Family sponsorship is the **employee’s** responsibility, not the employer’s — but the employer controls the two things it depends on: the **salary certificate** and the employee’s own residence status. When an employee leaves, their dependants’ visas fall with theirs, and that is rarely explained in time.
Sponsoring Family
Dependant visas and what employers should know
Family sponsorship is the employee’s responsibility, not the employer’s — but the employer controls the two things it depends on: the salary certificate and the employee’s own residence status. When an employee leaves, their dependants’ visas fall with theirs, and that is rarely explained in time.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Sponsor | [EMPLOYEE NAME], [Emirates ID] [NUMBER] |
| Employer | [COMPANY NAME], [licence] [NUMBER] |
| Emirate of residence | [EMIRATE] |
| Sponsor’s salary | AED [AMOUNT] — basic AED [AMOUNT] |
| Meets the salary threshold? | [Y/N — confirm the current threshold] |
| Accommodation | [Tenancy registered — Ejari or equivalent] |
| Dependants | [LIST WITH RELATIONSHIPS AND AGES] |
| Documents attested | [Marriage certificate, birth certificates — dates] |
| Health insurance for dependants | [Whose obligation — confirm for the emirate] |
| Application through | [ICP / GDRFA / free zone] |
1. Who Can Sponsor Whom
| Dependant | General position |
|---|---|
| Spouse | Sponsorable; attested marriage certificate required |
| Sons | Up to the prescribed age; beyond that, [if studying — confirm] |
| Daughters | [Generally while unmarried — confirm the current rule] |
| Parents | [Possible, typically with a higher salary threshold and conditions] |
| [Domestic worker] | Separate route with its own requirements |
| [Other relatives] | [Case by case — confirm] |
| Female employee sponsoring a husband | Permitted — conditions may differ; confirm |
| Golden or Green Visa holder | Generally longer-term family sponsorship |
1.1Salary thresholds, age limits and conditions differ by emirate and change. Confirm with ICP or GDRFA for the specific emirate before advising an employee — getting this wrong raises expectations that then have to be withdrawn.
2. What the Employer Actually Does
5 more pages in the Word file
This is page 1 of the Word document, exactly as it appears when you open it. Fields shown like THIS are placeholders for you to complete.
These notes accompany the template and explain the drafting choices, the compliance points and the mistakes most often made with this document. They appear as a final page in the Word file, intended to be deleted before the document is executed.
The employee sponsors and pays for their dependants. The employer controls the salary certificate and the employee’s own residence status, which are the two things the whole arrangement rests on. That makes accuracy and timeliness genuinely important.
The certificate must match the salary registered with MOHRE and paid through WPS. Inflating it so an employee clears a sponsorship threshold is a false statement contradicted by your own filings. Make it a policy so individual managers are not put under that pressure.
Salary thresholds, age limits and conditions for spouses, sons, daughters and parents differ by emirate and change. Advising from a remembered figure raises expectations that then have to be withdrawn.
Marriage and birth certificates need attestation in the country of issue, embassy legalisation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs attestation and legal translation. Three to six weeks. Tell new hires to begin before they relocate, not after they arrive.
A candidate relocating a family needs to know whether the package supports bringing them. Discovering afterwards that it does not is a genuine grievance and a common cause of early resignation, after the employer has paid the permit and relocation cost.
When an employee leaves and their residence is cancelled, their family’s visas go too. This is the single most consequential fact in the document and the one most often not explained.
Someone on 30 days notice who does not realise their children’s visas end with theirs has no time to plan schooling, housing or departure. One conversation, at the right moment, and it is the omission most resented afterwards.
Where the employee is moving to another UAE job, their own status transfers first and dependants are re-sponsored after. Getting the order wrong can leave the family without status while the employee is fine.
It varies by emirate — employer or sponsoring employee. It materially affects the cost of hiring someone with a family and should be settled before the offer, not discovered at enrolment.
A delayed salary certificate can cost a school place, a tenancy or a visa appointment. The request is urgent for the employee and trivial for the employer. Set an internal turnaround and meet it.
Certificates written by different managers produce different figures and inconsistent treatment between employees, which is noticed immediately in a small workforce. One owner, one template, one register.
Marriage certificates, birth certificates and dependants’ passports concern people who never agreed to anything with you. Collect only what is needed, restrict access, and delete when the purpose ends.
Helping one employee with sponsorship and not another in the same position is noticed and becomes a grievance. Decide the policy once — what you will issue, how fast, and what you will not do — and apply it.
Golden and Green Visa holders generally sponsor family for longer periods and independently of their employment. Where an employee holds one, their family position does not collapse when they change jobs — which is worth knowing on both sides.
Reflects UAE requirements current as of {{DATE OF USE}}. Salary thresholds, age limits, conditions for sponsoring spouses, children and parents, attestation procedures, medical requirements and health insurance obligations differ by emirate and change frequently — confirm with ICP, GDRFA or the relevant free zone before advising any employee.
This is a ready-to-use template provided for convenience. Laws and requirements change, and every situation is different — please have it reviewed by a qualified professional (a lawyer, corporate secretary, or accountant as relevant) before you rely on it.