Dubai: Are you thinking about changing jobs? Changing your residence visa from one sponsor to another can have an impact on your family’s visa if they are under your sponsorship.
The UAE’s immigration authorities have a ‘hold service’, which allows a person to put their dependents’ visas on hold, while they change their UAE residence visa from one sponsor to another. This detailed guide will explain what it means to put your family visa on hold and how you can do it.
What does the ‘hold service’ for visas mean?
Changing your visa from your previous employer to your new employer is necessary if you were terminated from your job or left due to a better job offer. It should be noted that, if you are sponsoring your family as an individual, you should also cancel your dependent’s visa prior to canceling your employment visa.
Putting your family’s visa on hold allows you to inform the authorities that you do not want to cancel your family’s visa, but to put it on hold while you change the employer sponsor
How to apply for the service?
You can apply for this service at an Amer service centre in Dubai, or at a Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) service centre in any other emirate.
Visa holding can only be requested within the same emirate. In other words, if your visa was issued in Sharjah, for example, you can only apply for hold services at an ICA customer happiness centre in Sharjah.
Visas can be put on hold for a maximum of 60 days.
Required Documents
You would need to submit the following documents:
- Holding application
- Cancellation of employment documents from current employer
- New company offer letter from MOHRE
Original passports of the sponsor and dependents
Fees
- Holding application – Dh75
- Refundable deposit – Dh2,500
- Each passport’s holding fee – Dh141
The deposit amount will be refunded if the hold is lifted before 60 days. Otherwise, the amount will be lost. The visas of family members of Golden Visa holders do not require a security deposit.
Freezone to the mainland:
- Holding application
- End-of-service documentation
MOHRE’s new company offer letter
Original passports of the sponsor and dependents
Process for putting family members’ visas on hold
Here is the process you need to follow:
- Your current employer must cancel your labor card.
- Then, you can visit an Amer center or an ICA customer happiness center and request that your family visa be put on hold.
- You need to cancel your current visa.
- Your new employer will apply for your residence visa.