Visit visa relative Dubai UAE

UAE residents (expats with a valid residence visa) can sponsor their first degree relatives (parents, siblings, children), and possibly second degree relatives, for a visit visa to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, RAK, Sharjah, and other emirates. There were some changes introduced after implementation of the new UAE visa rules in July 2008.

• Not clear if husband can be sponsored. Wives sponsoring their spouse might be restricted depending on occupation (engineer for example).
• Other relatives (uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc) might be permitted - check with immigration.

Documents and requirements needed for sponsoring a relative's visit visa

• Resident's passport with valid UAE residence visa.
• Resident's labour contract or salary certificate as proof of minimum salary.
• Proof of relationship of family member (marriage certificate for spouse, birth certificate for children). Documents will probably need to be attested. For more distant relatives, an attested document from your embassy detailing the relationship should be sufficient.
• Proof of medical / health / accident insurance for the visitor.
• Copy of visitor's passport (should be valid for at least 6 months after expected date of entry to the UAE).
• Visa application form - obtain at the typing center at the immigration department (DNRD in Dubai, or other UAE immigration office).
• Visa fees of AED 620 for a one month visa ("short term visa") or AED 1120 for a three month visa ("long term visa"). Visa validity is actually 30 days and 90 days - slightly less than 1 month or 3 months.
• Refundable deposit of AED 1000 (previous to new visa rules either no deposit or 2000 dhs deposit was required - no that doesn't make sense to us either).
• Minimum salary requirement as follows:

Relationship	husband/wife	son/daughter	mother/father	brother/sister	other
Min Salary	AED 4,000	AED 4,000	AED 4,000	AED 5,000	AED 6,000-7,000

Procedure to obtain visit visa for relative

• Go to the immigration department of the emirate which issued your residence visa. You could try in a different emirate but you will usually be required to apply at the emirate from where you have your residence visa. If you do try elsewhere, bring a copy of your tenancy contract as proof you live in a different emirate, or labour card as proof you work in a different emirate.
• Start at the typing center where you pay the visa fees and the application form will be filled in. They'll direct you to to the next relevant counter for document submission and processing.
• Visit visa should be issued within a day or two, possibly the same day if you pay urgent processing fees.
• After receiving the visit visa, send either the original or a copy to your relative.
• If you send only the copy, then you'll need to deposit the original visa at the Dubai airport DNATA counter at least three hours prior to arrival of the visitor. Or you can use the Visa Delivery Service available at the DNATA counter at the DNRD (do this a day before).
• For other emirates, ask when you collect the visa, where the visa needs to be deposited for collection by the visitor on arrival.

Renewing a visit visa

Conflicting information seen regarding whether a visit visa is renewable. The DNRD visa table says neither visit visa is renewable. Confusion might be due to mixup between two other common visa types used by visitors:

• UAE tourist visa - valid 30 days, renewable once, issued by tourist industry related organisations.
• UAE visit visa on arrival - valid 30 days, renewable once, issued on arrival to a restricted list of nationalities.

Visit visa cancellation and deposit refund

• When your guest leaves the country, the visa is automatically cancelled.
• Any overstaying fines are paid on departure - allow AED 100 for overstaying plus AED 200 per day (it might still be AED 100). Entry day and exit day are counted, and remember the "one month visa" is actually only valid for 30 days.
• After your guest has left, go back to the immigration department where the visit visa was issued, and present your deposit receipt to get a refund. Their computer system will be automatically updated when the visitor departs, you don't need to present proof of departure yourself.