UAE Visa Guide

The Employment Visa is required on landing a job in the UAE, and is usually arranged by the employers. The formalities for obtaining the visa are fulfilled by them. The visa entitles him to be a resident in the UAE for a 3-year period and can be renewed thereafter. The employee can also arrive on a visit visa and convert it to employment or residence visa on fulfilling certain conditions.

Except for GCC citizens and UAE nationals, other nationalities will have to obtain Residence Visa to legally live in UAE. For most expatriates, the company that employs them will sponsor them for a UAE Residency Visa, along with a labour card or work permit. Residence Visa is a must to open a bank account, to obtain a driving license, register for a car and so on.

Types of Residence Visas:

Employment Visa

Employee residence visa used by majority of expatriates, wherein the employer takes care of all the paper work.

Family Residence Visa

Eligibility to sponsor spouse and children. The minimum salary requirement for residence visa sponsorship of family members is Dh.10,000 per month and the sponsor must have own accommodation (not shared).

Maid Visa

Maid Residence Visa avialable for Sponsoring a maid.

Property Visa

The three-year property residence visa formed a part of marketing strategy for property sales to foreigners. But issuing visas under this scheme was suspended in 2007 and 2008. In 2009 it has been replaced by 6-month multiple entry visit visa to UAE.

Relative Residence Visa

Eligible for sponsoring parents-in-law, parents, sister or brother.

Cancellation of UAE Residence Visa:

A Residence Visa becomes invalid after its expiry date. This could be after 180 days, 3 years or 1 year. Cancellation of residence visa is an active process and needs to be done even if the visa has expired, as only then a new visa can be issued. If on an employer sponsored visa, then the procedure will be taken care of by the employer. Else, one may have to go to the UAE Immigration Department and present it for cancellation.

The latest regulation announced on 1st November 2009 said that according to the UAE Residency Federal Law, people with valid residence visas in the UAE, when leaving the country for six months or more, will have their residency visa cancelled, and will have to apply for fresh visa to re-enter the country.

However, there are few exceptions to the said regulation. Foreign wife of an emirate citizen under his sponsorship, domestic helpers, expatriates going abroad for medical treatment, employees of and domestic helps accompanying the employees of diplomatic and consular missions in the UAE, expats employed by the public sector and expatriate students based in the UAE studying part of their course.

However, in all the aforesaid cases, it is better to contact the relevant UAE immigration embassy before return to the UAE to avoid problems when re-entering the country.

Kindly note: Visa rules are subject to sudden change without warning. The UAE Embassy in your country or the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD), the relevant authority in the UAE, is the only source of information that can be relied upon. The validity period for a free visit visa on arrival change often.