Family residence visa
A family residence visa lets a UAE resident sponsor a spouse, children and in some cases parents; property investors can sponsor family on the Golden Visa or Dubai's 2-year investor visa.
What Family residence visa means for a buyer
A property investor's visa usually covers the investor's family too. The family members' permits follow the sponsor's: a Golden Visa family receives the same 10-year term, and a 2-year property investor visa family receives two years.
The two visas differ on who can be sponsored. The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) says Golden Visa holders can sponsor their children regardless of age, as well as their parents. On Dubai's 2-year investor visa, sons can be sponsored only until 25 and parents one year at a time, according to the Dubai Land Department's guidance.
Paperwork is the slow part. Marriage and birth certificates must be legalised in the home country, attested by the UAE embassy there and by the UAE foreign ministry, then translated into Arabic (see attestation). Each family member also needs health insurance, an Emirates ID and, from age 18, a medical test.
If the Golden Visa holder dies, ICP states that the family may remain until their own permits expire. Selling the property removes the basis for the investor's visa, and with it the family's.
Our family sponsorship guide sets out the documents, the published fees and where official sources disagree.
Related terms
Guides that use this term
Where Family residence visa comes up in practice, with the costs, rules and steps around it.
Questions about the buying process?
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