Official Guide of 2026 · Dubai
Dubai's service card for sponsoring family: a resident sponsor needs a salary of AED 4,000, or AED 3,000 plus housing; a business partner's share must be at least AED 48,000; sons can be sponsored to age 25; attested marriage and birth certificates are required; the 60-day entry visa costs AED 200 plus VAT and issues in 48 hours.
This record covers the GDRFA Dubai service card for issuing an entry visa for residence without work under family sponsorship, the Dubai service through which a resident brings a spouse, children or other dependants into the country ahead of their residence permits. The service sits in the GDRFA catalogue under Services, Entry Permits, Issuance of a Residency visa, alongside the virtual work and property-owner entry visas. On the day we read it the GDRFA page displayed only its title and navigation; its content panel, which normally carries the service description, requirements, fees, terms and completion time, was empty in both the English and Arabic versions, while neighbouring service pages rendered normally. The Dubai-specific items, including the fee and processing time, could therefore not be verified on the day and are not stated here.
The conditions below are taken from the federal government portal's page on residence visas for family members, updated on 28 September 2026, which applies in Dubai as elsewhere and directs readers to ICP and the GDRFA for current conditions. Employers and employees holding a valid UAE residence visa can sponsor family. No particular job title is required: the sponsor must have a minimum salary of AED 4,000, or AED 3,000 plus accommodation. An expatriate resident may sponsor a spouse, sons under 25 years old, unmarried daughters with no age limit, and children with special needs. Holders of the Green residence may also sponsor first-degree relatives, which is the route for parents. Family members aged 18 or over must pass a medical fitness test at an approved centre in the UAE, in Dubai through the Dubai Health Authority.
Dependants' residence permits are tied to the sponsor's. If the sponsor's visa is cancelled the dependants' visas must be cancelled too, and the sponsor faces a fine for failing to renew or cancel them. Dependants have a six-month grace period from expiry or cancellation to obtain a new residence permit. The federal page also records that a foreign spouse, parent or child of a UAE citizen can obtain a five-year residence visa without work on the citizen's sponsorship.
The federal basis for all of this is Article 9 of Federal Decree-Law No. 29 of 2021 and Articles 54 and 55 of Cabinet Resolution No. 65 of 2022, which set the family categories (spouse, sons who have not reached 25, unmarried daughters, first-degree relatives of Green residence holders) and the conditions of a valid residence permit, financial solvency, adequate housing and proof of kinship; the salary figures are the authorities' published application of the solvency test. The entry visa is the first of three steps: entry, medical and Emirates ID, then the residence permit stamped by the GDRFA, each with its own service card and fee. Health insurance under Dubai Law No. 11 of 2013 is required before the residence permit issues.
Residents of Dubai holding a valid residence permit, whether employees, investors or partners, who wish to sponsor a spouse, sons under 25, unmarried daughters, children with special needs or, for Green residence holders, first-degree relatives; the family members themselves, who must pass a medical test if aged 18 or over; and the sponsoring employer where the salary is evidenced through it.
English official text in 3 passages. Open the full text or jump to a provision:
| Section: Service title and catalogue location (GDRFA) | The service is 'Issuing an entry visa for residence without work Family Sponsorship', listed under Services, Entry Permits, Issuance of a Residency visa, beside the virtual work and property-owner entry visas; its content panel was empty when read on 29 October 2026. |
| Section: Who can sponsor (u.ae) | Employers and employees with a valid UAE residence visa can sponsor family members; no particular job title is required, but the sponsor must have a minimum salary of AED 4,000 or AED 3,000 plus accommodation. |
| Section: Sponsorship requirements (u.ae) | An expatriate resident may sponsor a spouse, sons under 25 years old, unmarried daughters and children with special needs; Green residence holders may also sponsor first-degree relatives. |
| Section: Medical test (u.ae) | Family members aged 18 or over must undergo and pass a medical fitness test at an approved government centre, including the Dubai Health Authority. |
| Section: Cancellation and grace periods (u.ae) | Dependants' residence permits are linked to the sponsor's and must be cancelled with it; dependants have a six-month grace period from expiry or cancellation to obtain a new permit, and a sponsor who fails to renew or cancel them faces a fine. |
| Section: Residence visa for a UAE citizen's spouse, parent and child (u.ae) | A foreign spouse, parent or child of a UAE citizen may obtain a five-year residence visa without work on the citizen's sponsorship, and a widowed or divorced foreign mother of a citizen may be sponsored by her eldest child. |
The guide sets no fine of its own. A sponsor who fails to renew or cancel dependants' permits faces a fine, which in practice is the AED 50 per day overstay fine under Cabinet Resolution No. 89 of 2022 once the six-month grace period ends, and the sponsor is exposed under Article 25 of Federal Decree-Law No. 29 of 2021 for housing a family member without valid residence.
Before telling a client whether they can bring a spouse and children to Dubai we check three things: the salary on the labour contract or the partner's position against the AED 4,000 or AED 3,000 plus accommodation threshold, the children's ages and marital status against the sons-under-25 and unmarried-daughters rule, and whether a parent can only come through a Green residence or a visit visa. The entry visa is the first step; we then diarise the medical test, Emirates ID and residence stamping within the entry visa's validity, and we place the DHA health insurance in parallel because the residence permit will not issue without it. The six-month grace period matters most on an exit: when a principal's visa is cancelled we cancel or transfer the family's permits in the same window so no overstay accrues. We re-read the GDRFA card before quoting, since the Dubai fee and processing time are set there and the page was being updated when we last checked.
No amendments, repeals or cross-references recorded for this instrument.
“Cites” and “Cited by” are built automatically from references in the full texts held in this library; they cover only instruments in the library.
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