UAE: How to place your family’s visa on hold

Dubai: Planning to move jobs? If you are in a situation where your residence visa needs to be transferred from one sponsor to another, the change in visa may affect your family’s visa, if they are under your sponsorship.

The UAE’s immigration authorities have provided the option of a ‘hold service’, where an individual can put their family’s or dependent’s visa on hold, while he or she changes their UAE residence visa from one sponsor to another. If you want to know more about what it means to put your family visa on hold and how you can do it, here is a detailed guide.

What is the ‘hold service’ for visas?

Gulf News spoke with Rashid Khawaja, Public Relations Officer (PRO) at B2B Document Clearing, who explained when a person, who is sponsoring his or her family, can use this service.

“If you got terminated from your previous job, or left your job because you had a better job offer, you would need to change your visa from your previous employer to your new employer. However, if you are sponsoring your family as an individual, in order to cancel your employment visa, you would need to cancel your dependent’s visa as well,” he said.

“The service of putting your family’s visa on hold allows a family sponsor to tell the authorities that he or she does not want to cancel the family’s visa, but put it on hold instead, while he or she changes the sponsor for employment,” he added.

if you are sponsoring your family as an individual, in order to cancel your employment visa, you would need to cancel your dependent’s visa as well.

- Rashid Khawaja, Public Relations Officer (PRO) at B2B Document Clearing

Where can I go to apply for the service?

This service can be applied for by visiting an Amer service centre in Dubai, or at a service centre for the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) in any other emirate.

Sirajudeen Ummer, a PRO at First Gate Business Services, added that the visa holding service can only be applied for in the same emirate. So, if your visa was issued in Sharjah, for example, you can only apply for the hold services at an ICA customer happiness centre in Sharjah.

“The visa can be put on hold for a maximum of 60 days,” he added.

Which documents would I need?

According to Ummer, if you are transferring sponsorship between a mainland company to another mainland company, these are the documents you would need to submit:

• Holding application

• Labour cancellation documents from current employer

• New company offer letter from MOHRE

• Sponsor and dependents’ original passport

The visa can be put on hold for a maximum of 60 days.

- Sirajudeen Ummer, Public Relations Officer at First Gate Business Services

Fees

• Holding application – Dh75

• Refundable deposit – Dh2,500

• Each passport’s holding fee – Dh141

If the hold is lifted before 60 days, the deposit amount will be refunded. Otherwise, the amount will be lost. According to Ummer, a security deposit is not required when holding the visas of family members of Golden Visa holders.

Freezone to mainland:

• Holding application

• End-of-service document

• New company offer letter from MOHRE

• Sponsor and dependents’ original passport

The process for putting family’s visa on hold

This is the process you need to follow:

1. The labour card needs to be cancelled by your current employer.

2. You can then visit an Amer centre or an ICA customer happiness centre and place in the request for putting your family visa on hold.

3. Cancel your current visa.

4. Your new employer will apply for the residence visa.

5. Once it is stamped, you can remove the hold on your family’s visa. The deposit amount will then be refunded.