Dubai Family Visa: Sponsoring Your Spouse and Children from the UK

In 30 seconds: A Dubai family visa lets a UAE resident sponsor their spouse and children to live in Dubai. You get your own residence visa first, then sponsor the family. The official salary requirement is AED 4,000 a month, or AED 3,000 plus accommodation, and as a business owner paying yourself through your own company you control that number. You can sponsor your spouse, sons under 25, unmarried daughters of any age, and children of determination. Everyone aged 18 or over takes a medical test in the UAE; under 18s do not. UK marriage and birth certificates need attesting before they are used. Budget £1,000 to £1,500 per family member and expect the family stage to take a few weeks once your own visa is active.

Who You Can Sponsor

Under the official rules, expatriate residents can sponsor their spouse, sons under 25, unmarried daughters with no age limit, and children of special needs, who are sponsored regardless of age. Both employers and employees can sponsor, and since the 2022 reforms the right no longer depends on your job title, only on the income test. For the typical Landed client the sponsor is you, through your own free zone company.

The Salary Requirement, and Why Business Owners Barely Notice It

The sponsor must earn a minimum of AED 4,000 a month, around £850, or AED 3,000 plus accommodation. If you employ yourself through your own UAE company, you set your own salary, so meeting the threshold is a formality rather than a hurdle. It is one of the quiet advantages of the company route over arriving on someone else's payroll.

The Documents: Sort the Attestation Before You Fly

This is where family applications actually go wrong. Your marriage certificate and each child's birth certificate typically need legalising with an apostille from the FCDO in the UK, then attestation for use in the UAE, and certified Arabic translation. That chain is far easier to run while you are still in the UK than after you have landed. Add passports valid for at least six months for every family member, passport photos, proof of accommodation in Dubai such as your tenancy, and health insurance, which is mandatory for every Dubai resident, dependents included.

The Process, Step by Step

The order matters: your visa first, family second.

1. Your residence visa is issued. Company, entry permit, medical, biometrics, Emirates ID. The full sequence is in our step by step moving guide.

2. Entry permits for the family. Once you are a resident with the salary evidence in place, you apply to sponsor each dependent. If the family is already in the UAE on visit visas, status can usually be adjusted without leaving.

3. The 60 day window. Once a dependent enters the UAE on their entry permit, the sponsor has 60 days to complete their residence visa application. Miss it and fines start accruing, so book the medicals early.

4. Medicals for anyone 18 or over. Every sponsored family member who has completed the age of 18 must pass a medical fitness test at an approved UAE centre. Under 18s skip this entirely. The same VIP centres we use for founders work for spouses: results in around 30 minutes at centres like Smart Salem.

5. Biometrics, stamping and Emirates ID. Fingerprints for adults, then each family member's residence visa is issued and their Emirates ID follows. Timelines per stage are in our processing time guide.

What It Costs

From the moves we run, budget £1,000 to £1,500 per family member for the visa process, covering the permit, medical where required, Emirates ID and processing, on top of your own setup. Attestation and translation of UK documents and health insurance premiums are separate. Insurance is the number to watch: a legally required basic plan is cheap, but most UK families choose fuller cover, and that choice, not the visa, drives the real annual cost.

What About Parents?

Sponsoring parents is a separate, stricter route: materially higher income expectations, deposits in some emirates, proof of dependency, and case by case assessment by the authorities. It is done regularly, but treat it as its own project with its own file, not an add-on to the spouse and children applications. Conditions change, so this is one to scope on a call rather than from a blog post.

One Rule Families Should Understand

Every dependent's visa is linked to yours. If your residence visa is cancelled, your family's visas must be cancelled too, and dependents then have a 6 month grace period from expiry or cancellation to obtain a new residence permit. Sponsors who fail to renew or cancel dependents' visas on time face fines. In practice this simply means one calendar: your renewals and your family's tracked together, which is part of what we run for clients.

Timing It Around School Years

Most UK families anchor the move to a September school start. Working backwards: school applications in the spring, your own visa run early summer, family entry permits and medicals in July and August, everyone resident before term starts. The FCDO currently advises against all but essential travel to the UAE due to regional tensions, so build flexibility into bookings and check the live advice as you plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

What salary do I need to sponsor my family in Dubai?

AED 4,000 a month, or AED 3,000 plus accommodation, under the official rules. If you pay yourself through your own UAE company, you control this number, so for business owners it is rarely the constraint.

Who can I sponsor on a Dubai family visa?

Your spouse, sons under 25, unmarried daughters with no age limit, and children of determination regardless of age. Parents are a separate, stricter route assessed case by case.

Do children need a medical test for a Dubai visa?

Only from age 18. Every sponsored family member who has completed the age of 18 must pass a medical fitness test at an approved UAE centre; younger children do not take one.

How much does a Dubai family visa cost per person?

From the moves we run, £1,000 to £1,500 per family member, plus UK document attestation, translations and health insurance, which is mandatory for every Dubai resident.

Can my family come with me straight away?

Your residence visa must be active before you can sponsor anyone, so families either travel together with the dependents on visit visas while yours processes, or follow a few weeks later on entry permits. Once a dependent enters on their permit, the application must be completed within 60 days.

What happens to my family's visas if mine is cancelled?

They are linked to yours and must be cancelled with it, after which dependents have a 6 month grace period to obtain a new residence permit. Renewals for the whole family should run on one calendar.

Moving as a family? Book a free call with Landed and we will map the whole household: your visa, the family's, the attestation chain and the school-year timing, in one sequence.

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References and Further Reading