Dubai: When a UAE resident’s visa is cancelled, does the health insurance policy get cancelled with it as well? This was the query raised by a Gulf News reader, whose husband is planning to move jobs within the UAE.
The reader asked: “I am under my husband’s sponsorship and seven months pregnant at the moment. My husband got another job offer, so I would like to know if my health insurance would stay valid if the current company cancels my husband’s visa and my visa gets cancelled, too. As it will be my due date soon, there may not be enough time to get new the visa in place. I would also like to know if I have to apply for a new health insurance policy after getting the new visa or if I can continue with the current health insurance cover.”
According to UAE’s visa application procedures, if you are sponsoring your family members – referred to as dependents – their visa needs to be cancelled before your (the sponsor’s) visa is cancelled. However, how does it impact the health insurance policy for your dependents?
Gulf News raised the reader’s query with Hitesh Motwani, who is the Chief Marketing Officer of insurancemarket.ae, a UAE-based insurance provider. Motwani explained that depending on whether the insurance policy was offered by the spouse or the spouse’s employer, the policy may stay valid or get cancelled.
“If the husband's previous employer was the one offering health insurance for the spouse, then that will automatically be cancelled the moment the husband's health insurance is cancelled. However, they will be eligible for 30 additional days of cover, which is given as the grace period after cancellation,” Motwani said.
“However, if the husband has opted for a separate, individual cover for his wife, from what we have seen, her cover would not be impacted if they are just going through the process of a change of visa,” he added.
If the husband has opted for a separate, individual cover for his wife, from what we have seen, her cover would not be impacted if they are just going through the process of a change of visa.
Motwani also mentioned that there may be cases where a person may be on their spouse’s visa, but be employed at a UAE-based firm. If the dependent’s employer is providing health insurance cover, it would remain unaffected by the change in sponsor’s visa.
“If the wife has an existing policy from her own employer – assuming she is already employed – this should not impact her health insurance policy, as this is offered by her employer. However, it is recommended for them to ensure they check this with their broker or insurer.”
