No hike in minimum salary for family visa in Dubai

The news in some English language newspapers claiming an increase in the minimum salary requirement for sponsoring family members, has been denied by Major General Mohammed Ahmad Al Marri, the Director of General of the Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) in Dubai.

He assured in a press statement that there are not any new restrictions and the directorates and all its branches are still receiving and processing applications smoothly.

Any amendments of the rules should have been issued officially in a statement by the Ministry of Interior prior to implementation in Dubai and the rest of the emirates at the same time, he clarified.

He stressed the importance of getting news from official and credible sources to foster professionalism that local newspapers enjoy.

“Our departments are characterized with high level of transparency in every matter that concerns clients. And, this is our methodology and approach in the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai,” he added.

Conditons for sponsorship

Article No. 31 regarding sponsorship of the wife by an expatriate husband sets the following conditions:

1.    The sponsor should have a valid work/ residence visa.

2.    He should submit a marriage contract attested as per the rules in his home country and the consulate that represents his country overseas or by the embassy of the country that had issued the marriage contract in the country in addition to  attestation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

3.    The monthly income of the sponsor should not be less than Dh3,000 plus accommodation offered by the employer and Dh4,000 without accommodation.

4.    The sponsor should submit a salary certificate attested by the authorities concerned.

5.   The same rules are applicable for expatriate women ‘specialist’ employees seeking to sponsor their family members.

6.   The following categories are exempted from the salary provision and they can sponsor only their family members:

Teachers

Mosque imams

Drivers of school, college and university buses.

Heads of families can sponsor unmarried daughters and sons below 18 years or those studying in colleges and universities in the UAE..    

Universities and colleges can sponsor their students provided:

1.    The student should register for regular study and not affiliation.

2.   The sponsoring educational institution should undertake responsibility about the student’s sponsorship and his exit from the UAE after finishing his studies. The institution should also inform the authorities when the student finishes studies or leaves the country.

3. Government departments and authorities should directly apply to obtain sponsorship for foreigners who are offered training provided.

a)    The department should be a public entity.

b)    The trainee should have deputed by an official entity in his home country.     

c)    The department that offers the training should comply with its responsibility of the departure of the sponsored person after finishing training and cancellation of his residency visa.

The increase in the minimum salary limit from Dh4,000 to Dh10,000 per month to sponsor immediate family members only applies to Dubai

The increase in the minimum salary limit from Dh4,000 to Dh10,000 per month to sponsor immediate family members only applies to Dubai, an immigration official told Gulf News on Saturday.

The salary requirement to sponsor wives and children in Abu Dhabi and other emirates has not changed and remains at Dh4,000 per month or Dh3,000 with accommodation, a senior official at the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA), said on condition of anonymity.

The official confirmed that the Dh6,000 increase in the minimum salary requirement was implemented in Dubai more than a week ago. The move aims to ensure that Dubai residents can provide a good quality of life to their families considering the increasing cost of living in the city.

However, the official website of GDRFA did not show any change in the rule. When contacted, the customer service agent at the GDFRA toll-free Amer service said he was not aware of any change in the minimum salary limit. According to him, the salary limit for an expatriate to sponsor family remained at Dh4,000 or Dh3,000 with accommodation.

Hiring illegal maids Violators in UAE could face jail sentence and fines up to Dh100,000

In a bid to crackdown on offenders who hire house help illegally, Ministry of Interior officials may conduct random checks within residential communities in Dubai to tackle the problem.
In a circular distributed to residents in its communities, master developer Emaar Properties has warned residents to be wary of hiring maids, gardeners and drivers through illegal ways.
“Don’t break the law by hiring illegal household staff,” reads a circular issued by the community management arm of the developer.
The company has advised its residents that the UAE’s Ministry of Interior will be “conducting random checks within the community and should they find persons working illegally in your home (e.g. housemaids, gardeners, drivers etc.), you could face a jail sentence and substantial fines ranging between Dh50,000 and Dh100,000.”
Residents have been advised to only keep staff members who are under their sponsorship or hired through a professional household service company.
As the city grows and expats and new professionals arrive each day, the housekeeping market is flourishing in Dubai. Hiring illegally can be a cheaper option but one that is very risky and can put your family in danger. Dubai Police have repeatedly cautioned residents against hiring cheap but dangerous labour, saying this can make them vulnerable to crime, especially if they have small children to be taken care of.
Despite repeated warnings by the authorities, some households are still found using the services of maids and drivers who are not hired as per the law. To step up security and to make it difficult for such ‘freelance workers’ to get access into the communities, the property developer has asked residents to register their staff with the community security after which they will be issued an ID card.

Drinking water without EQM mark not to be allowed in UAE from October 1 20014

The UAE’s mandatory technical regulation for drinking water will take effect on October 1, Dr Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water, and Chairman of Emirates Standardization Metrology Authority (Esma), announced on Sunday.

The minister made it clear that any drinking water products which don't comply with the UAE Scheme for Drinking Water, approved by the UAE cabinet, and don't carry the Emirates Quality Mark (conformity mark recognised by Esma) will not be allowed into the market.

The new mechanism, he emphasized, is part of Esma's strategy to regulate and monitor products which have direct impact on health, safety of the consumer and the environment and to promote knowledge-based, competitive economy, sustainable environment and integrated infrastructure.

The minister explained that Esma board  had decided to grant an additional six months till October instead of April 1  for the enforcement of the system in response to requests by water producers and suppliers to allow them distribute their stock of drinking water and other imported products which don't carry the Emirates Quality Mark (EQM) in local market.

The new comprehensive control system aims to improve water standards in terms of quality by unifying control mechanisms on drinking water which include production, processing, packaging and distribution.

Bin Fahad told a forum, organised by Esma for 150 producers, suppliers and bottlers of drinking water and associated products, the grace period was granted to avoid any shortage of bottled water supply in the local market and spare these companies any financial loss.

''The UAE Scheme for Drinking Water, prepared by Esma in partnership with other public and private stakeholders on par with international best practices, defines the technical standard requirements for drinking water, and effective control and monitoring mechanisms regarding production, import and distribution processes,'' the minister said.

The minister noted that 154 companies had registered with the system (98 in 2013 and 56 since the beginning of 2014) of which 93 were local companies accounting for 60.4 per cent of the total companies.

He added that eight out of 14 companies applied for the Emirates Quality Mark had been awarded the registration certificates. The remaining 6 were on the final processes of auditing and conformity assessment.

UAE may soon approve new companies law: Minister

The UAE is soon expected to approve a long-awaited new law covering the operations of companies in the country, a step towards attracting fresh foreign investment, the economy minister said on Monday.

"The companies law is with the government to be ratified by the President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan - we are expecting that soon," Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, told reporters.

The new law, which has been years in the making, contains dozens of articles seeking to make limited liability and joint stock companies simpler to manage and more attractive to investors, while strengthening corporate governance in areas such as companies making loans to their directors.

The law would provide for companies’ documentation to be made publicly available, a step towards a more transparent corporate environment in the UAE.

One article, contained in a version of the law given preliminary approval last year, would reduce the minimum free float in initial public offers of shares to 30 per cent from 55 per cent, the ratio which currently applies on the UAE's two main stock exchanges.

The minimum ratio deters some corporate founders who want to maintain majority ownership, and has been criticised as one factor encouraging UAE companies to list their shares in overseas markets such as London rather than domestically. Officials have not confirmed that the article lowering the ratio will be included in the final version.

The law will certainly be less radical than some investors had hoped; last year the consultative Federal National Council rejected an article that would have eased tight controls on foreign ownership of companies, citing security fears and threats to local businesses.

The article would have given the UAE cabinet the power to let foreign parties own stakes of up to 100 per cent in companies outside free zones. Currently, foreigners can generally hold stakes of up to 49 per cent in businesses located outside free zones.

Last year, the economy minister said the article liberalising foreign ownership would be included in a draft foreign investment law. That bill has now been finalised by a ministerial legal committee and is awaiting approval of the FNC, Mansouri said on Monday.

Meanwhile, a law on small and medium-sized enterprises, which the cabinet hopes will boost the growth of SMEs and encourage UAE citizens to establish companies, is on its way, Mansouri said: "The SMEs law has been ratified by the President. That should be out soon."

The law is expected to include provisions encouraging government agencies to provide support to SMEs.

The UAE expects to attract € 8.6 billion ($11.9 billion; Dh43.67bn) in foreign direct investment into its non-oil sector in 2014, 20 per cent more than last year, Mansouri said.

The second biggest Arab economy is investing billions of dollars in industry, tourism, real estate and infrastructure to wean its economy off its reliance on oil exports.