Sponsor wife and children UAE residence visas

Sponsor wife and children UAE is a residence file, not a visit extension. You need your own valid residence visa, the federal income and housing test, and kinship papers an officer can read. A husband uses the same route as a wife.

That permit cannot outlast yours. If your renewal stalls or is refused, the family file stalls with it.

Updated: 2026-09 · Income floor, both 60 day clocks, the status adjustment fee, and marriage attestation order follow u.ae, ICP, GDRFA, and MOFA as read in September 2026.

The salary line does not rescue a marriage certificate that is still sitting in the home country.

Dubai files go through GDRFA. Other emirates go through ICP. The public page is residence visa for family members.

Who you can sponsor

u.ae and ICP list a spouse, unmarried daughters, sons under 25, and children with special needs at any age. A spouse is a wife or a husband.

In practice those pages do not require university enrollment for a son under 25. The family visa still ends at 25.

When the wife sponsors a child, GDRFA asks for a no-objection certificate from the father. A male sponsor is not asked for that certificate. Dubai Land Department's investor file prices a husband at AED 7,382.25 for two years, the same as a wife. That fee is not the charge for an employee sponsoring a spouse.

Income, housing, and the sponsor file

The floor for a spouse and children, including a Dubai-issued visa, is AED 4,000 a month, or AED 3,000 plus employer-provided accommodation. A Golden Visa held only as a dependent uses the same floor. The salary certificate has to show the pay and the housing.

Parent sponsorship is a different GDRFA service, at AED 10,000 plus a refundable guarantee. Do not use that number on a spouse or child file.

GDRFA's sponsor file comes first: AED 200 plus 5% VAT, an AED 10 Knowledge Dirham, and an AED 10 Innovation Dirham, typically 48 hours. ICP also wants photos, insurance for each dependent, a recent utility bill, and a medical fitness test from age 18. In Dubai, Health Insurance Law 11 of 2013 puts the cover on the sponsor when the employer does not extend it.

Entry permit or a status change

If they are outside the UAE, apply for a family entry permit before travel. You show income, housing, your passport and Emirates ID, their photo and passport, and attested kinship papers.

The permit is valid 60 days from issuance to enter, and it can be extended once. After entry, the medical test for anyone 18 or older, Emirates ID biometrics, and the residence permit must be finished within 60 days. Missing that window attracts a fine of AED 50 per day. ICP quotes about 2 working days, and an application fee of roughly AED 100 plus issuance and smart-service fees.

If they are already here on a tourist or visit visa, do not request a new entry permit. The route is an in-country status adjustment, listed by ICP at AED 500. Dubai calls it Status Amendment.

A tourist permit generally cannot be cancelled after entry unless that request is the adjustment. Income, housing, kinship, and a legal current stay still apply. Check the UAE visa status check before you pay.

Marriage certificate attestation

A foreign marriage certificate starts in the country that issued it. You cannot open the chain at a desk in the UAE.

1. The home-country registry or foreign ministry authenticates it.
2. The UAE embassy or consulate there legalizes it.
3. UAE MOFA attests it in the UAE.
4. If it is not already Arabic or English, add a certified Arabic legal translation.
5. File it with GDRFA in Dubai, or ICP in another emirate.

An apostille is not enough, because the UAE is not a Hague Convention member. MOFA may take the original language. GDRFA and ICP still need Arabic or English on the family file. The chain is set out in MOFA attestation for UAE documents.

A UAE court contract is already in Arabic, so MOFA attestation is described as enough for sponsorship here. Dubai Health Authority also wants that attested certificate when it registers a birth from a foreign marriage. Once the birth certificate and child visa exist, the Emirates ID step asks for a photo. See the Emirates ID process overview.

What stays tied to your visa

A dependent permit cannot outlast the sponsor. An open renewal does not cancel family visas at midnight, but they cannot be completed while your own status is unresolved.

After cancellation, ICP's grace periods are 180 days for Golden, Green, and Blue families, 90 days for skilled workers at levels 1 to 3 and for property owners, 60 days for guarantor or host-sponsored permits, and 30 days for other categories. The overstay figure after that window is AED 50 per day. The family members page also says 6 months from the cancellation date. In practice, use the category window until ICP or GDRFA confirms yours.

A woman on her husband's visa is given a one-year extension if he dies or the divorce is finalized, without a new sponsor. That line does not by itself give the same year to a husband she sponsors.