Dubai: Are you a Dubai resident planning to bring your family in to the country to live with you? If so, you might be looking at just how much the visa procedures and paperwork may cost you. The cost for applying for a visa can depend not just on the length of the visa but also the age of your children.
Here is a breakdown of all the costs you may need to pay for during the visa application process.
Get your documents attested
Even before you start the visa application process, you may need to get a few documents attested for the application process. For example, the marriage certificate and birth certificate of your children needs to be attested not just by your home country’s authority but also the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFAIC) in the UAE.
The cost for the attestation is Dh160 if you go to the Ministry directly for attestation. If you get the attestation done through a typing centre, they may add a service charge as well.
“You also need to have your tenancy contract or Ejari in place, as it is also required at the time of application,” Adnan Khan, marketing executive at Siddique Haider Corporate Services Provider told Gulf News.
He added that at times applicants may not be aware that applying for a family visa has a minimum salary requirement (Dh4,000 per month) as well as the need to have a tenancy contract under the sponsor’s name.
“Once you have all the documents in place, you can then start the visa application process,” Khan said.
These are the documents you need to have with you at the time of visa application, according to Khan:
- Passport copies of the family members you wish to sponsor.
- Your original passport and Emirates ID.
- Attested marriage, death or divorce certificate, as the case may be. You may need a death or divorce certificate, in case you are a single mother applying for your children’s visa.
- Attested degrees.
- Salary certificate.
- Ejari (if you live in Dubai) or tenancy contract (if you live in another emirate).
Once you have all the documents in place, you can then start the visa application process.
File opening charge - Dh269
One of the first charges you will need to pay is the file opening charge, to open a file with the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) as a sponsor. It is important to note that this charge does not depend on the number of family members you wish to sponsor. It is only levied on the individual sponsoring his family.
For example, if you are sponsoring two or three family members, you will only need to pay Dh269, as you are paying this fee to open a file as a sponsor.
However, if you switch jobs, this would require you to once again pay a file opening charge to sponsor your family members.
“As long as you are in the same job under the same sponsor, you will only need to pay this cost once for your family’s visa. But, if you change jobs, which means that your visa’s sponsor has changed, then you would need to once again pay the file opening charges when applying for your family’s visa,” Shamsuddin Kottayil, Public Relations Manager at First Gate Business Services in Dubai.
Entry permit – Dh500
You then need to apply for an entry permit, which your family can use to travel to the UAE.
What if my family is already in the UAE?
If your family is already in the UAE, you would still need to apply for the permit, which would cost Dh1,180, according to Kottayil. You would then need to complete a process called ‘change of status’.
“The permit is valid for 60 days from the time of being issued. If the person is outside the country, he or she has to enter the UAE within 60 days, and if they are already inside the country they need to do the change of status within 60 days,” Kottayil said.
The permit is valid for 60 days from the time of being issued. If the person is outside the country, he or she has to enter the UAE within 60 days, and if they are already inside the country they need to do the change of status within 60 days.
Change of status – Dh675
This fee only applies if your family is within the UAE. If they are outside the UAE, they can fly in on the entry permit and directly go for the next step – medical fitness test.
Medical fitness test – Dh320
You would need to pay for a medical fitness test for your spouse and children who are above the age of 18. If your children are below the age of 18, they are not required to take the medical fitness test. The cost mentioned above is for a normal application, where you get the results within 24 hours. If you wish to get the results within four hours, you can apply for a VIP service, which costs approximately Dh570.
Emirates ID – Dh170 for 1 year, Dh270 for two years, Dh370 for three years
The next step is applying for your family’s Emirates ID. The cost depends on the duration of your visa. A standard two year visa would mean that you pay Dh270 for the Emirates ID. If you are applying for a 10-year Golden Visa the Emriates ID cost would be Dh1,070.
Visa stamping – Dh500
The last step in this process is the stamping of the visa. However, the UAE’s Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Ports Security (ICP) has announced that visas will no longer be stamped on the passport, with the Emirates ID being the main proof of residency.
Dubai residents, though, may still need to get the visa stamped for the time being, as reported by Gulf News earlier. If that is the case with your application, you would have your passport collected for visa stamping and delivered to you within four working days. The cost mentioned above includes courier charges.
