A Quick Guide on How to Sponsor Your Family in the UAE

For step-by-step guidelines, instructions and tips on how to secure a Dubai visa stamp for your family, we’ve got you covered. If you’re looking to sponsor your spouse, children or parents in the UAE, here’s how to get started…

Documents you’ll need to start the process

• Application form from typing centre
• Passport and passport photocopies (colour) of applicants
• Entry visa/permit of each applicant
• 3 passport photographs of each applicant
• Sponsor’s original passport, visa page and Emirates ID
• Original marriage certificate (attested from UAE Embassy in home country and Foreign Affairs in UAE)
• Original birth certificate of children (attested from UAE Embassy in home country and Foreign Affairs in UAE)
• Original EJARI certificate and electricity bill
• Salary certificate
• Original labour contract of sponsor
• Three monthly bank statements
• Visa fee of around AED 310 – AED 360 (per applicant)

Eligibility requirements

• Monthly salary of at least AED 4,000, or AED 3,000 plus accommodation, to sponsor wife and children
• Monthly salary of at least AED 20,000, if you are sponsoring your parents
• For a wife to sponsor her husband, she must earn at least AED 3,000 plus accommodation, or AED 4,000 without accommodation. She must also work in one of the following professional fields: doctor, engineer, teacher, nurse or any other role in the medical sector. *Approvals vary on a case by case basis

Apply for a UAE / Dubai visa for your family

• Get yourself down to a typing centre and request to apply for your family’s residency visas. They will go through all the above documents and make sure that everything is there before they type up the application(s). Be patient… it can take a while.
• If the application(s) go through, you’ll receive an SMS to tell you that your paper visa(s) are ready to collect.
• Once you get the SMS, visit the immigration office in Bur Dubai and pick up your family’s paper visas.

The process does not end here…

You now have 30 days from the date that your family arrived to apply for a residence stamp. If they are still outside the UAE, you must first apply for an entry residence visa.

• Change status: (directly after you pick up your papers visas, visit the typing centre and ask them to ‘change status’ for your dependents’ visas. This will cost around AED 510 per applicant (plus typing centre fees).
• Medical: (this is where they take a blood sample and do an X-ray.) Visit the typing centre with the applicant’s original passport and passport copy; paper visa and two photographs. The typing centre will make sure all these docs are correct and type up a Medical form for your family to take for their medical tests. They can visit any Medical Fitness Centre for this. Keep in mind that all dependents now require basic medical insurance as well. *If your child is under 15, this step does not apply.
• Emirates ID: (this is where finger prints and photos are taken.) Visit the typing centre with the applicant’s original passport and passport copy; paper visa and two photographs (this can be done at the same time as the medical typing). The typing centre will make sure all these docs are correct and type up an Emirates ID application form. Fees are normally AED 100 per year left on applicant’s visa plus AED 70 typing fee (fees are subject to change).
• Visa Stamping (almost done): After receiving the applicant’s medical reports, visit the typing centre where they will prepare a visa stamping application. You will need: one photo of each applicant; original entry visa of each applicant; original medical certificate; original passport for each applicant; sponsor’s original passport and Emirates ID; EJARI and electricity bill and IBAN. Attach all mentioned documents and a copy of Emirates ID application and submit at any Immigration centre.

Top tips

• Take cash! The majority of typing centres only accept cash and not all of them have ATMs nearby.
• It is common for visa requirements and fees to change, so always call 8005111 for confirmation.

Via Instagram | @caspian_properties

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