“ICA” begins to apply the Requirement of Income instead of Profession for Foreign Residents to bring their Families

ICA announced the launching of its services in line with the Cabinet’s Decree No. 30 of 2019, which enables residents to bring their family members. This Decree replaces the requirement of the profession with that of income.

The Decree permits the resident who is residing in the State, whether male or female, to bring his/her family members (spouse and children under the age of 18 or unmarried daughters) to stay in UAE, provided the family income (husband and wife) or one of them is AED 3,000 with accommodation provided by the employer, or AED 4,000 without accommodation provision.

As indicated hereinabove, to bring family members, the Decree requires the provision of suitable accommodation with proof that all of them are covered by health insurance throughout their stay, as well as proof of their registration in the Population Register System and the issuance of the ID card for each of them.

Major General Saeed Rakan Al Rashidi, Director General of Foreigners Affairs and Ports at ICA stated that this step contributes effectively to enhancing the family stability of resident workers in the State, promoting the national economic productivity, enhancing social cohesion, and strengthening the UAE approach and tendency towards openness and attracting highly skilled competencies in productivity and in a balanced manner while preserving the national values and priorities and achieving a competitive knowledge economy, a secure and cohesive society, and until making UAE one of the happiest countries.

He further added that these unprecedented privileges make it easier for resident workers to bring their families according to the controls related to security, as well as the economic and social aspects. This in turn would make them feel happy among their families, especially as the Cabinet instructed the concerned authorities to study and suggest a number of facilities related to the basic services for residents, including education and health services. This also may urge recruiting family members residing in the UAE to work instead of recruiting new workers from abroad.

Al Rashidi stressed that this step enhances family stability and social cohesion, contributes to eliminating the negative aspects related to gender in the UAE society, as well as raising the productive capacity of resident individuals working in the UAE due to their positive impact on their personal lives, strengthening UAE position as one of the most attracting countries in the world for people at all levels, whether individuals, family or institutional level. UAE is the best destination for those who are looking for decent living and psychological and social stability, and those who wish to improve their financial and living conditions.

Al Rashidi explained that submitting an application to bring the family according to the Cabinet’s Decree requires the male or female resident to provide a marriage contract and birth certificate for the children duly certified and translated into Arabic, along with a proof of monthly income under a recent salary certificate for employees in the government sector or employment contract with a bank statement for the last 3 months for private-sector employees.

Al-Rashedi pointed out that widows and divorced women can bring their children pursuant to this Decree, provided submitting, along with the required basic documents, a recent duly certified certificate of divorce or death of husband, with proof of custody of children.

He stressed the necessity to abide by the laws of the State and warned about being involved in any unauthorized activity and to commit to renewing the residency visas in a timely manner and to avoid violations resulting from its expiration and the grace period granted by ICA for its renewal.