How to sponsor a housemaid from overseas

UAE residents can sponsor a maid if they have a minimum monthly salary of Dh6,000, or Dh5,000 with accommodation, are married and have all immediate family members under their sponsorship.

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UAE residents can sponsor a maid if they have a minimum monthly salary of Dh6,000, or Dh5,000 with accommodation, are married and have all immediate family members under their sponsorship.

The prospective employer must choose a maid through an agency.

The sponsor must then pick up the application form for an entry permit for domestic workers from any typing centre and submit it along with the required documents (see box) to the immigration office in the emirate.

Once granted, the entry permit should be given to the recruitment agency so that the maid can travel to the UAE. The sponsor must then apply for a residency visa within 60 days of the maid's arrival.

Maids from Ethiopia, Sri Lanka or Indonesia are required to take a medical fitness test in their home countries before applying for the visa. Others can take the medical fitness desk in the UAE at any government hospital.

In Abu Dhabi, maids must also have health insurance before they are granted a visa. Daman offers a package for Dh600 a year.

Sponsors should check with the embassy of the maid's countryfor regulations on employee rights, such as minimum wage and medical insurance. Fees include Dh220 for the employment visa/entry permit, a Dh2,000 deposit that is returned when the visa is cancelled and the maid leaves the country, Dh100 for a one-year residency visa, and a Dh5,000 ministry fee for each year of residency.

Step 1

Gather the required documents:

ŸOriginal entry permit/visa application with two passport photos of the maid

Ÿ Copies of the sponsor's passport and residency visa

Ÿ Maid's passport copy (must be valid for at least six months)

Ÿ List of family members' visas registered under the sponsor

Ÿ Original salary certificate for sponsors working in the public sector, or the labour contract showing monthly salary for sponsors in the private sector

Ÿ Original letter from the sponsor's embassy in the UAE stating that the sponsor and maid are not related

Ÿ Original Empost receipt for application fees

Step 2

In Dubai, contact the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs on 800 5111 or at www.dnrd.ae. In Abu Dhabi and other emirates, contact the emirate's General Department of Naturalisation and Residency on 600 522222