Dubai: If you plan to live in the UAE with your family, you have the option to sponsor your dependents. This means that you will be able to issue a residence visa for them under your sponsorship.
But there are certain pre-conditions that you need to keep in mind, especially when you are sponsoring your children, which include maximum age limit for sponsoring a son or daughter, or minimum salary requirements that you need to fulfil.
Here is a breakdown of all the requirements for sponsoring children in the UAE:
Sponsoring daughters
According to the UAE government’s official website, u.ae, an expat can sponsor his or her daughter only if she is unmarried. There are no restrictions with regard to the daughter’s age.
Sponsoring sons
A UAE resident can sponsor their son till age of 25. If the sponsored son is a Person of Determination, the parents can sponsor him up to any age.
Sponsoring newborns
For babies born in the UAE, a residence visa must be applied for, within 120 days of its birth to avoid getting fines.
Click here to find out how you can apply for their residence visa.
Sponsoring stepchildren
An expatriate resident can sponsor his stepchild or stepchildren, subject to the conditions of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA), which include a deposit for each child and a written no-objection certificate (NOC) from the biological parent. Their residence visas are valid for one year and are renewable annually.
Is there a salary requirement?
“The minimum salary requirement for sponsoring a family member is Dh4,000 per month,” said Adnan Khan, marketing executive at Siddique Haider Corporate Services Provider.
However, if you have company provided accomodation, the salary requirement reduces to Dh3,500.
Khan added that you need to provide an attested tenancy contract, as proof of accommodation to the immigration authorites.
The minimum salary requirement for sponsoring a family member is Dh4,000 per month.
Important documents for sponsoring children in the UAE
• Passport copy of the child.
• Your original passport copy and Emirates ID
• Salary certificate from the employer, stating your monthly salary.
• Ejari for Dubai residents and registered tenancy contract for other Emirates.
• Attested marriage certificate.
• Passport sized photos of the child.
Women sponsoring children
If you are a mum sponsoring her children, you will need to provide a few additional documents. Firstly, you would need to provide a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from your husband. The document must be in Arabic and has to be attested.
“If your husband is inside UAE, NOC should be attested by a UAE Court or the Notary Public. If your husband is outside the UAE, the NOC has to be attested by the UAE Embassy in your home country,” Rohit Jakhar, business consultant incoorporation at Jitendra Business Consultants.
“If the NOC is typed in a language other than Arabic, it should be translated into Arabic,” he added.
If your husband is inside UAE, NOC should be attested by a UAE Court or the Notary Public. If your husband is outside the UAE, the NOC has to be attested by the UAE Embassy in your home country.
Single mums
A single mother wishing to sponsor the visa of her child needs to submit a verdict from a UAE court granting her custody or a certificate from a local UAE authority or an affidavit from her home country’s consulate in the UAE.
“If the certificate is issued from your home country, you need to get it attested by the UAE Embassy in your home country and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) in the UAE. You must also get the papers translated to Arabic," he explained.
- NOC from husband, attested or notarised
- Custody verdict, attested or issued from UAE authority
To find out how you can get your documents attested, click here.
If you want to know more about how to apply for your dependent’s visa, read our detailed guide here.
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