UAE Family Visa: Sponsor Your Spouse, Children & Parents (2026)

A UAE family visa (also called a dependent visa) lets a resident sponsor their spouse, children and — in some cases — parents to live in the country under their sponsorship. The headline rules today: a male resident generally needs a minimum salary of AED 4,000 (or AED 3,000 plus employer-provided accommodation) to sponsor a wife and children; sponsoring parents requires around AED 20,000 in some emirates or AED 10,000 with conditions; every dependent needs a medical test (age 18+), an Emirates ID and mandatory health insurance; and the visa is usually valid for one to three years, tied to the sponsor's own residence visa. This guide explains who can sponsor, who can be sponsored, the step-by-step process, the documents and the costs.

Family sponsorship in the UAE is administered by the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) in Dubai and by the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security (ICP) in the other emirates. Salary thresholds, fees and age limits are set by the authorities and change from time to time, so confirm your current position on u.ae or with a PRO before you apply.

Who can sponsor a family visa in the UAE?

To sponsor family members you must hold a valid UAE residence visa and meet a minimum-salary threshold. The salary you need depends on who you are sponsoring and, in some cases, on your gender and profession:

A wife can sponsor her husband and children where she meets the higher threshold, and a couple's salaries may be combined to sponsor parents in some cases. Because these figures and conditions are updated periodically, always verify the current requirement for your specific situation.

Which family members can you sponsor?

Under the current rules a resident can typically sponsor:

• Spouse — a husband or wife, with an attested marriage certificate.
• Sons — up to 18 years, extended to around 25 years if the son is unmarried and enrolled in higher education (proof of study required).
• Unmarried daughters — with no age cap while they remain unmarried.
• Children of determination (special needs) — with no age limit, subject to a medical report.
• Parents — as a pair, on a higher salary threshold and usually with a one-year renewable visa and a security deposit.

Newborn children born in the UAE must be registered and added to the sponsor's file within 120 days of birth to avoid fines. A first wife is sponsored as standard; sponsoring a second wife requires special permission.

The UAE family visa process, step by step

The dependent visa is issued in four stages. If your documents are complete and correct from the start, the whole process usually takes two to four weeks.

1. Entry permit. The sponsor applies online (GDRFA in Dubai, or ICP/UAEICP for other emirates) for an entry permit that lets the dependent enter or remain in the UAE while the visa is processed.
2. Status adjustment / medical. If the dependent is already inside the UAE, the status is changed without leaving; dependents aged 18 and over complete a DHA-approved medical fitness test.
3. Emirates ID. Biometrics are captured and the Emirates ID application is submitted through ICP. You can track it on our Emirates ID status guide.
4. Residence visa stamp. Once medical and ID are cleared, the residence visa is issued and linked to the dependent's passport (now largely a digital e-visa).

Documents required for a family visa

• Sponsor's passport, residence visa and Emirates ID.
• Sponsor's salary certificate or labour contract showing the qualifying salary, and a recent tenancy contract (Ejari in Dubai).
• Attested marriage certificate (to sponsor a spouse) and attested birth certificates (to sponsor children).
• Dependents' passports (usually at least six months' validity) and photographs to specification.
• Proof of relationship for parents, plus the required deposit and health insurance.

Foreign-issued marriage and birth certificates generally need attestation by the issuing country and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Our document-clearing and PRO team handles attestation and typing so a single wrong field does not send the file back to the start.

How much does a UAE family visa cost?

There is no single flat fee — the total is built from separate government charges plus mandatory insurance, and it varies by visa duration (typically two or three years) and emirate. The main components are:

• Entry permit and status adjustment (GDRFA/ICP).
• Medical fitness test at a DHA-approved centre (standard or express).
• Emirates ID fee (ICP), priced by validity period.
• Residence visa stamping and any e-visa charges.
• Health insurance — see below.

As a rough guide, expect a few thousand dirhams per dependent once all components are added, before insurance. Because official fees change and express options cost more, confirm the current schedule on the GDRFA/ICP portal or ask us for a written estimate for your family.

Health insurance is mandatory

Every dependent must hold valid health insurance before the residence visa is issued. In Dubai, the legal minimum is a DHA Essential Benefits Plan with an annual limit of around AED 150,000. Indicative annual premiums run roughly AED 650 for a child or general dependent, about AED 1,600 for a non-working wife aged 18–45, and around AED 2,500 for an elderly parent — actual premiums depend on age, the plan and the insurer.

ICP or GDRFA — which do you use?

As with every UAE residency transaction, the authority depends on the emirate that issues the visa. If you live in Dubai, family sponsorship goes through GDRFA Dubai (the GDRFA app or an Amer centre). In the other six emirates, you use ICP Smart Services. The Emirates ID is always issued by ICP, wherever you live. If a status check on one portal returns nothing, you are almost certainly on the wrong one.

How Avyanco helps

Avyanco manages family and dependent visas end to end — checking your salary eligibility, preparing and attesting documents, booking medicals, submitting the entry permit, Emirates ID and residence stamp, and arranging compliant insurance. If you are setting up a company and will sponsor your own family, our business setup team sequences the company formation in Dubai, your investor or employment visa and the family visas as one workflow. To check eligibility or start an application, talk to our visa team. For long-term options, see our Golden Visa eligibility checker.