If you are moving to Dubai from another country to work or start a business, it is understandable to want to bring your family with you. But, as with a move to any overseas country, there are policies that surround the system, and these can seem quite complicated to those who are unfamiliar with them.
But there are advisers who can help you navigate the system, such as Creative Zone, and this article will also give a guide to how you can obtain visas for your family. It includes:
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- • Sponsorship requirements for foreign residents
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- • Which documents are needed to sponsor family members in Dubai?
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- • Are women eligible to sponsor their family in Dubai?
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- • Sponsoring your parents in Dubai
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- • Can I sponsor my daughters in Dubai?
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- • Can I sponsor my sons in Dubai?
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- • How much does it cost to sponsor a family?
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- • Are you able to sponsor your siblings in Dubai?
- • How Creative Zone can help
Sponsorship requirements for foreign residents
People who come to live in Dubai from overseas, whether business owners or employees – no matter what profession they are in – are eligible to provide sponsorship for immediate family members to come to live with them. But there are conditions: sponsors need a residence visa and to bring home a salary of no less than AED 4,000 per month, or AED 3,000 with accommodation.
Sponsors are required to apply for a visa for dependent family members within 60 days of their arrival in Dubai under an entry permit.
However, it is not guaranteed that a family member will be granted a visa. All family members – regardless of gender – aged 18 or above being sponsored must take and pass medical fitness tests. These must be carried out at an approved health centre. Anyone who is deemed medically unfit is denied a visa.
Applicants with dormant tuberculosis are deemed fit and can receive a visa known as a ‘health fitness certificate for residence’ – but this is given on condition that the person receives care for it and there is a follow-up by the Department of Preventative Medicine.
Which documents are needed to sponsor family members in Dubai?
There are numerous documents needed when sponsoring visas for your immediate family to live in Dubai.
This includes a completed application form, along with a copy of your wife and children’s passports and photographs of them. In addition, documents stating your wife’s medical fitness are needed, and for any child aged 18 or above.
The husband making the sponsorship application also has to provide several documents, including a copy of their employment contract, proof of their monthly income from their employer or a business licence. A marriage certificate is also required.
Finally, a document must be provided to show where you plan to live – whether it is as a tenant or a mortgage agreement – along with an up-to-date utility bill.
Are women eligible to sponsor their family in Dubai?
Women can sponsor the visa applications for her family in some cases. For instance, she needs a residence permit which confirms she works as either in engineering, teaching or as a doctor or in an associated medical profession. In addition, she must have a monthly income of at least AED 10,000, or AED 8,000 and accommodation.
If she isn’t employed in one of these sectors, she is still able to sponsor her family if she earns more than AED 10,000 per month and obtains consent from the Department of Naturalisation and Residency Dubai (DNRD).
A single mother can also sponsor her children, although additional information may be requested by the powers that be, like those needed if sponsoring stepchildren.
Sponsoring your parents in Dubai
Non-UAE nationals who are employees are able to provide sponsorship for their parents’ year-long visas, although they are required to pay a sum as an assurance for each parent.
Here it should be noted that foreigners cannot just bring one parent over to Dubai – it has to be both of them. Sponsors also have to prove that they are the only person who can care for them and there is nobody else available to do this in their current country of residence.
However, if one parent is dead, or they have separated, then a single parent can be brought over to Dubai. But proof must be provided to justify why he is sponsoring just one parent.
Additionally, any child who desires to provide sponsorship for their parents’ visa must earn a certain amount each year – AED 20,000 – and both parents need to have medical insurance in place, which has a certain level of coverage in place, which must be renewed yearly.
Can I sponsor my daughters in Dubai?
Foreigners living in Dubai are able to provide sponsorship for their daughter(s) visa application but only if she/they are not married.
Can I sponsor my sons in Dubai?
Sons can be sponsored by people resident in Dubai, up until their 18th birthday. Sons can be sponsored up until age 21 if evidence is provided that he is in education – whether that is in the UAE or overseas.
But the son has to set foot in Dubai one or more times in a six-month period to maintain the validity of their visa. After age 18, visas last for 12 months, and they can be renewed every year until they finish their studies.
Once graduated, a son can renew their visa for 12 more months after their graduation, although again, proof – a degree certificate, for example – will be needed.
It is also possible to sponsor visas for stepsons under the same rules as above – although a no objection certificate from their biological parent will be needed.
How much does it cost to sponsor a family in Dubai?
There are various costs that need to be considered here. One is the sponsor registration file that costs AED 268.90, while the cost for a spouse, child and parent is AED 488.90 each – if they are coming to Dubai from outside the UAE. It costs more if you are bringing relatives from within the UAE.
The cost of medical tests also has to be factored in, as does an Emirates ID and making amendments to their passport(s). Translation services may also be needed in some cases.
Can you sponsor your siblings in Dubai?
Foreigners living in Dubai cannot sponsor a visa for their siblings in the same manner as for their immediate family. But they are able to sponsor a sibling’s visiting visa, which lasts for 90 days.
How Creative Zone can help
This article demonstrates how the process works to sponsor family members to come and live in Dubai. It also highlights some of the complexities that come with the system, but this is where experts such as Creative Zone can help.
Creative Zone are experts in business setup in Dubai but are equally adept at helping entrepreneurs and employees to negotiate the application process and bring their family to Dubai to live. The concierge team at Creative Zone can help at every step of the way, making the process as stress-free as possible.
For more information, a consultation and a bespoke quote, contact Creative Zone today: www.creativezone.ae/contact-us/
