UAE Announces Salary Foreigners Need To Sponsor Family Members, Sets Age Limit

• The General Directorate for Identity and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai has published the official income requirements for family sponsorship visas in the UAE
• Resident foreigners must meet different salary thresholds depending on whether their employer provides housing or they pay for accommodation themselves
• The UAE government also placed an age limit on sponsored male children, with resident parents unable to sponsor sons beyond a certain age

Dubai's General Directorate for Identity and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFAD), the immigration authority responsible for the UAE, has officially released the conditions that foreign residents must satisfy to bring family members into the country on a sponsorship visa.

The guidelines cover three categories of eligible sponsors: UAE nationals wishing to sponsor family members, foreign residents doing the same, and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) citizens applying on behalf of their families.

Once a family sponsorship application is approved, the sponsored individual enters the UAE on a work entry visa valid for 60 days while full residency processing is completed.

Read also

US Lists 9 Conditions Foreign Relatives of American Citizens Must Meet to Get Green Card

Income and housing requirements

The salary threshold a foreign resident must meet depends on their housing arrangement. Those whose accommodation is covered by their employer are required to earn at least AED 3,000 per month.

Residents who fund their own housing must demonstrate a higher monthly income of at least AED 4,000 before their application can be considered.

Foreign residents who participate in business partnerships rather than drawing a regular salary face a separate condition.

The GDRFAD requires that their share of the partnership be valued at a minimum of AED 48,000, and this must be supported by a formal partnership agreement as documentary proof.

Additional conditions for UAE and GCC citizens

UAE nationals seeking to sponsor a foreign wife are required to present either a salary certificate confirming their income or, where they are not employed, a court-verified document attesting to their unemployment status.

GCC citizens face an additional requirement when sponsoring a wife. The wife in question must already hold residency in the GCC husband's home country, and official documentation confirming that residency must be submitted as part of the application before it can proceed.

Read also

UAE military outlines 3 key criteria for people who want to join Emirati army

Age limit for male children

On the matter of children, the GDRFAD confirmed that resident parents are only permitted to sponsor male children up to the age of 25. No exceptions to this upper age limit are provided for sons under a standard family sponsorship arrangement.

UAE lists conditions for joining the Emirati army

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that the UAE had formally published the requirements that individuals must meet before enlisting in the country's army.

The criteria focus on citizenship status, age and physical fitness, providing a clear framework for prospective recruits across the Gulf nation.

Source: YEN.com.gh