yearly basis, renewable until the person finishes his education.
Sponsoring stepchildren
An expatriate resident can also sponsor his/her stepchildren, subject to GDRFA’s conditions which include a deposit for each child and a written no-objection certificate from the biological parent. Their residence visas are valid for one year; renewable annually.
Sponsoring Parents
An expatriate resident can sponsor his/her parents for a year’s stay by paying a deposit as a guarantee for each parent subject to GDRFA’s.
An expatriate employee cannot sponsor only one of his/her parents. Both parents must be sponsored together. He/She also needs to provide proof that he is their sole support and that there is no one to take care of them back home.
If one of the parents has passed away or if the parents are divorced, the related official documents as justification to sponsor only one of his parents.
To sponsor parents, the employed expatriate resident must earn the minimum salary of AED 20,000 per month or a monthly pay of AED 19,000 plus a two-bedroom accommodation to sponsor parents’ visa.
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