In case you are planning to bring your spouse to Dubai and sponsor their residence visa, here’s a guide to help you do so. Below is a list of requirements, qualification and steps based on an experience by one of our readers who have shared their experience with us. Please be guided accordingly.
Disclaimer: Be advised that if you have submitted the documents listed on this page, this does not guarantee that you will be granted a visa for your spouse. Information posted here only acts as a guide based on a first-hand experience by one of our readers who wanted to share their story. Dubai Immigration rules may change.
Getting a UAE Residence Visa for Husband or Wife in Dubai
Hi Dubai OFW Team, my name is Dani. I’d like to share my experience applying for a visa for my husband to help those who are planning to sponsor their spouses so they can stay together in the UAE. We recently applied for a spousal visa (wife sponsoring the husband) at the Department of Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD) office in Al Jafiliyah. This post outlines the process how I was able to secure a residence visa for a him.
Qualifications
First and foremost, you need to make sure you are qualified. In order to process a residence visa for your spouse, here are the qualifications:
Husband Sponsoring Wife in UAE
For a husband to sponsor his wife, his salary should be at least 4000 AED (or 3000 AED with Accommodation Allowance from his company)
Wife Sponsoring Husband in UAE
For a wife to sponsor his husband, she should fall under the following professions: Doctor, Engineer, or Teacher. Her salary should be at least 4000 AED (or 3000 AED with Accommodation Allowance from her company).
However, if the wife does not meet the requirements mentioned, like if she works in a different profession, she may make a petition to the committee. In this case, the basic salary requirement of the wife should be at least 10,000 AED (or 8000 AED with Accommodation Allowance from his company). Please note that this situation is handled case to case. It is important that you submit proper documents and requirements in order to have the a better chance of the visa getting approved.
Requirements/Documents for Visa Sponsorship
Here’s a list of documents I presented to DNRD when filing my application for UAE residence visa:
- Application Form (Done at Typing Center)
- Salary certificate (in Arabic)
- Marriage Certificate (Attested by MOFA – Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
- Tenancy Contract (Attested by Ejari)
- Last DEWA Bill
- University Diploma (of Sponsor) (Attested)
- Photocopy of Passport (Sponsor)
- Photocopy of Visa Page of Sponsor
- Photocopy of Passport (Dependent)
- Cancelled Visa Page of Dependent (if already in UAE and has previous visa)
- Passport Photos of Sponsor
Step by Step Procedure in Applying for Spousal Visa
1. Fill out Application Form – My husband and I went to a typing center to have an Application form filled out. We paid 350 AED for this.
2. Submission of Documents and Approval at DNRD Office – We submitted our papers at the DNRD office. We went to the NDRD office located at Al Jafiliyah Metro station (that building with colorful artwork outside). The staff reviewed our documents to make sure everything is complete. If everything is good, meaning your documents are approved, then you will have to pay the necessary fees. We paid about 915 AED for fees. With this, we received a temporary residency permit (red paper). This residence permit is limited for a certain time. During this period, the dependent (my husband) needed to get Medical clearance exam within 2 months.
Note: The situation will be different for every application. Getting approved may depend on the salary of the sponsor, job of the sponsor, etc. that’s why it’s best to comply with all the requirements. Still, each case may be handled differently.
3. Medical Exam – we went back to the typing center to apply for a Medical Exam. The Medical test application cost us 420 AED. He was given the documents to present to Dubai Health Authority (DHA) when having the test. My husband went to the DHA clinic in Karama and had his blood test and chest x-ray test done. After about 2 business days, the medical results were delivered to our home. Results were “clear from infectious diseases” which is good.
4. Change Status Application – After securing the medical results, we went to the Typing Center again to have a change of Status. Since my husband was on a “temporary residence visa”, he needs to have the permanent residence visa stamp on his passport. We paid 550 AED for the Change of Status.
5. Emirates ID Application – In the same typing center, we also applied for an Emirates ID. We paid 370 AED for the Emirates ID application.
6. Passport Stamping – Went to DNRD office for the stamping of the visa in the passport. Passport visa stamping cost us 510 AED.
Application Fees
How much does a residence visa for a spouse cost?
Overall, we spent about 3,115 AED so I could get a UAE residence visa valid for 3 years for my husband. This includes the medical exam and the Emirates ID. Here’s a breakdown of our expenses based on the procedure above.
350 AED – Application Fess
915 AED – fees at DNRD (sticker, processing, etc.)
420 AED – Medical Exam (could be cheaper depending on the urgency of the test)
550 AED – Change of status
370 AED – Emirates ID Application (Emirates ID validity will depend on visa validity, in our case it’s 3 years)
510 AED – Passport stamping and other fees
3115 AED – Total Fees (Please be advised that this fee is not a fix price, there may be a change in fees without prior notice)
After going through all the process, we were able to secure a stamp for my husband. We were so happy after getting the stamp because he didn’t have to exit the country to change his visa status. Also, this gives us more time for him to find a better job for rather than just accepting whatever opportunity that comes along the way.
Note: It says in the stamp that my husband is not allowed to work. Otherwise, if he finds a job in a new company, he will have to change sponsorship (the company will have to process it for him).
The challenging part in this process is just securing all the required documents. Make sure the documents are properly attested. It took time for us because we had to request her diploma from her university back in the Philippines, and the process took us over 2 months to do so.
There are plenty of Typing Centers in the UAE. These typing shops are authorized by the government to encode the details to whatever documents you are applying in the UAE. The staff in these centers will encode your details such as personal details and other contact information. In our case, we went to a Typing Center which is also near the DNRD office in Jafiliyah.
Other Tips and Things to Know
- Based on our experience, the visa is not labelled as a “Husband Visa” or “Wife Visa” or “Spousal Visa”, it’s basically just termed as “Residence Visa” on the sticker.
- Make sure you have completed requirements so that you can present everything to the government staff. It’s much easier for them to approve the visa if you have all requirements.
- The approval of getting a visa for the husband would depend on the professional background of the wife, but it is still a case to case basis. Here’s an experience written by a wife who sponsored her husband in Dubai. – How Did I Sponsor My Husband in Dubai? – My Yellow Bells
- In the case of the husband sponsoring a wife, here’s a post from one of the Pinoy bloggers in Dubai – Getting Husband-Sponsor Visa In Just 1 Hour – Boy Dubai
- For the wives who will sponsor their husbands, there is a ladies section in the DNRD so you can have priority when processing your application.
- Based on our research, we found out that the process is similar as that of a resident sponsoring a family member (child, parent) in the UAE although the qualifications may be different.
- There are other DNRD offices in Dubai. I think there’s on in Jebel Ali. We just picked the office in Jafiliyah as it’s the one nearest our home address.
Location Map of General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs Jafiliya – Dubai
This is where we went to go to the DNRD office. Below is a location map for your reference. Nearest metro station is Al Jaffiliyah Metro Station (Red Line). It’s actually right outside the station exit.
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