How to Sponsor Your Family in Dubai: Documents, UK Certificate Attestation and Steps

To sponsor your family in Dubai you first obtain your own residence visa—through employment, your own company, a Golden or Green Visa, or another route. You then show you meet the income and accommodation requirements, provide attested relationship documents, and apply for each family member’s entry permit or change of status, followed by medical tests for adults, biometrics and Emirates ID. The process itself is well established; the delays usually come from document attestation and housing evidence.

Residents can typically sponsor a spouse and children. Sons may be sponsored up to a specified age or while studying; unmarried daughters can generally be sponsored without age limit. Parents may be sponsored where additional income and accommodation conditions are met. Stepchildren and children from previous relationships need extra documentation, such as consent from the other parent or custody orders.

Requirements are commonly cited as a monthly salary or income of at least AED 4,000, or AED 3,000 plus company-provided accommodation. For company owners, income is evidenced differently—often through the company licence, partner status and bank statements. Parent sponsorship typically needs higher income and suitable accommodation. These figures are set by the authorities and can change, so confirm the current rule before you apply.

Accommodation is usually evidenced by a registered tenancy (Ejari) or a title deed. The tenancy normally needs to be in the sponsor’s name and appropriate for the family size.

A typical family visa file includes:

UK-issued certificates generally follow a legalisation chain before they are accepted in the UAE. First, obtain a certified copy from the General Register Office or the relevant local register office if you do not have a suitable original. Then have it legalised with an apostille by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. Next, the document is attested for UAE use—historically by the UAE Embassy in London and then by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) once in the UAE. Since the UAE’s recent accession to the Apostille Convention, the process may be simplified for some documents; confirm the current chain before you send originals.

Documents from Scotland and Northern Ireland are issued by different registries but follow a similar legalisation logic. Translation into Arabic by a certified legal translator may be requested.

The usual sequence is:

In many cases a change of status is possible without leaving the country, which saves a trip. Timing matters: make sure the visit visa remains valid while the application is processed.

UK marriage and birth certificates must normally be legalised before UAE authorities accept them. The usual chain is: an original or certified copy, an apostille from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, attestation by the UAE Embassy in London (or via an accepted route), and then attestation by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs once in the UAE. Some documents also need legal translation into Arabic.

Once you hold your own residence visa and Emirates ID, the process for each family member is broadly similar.

A founder from Bristol moves first on an investor visa, rents a villa and registers the Ejari. His wife and two children follow six weeks later. Because the marriage and birth certificates were apostilled and attested in the UK before he left, we can apply for their entry permits as soon as his Emirates ID is issued. The children’s school place relies on the same documents, so the attested copies do double duty.

The most common delay in cases like this is a certificate that was not legalised before leaving the UK. Sending documents back and forth later can add weeks.

Residents who meet the income and housing requirements can generally sponsor a spouse and children. Sons may be sponsored up to an age limit and beyond in some circumstances, such as continuing education; unmarried daughters can usually be sponsored without an age limit. Parents can often be sponsored subject to stricter criteria. Rules for step-children, children from previous relationships and domestic workers have their own conditions, including consent from the other parent in some cases.

Because these rules are detailed and change, we confirm who you can sponsor as part of your roadmap before you move anyone.

Health insurance is mandatory for residents in Dubai, and sponsors are generally responsible for arranging cover for their dependants. Policies must meet the Dubai Health Authority’s minimum requirements. Plan cover to start from the date each family member’s residence begins, and check whether your policy includes maternity, dental or pre-existing conditions if those matter to you.

Keep policy documents and Emirates ID numbers together—schools and clinics will ask for both.

Nearly all family visa delays come back to documents.

Holders of self-sponsored long-term visas often have broader sponsorship rights than holders of standard company-based visas—for example, around the ages of children they can sponsor, and the duration of dependants’ residence, which usually follows the sponsor’s visa. The income requirement may also be assessed differently. Because these benefits are set by ICP and GDRFA and are updated from time to time, check the current position before you choose a route. If you are close to meeting Golden Visa criteria, it can be worth moving to that visa before sponsoring your family, so everyone’s residence aligns.

The most frequent problems are unattested or incorrectly attested certificates, names spelled differently across passports and certificates, tenancies not registered or in the wrong name, and parents’ applications without meeting the higher thresholds. Planning school admissions without first confirming the visa timeline is another. A single checklist for the whole family avoids most of these.