There are some general provisions in the resident visa that you should be aware of if you intend to relocate to the UAE to live, work, or invest.
1. Validity of a residence visa
If someone else is sponsoring your visa, it may be granted for one, two, or three years. The UAE has, however, also lately provided self-sponsored visas with a five- or ten-year term. The five-year visa could be either a retirement visa or a green visa. On the other hand, select categories of professionals, investors, and people who have made contributions to UAE society are granted the 10-year Golden Visa. Click here for additional information about it.
According to u.ae, the official website of the UAE government, if you are on a dependent’s visa, which indicates that a family member is sponsoring your residence visa, the validity of your visa cannot outlast that of your sponsor.
2. Medical test
Applicants for residence visas must be at least 18 years old and submit to a medical exam to demonstrate their fitness for medical treatment. They must also pass a security inspection and submit an application to ICP for an Emirates ID card.
3. Required documents
When you apply for a resident visa, you must also provide a number of documents. Depending on your role in the application process—whether you are a parent sponsoring your child or a student intending to live in the UAE and attend a local university—these can change. The following is a list of documents you might need to submit:
- A current, coloured portrait of the dependant with a white backdrop.
- A copy of the dependent’s passport
- Application receipt for an Emirates ID
- Certified housing lease agreement or evidence of home ownership
- A duplicate of the sponsor’s passport and a current residency permit
- The sponsor’s employment contract
- A certification of physical fitness (for dependents above 18 years)
- Permit to enter
- The dependent’s attested birth certificate (children)
- Mother’s residence photo (for the newborn)
- Health insurance or health card
- Death or divorce certificate (for divorced women and widows)
- Evidence of housing (for divorced women and widows)
- Evidence of the woman’s capacity to support herself (for divorced women and widows)
- A document from the university or institute that details the length of the study (for students).
4. Extension of the residence visa for divorced women and widows
According to u.ae, when a woman travelling to the UAE on her husband’s visa gets divorced or widowed, the UAE Government extends her residence visa by one year. The extension period begins on the day of her husband’s passing or divorce. There is no substitute sponsor needed for this sort of visa, which is renewed just once. If the woman’s children were travelling on their father’s visa at the time of his passing or their separation from their parents, the extension also applies to them.
Additionally, the mother’s and her children’s visas had to be current at the time of the woman’s death or divorce, and the duration of the child’s or children’s residence visas cannot exceed the mother’s.
5. Resident’s stay outside the UAE
According to the general rule, an expatriate resident’s residency visa will be automatically revoked if they live outside the UAE for more than 180 days in a row. However, the ICP just unveiled a new visa that enables UAE citizens who may have spent more than six months abroad to return. If your application is granted, you may visit the UAE again using your current residence visa after applying for this permission. You would need to apply for a new resident visa if your application were denied.
Additionally, there are various exclusions that let expatriate resident extend their stay outside the UAE beyond six months while still maintaining the validity of their residence visa. The exclusions include the following:
- An expatriate wife of an Emirati citizen
- Domestic assistants travelling with Emiratis who are recipients of study-abroad scholarships
- Domestic servants accompanying patients from the UAE who are travelling or receiving treatment abroad
- Residents who are expatriates may travel overseas with their friends or family for medical care as long as they present a medical report that has been cleared by UAE medical authorities.
- Domestic helpers who accompany UAE diplomats and consular representatives overseas, as well as those who work for such missions and have residency permits in the UAE
- Residents with valid residence permits in the UAE who are employed in the public sector and sent by their employers to attend training or specialised courses, or work in their employers’ offices overseas.
- Foreign students attending universities or other institutions (as per Dubai rules). If this pertains to your home emirate, confirm with the ICP.
- Members of the ruling families’ domestic staff who have legal residency permits in the UAE and are employed in the royal family’s residences abroad
- those with valid resident visas in the UAE who are enrolled in educational institutes overseas.
- Investors with active visas for residence in the UAE
- Residents and their dependents who are sponsored by UAE diplomatic and consular agents
- Any other individual is excluded from ICP by a decision, so long as they have a valid visa for residency and have paid the required payments.
6. Benefits of having a UAE residence visa
Being a legal resident of the UAE has a number of advantages as well, including making it simple to create a bank account, apply for a UAE driver’s licence, and gain access to government health services and health insurance.
7. Renewing your residence visa
It’s also crucial to remember that if your visa is self-sponsored, you or your sponsor must renew it before it expires. You can continue to live legally in the UAE with a renewable visa, free from fines or other repercussions.
However, when the visa expires, UAE residence visas also provide a grace period that may last up to six months or up to one month, depending on the kind of visa.
The overstaying penalty in the UAE has been standardised by the ICP. The new regulations set the daily charge for overstaying a visit, tourist, or residency visa at Dh50.
Keep in mind that your ICP-issued Emirates ID card also expires when your resident visa does.
8. Cancelling your residence visa
You must make sure to terminate your residence visa if you currently reside in the UAE and intend to move. If you are on a self-sponsored visa, your employer or a member of your family may take care of this for you. If not, your sponsor may do it on your behalf.
If your employer is paying for your sponsorship, they must first make sure that all of your end-of-service obligations have been paid. The company can cancel your work permit through the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization (MOHRE), as well as your residence visa through the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs – Dubai (GDRFA), if you have a visa issued in Dubai, or through the ICP, if you have a visa issued in any other emirate after you sign a letter clearly stating that you have received all of your dues.
If you are moving as a family, you can cancel your dependents’ visas after you cancel your own.
Also Read: There are 7 benefits to having a UAE residence visa