Considering you are moving your life to Ajman, one of the most pressing questions is naturally about your children: do they require a separate visa, how does the sponsorship process differ from other emirates, and what are the crucial, often-missed documentation steps you must complete immediately after their arrival to secure their residency in the vibrant United Arab Emirates?
The Fundamental Visa Requirement for Children
The short answer is a resounding yes, every child must have their own residence visa if they plan to live with you in Ajman, or anywhere else in the UAE, for more than the grace period of a tourist visa. This residence permit, or visa, is always tied directly to the sponsor’s valid visa, which is typically the father’s or, under specific conditions, the mother’s residence permit. The child’s visa essentially confirms their legal status as a dependent resident under your care. A critical detail you must never overlook is the 120-day grace period for newborns in the UAE, meaning you have a strict four-month window from the child’s birth date to complete all the visa formalities, including securing their passport, to avoid steep daily fines.
Sponsor Eligibility and Financial Criteria
Before starting the application, you need to confirm that you, the sponsoring parent, meet the established minimum salary requirement set by the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICP). For most expatriates, this threshold is generally an approximate minimum monthly salary of AED 4,000, or AED 3,000 if your employer provides accommodation. You should treat these figures as approximate benchmarks because the specific requirements can change and often fluctuate slightly based on current regulations and your employment status, especially if you work for an Ajman Free Zone Authority versus the Ajman Mainland. These salary requirements are in place to ensure you can financially support your dependents comfortably and are a non-negotiable part of the application.
The Critical Document Checklist for Sponsorship
The bureaucracy can feel like a mountain of paper, but getting your documents in order beforehand will save you immense time and stress. For your child’s visa, the two most important documents that must be attested are your attested marriage certificate and your child’s attested birth certificate. Attestation means the documents have been legally verified by the necessary authorities in your home country, the UAE Embassy or Consulate there, and finally, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFAIC) here in the UAE. Other key documents include copies of the sponsor’s and child’s valid passports, the sponsor’s Emirates ID and residence visa, your salary certificate, and proof of your registered tenancy contract in Ajman.
The Two-Step Visa Application Process
The process is generally divided into two main stages that you must complete sequentially. The first step is applying for the Entry Permit for your child, which is essentially an initial approval to enter the UAE or to start the visa process if the child is already here. Once the Entry Permit is approved, you move on to the second stage: applying for the Residency Stamping on the child’s passport. The entire application is typically submitted either through the ICP online services or via an authorized typing center in Ajman, where a trained professional can help ensure all forms are completed accurately, which minimizes delays.
Medical Fitness Requirements for Children
This is an area where the rules are quite clear and are designed to simplify the process for families. A medical fitness test is a mandatory requirement for residency visa applications in the UAE, but here is the good news: children under the age of 18 are generally exempt from this specific medical examination. This exemption includes the blood test and chest X-ray that adults must undergo at an approved center, such as the Mushairif Medical Examination Center in Ajman. Once your child turns 18, however, they will be considered an adult dependent and must undergo the full medical screening for visa renewal, so be sure to plan for that eventual change.
The Mandatory Health Insurance Element
Even though your child may be exempt from the physical medical test, you cannot skip the requirement for valid health insurance coverage, as it is mandatory for all residents in the UAE. Before you can secure the final visa stamping, you must provide proof of a health insurance policy for your child. In Ajman and the Northern Emirates, you have various options, ranging from basic, essential health plans to more comprehensive, higher-tier coverage. The cost of this insurance is not included in the standard visa fees and will be an additional expense, so make sure to shop around and budget for the annual cost of the policy.
Understanding the Associated Costs
As per the user’s explicit instruction, we are not providing exact price figures, but we can discuss the approximate structure of the costs. The overall expense for securing a child’s visa is a combination of several separate fees, and the total amount will depend on the visa duration and whether the application is processed inside or outside the country. You can expect to pay separate, yet necessary, fees for the Entry Permit, the Emirates ID card application, the Visa Stamping itself, and the mandatory health insurance. On average, you should budget for an approximate total expense per child that is comparable to the sponsor’s visa cost, ensuring your financial plans are realistic and comprehensive.
The Significance of the Emirates ID
The final step, which is just as important as the visa, is the application for the Emirates ID card. The Emirates ID is the official identification document for all residents in the UAE, serving as your children’s proof of residency and identity for everything from school registration to accessing healthcare. Once the visa is approved and stamped in the passport, you must complete the Emirates ID application, which includes a biometrics appointment for individuals over a certain age. The validity of the Emirates ID card is always directly linked to the duration of the child’s residency visa.
Sponsoring Older Children and Daughters
The UAE has very progressive rules regarding the age limit for sponsoring male and female children. As of the most recent regulations, sponsors can now bring in their male children up to the age of 25 years, provided the son is unmarried and pursuing higher education, a significant extension from the previous age limit. For unmarried daughters, there is no age limit for sponsorship, allowing families to keep their daughters under their care indefinitely. These rules highlight the UAE’s commitment to supporting expatriate families and keeping them together during their time in the Emirates.
Ajman Mainland vs. Free Zone Sponsorship
While the overall process is similar across the UAE, you may encounter minor procedural differences based on where your sponsor’s work visa was issued, which could be the Ajman Mainland or the Ajman Free Zone (AFZ). In a Free Zone setup, the Free Zone authority often handles the initial visa application and coordination with the ICP, streamlining the process. If your visa is from the Mainland, you will typically deal directly with the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) or its associated service centers in Ajman. Regardless of the location, the core documentation and financial requirements remain consistent, making the process fundamentally the same for all Ajman residents.
Recommendations from the editor of www.few.ae
The team at www.few.ae knows that securing your family’s status is your top priority when moving to Ajman. Our most important recommendation is to begin the attestation of your birth and marriage certificates before you even arrive in the UAE. This step is a frequent source of delay for new residents, and completing it in advance will dramatically accelerate your application timeline. When you submit your application in Ajman, make use of the authorized typing centers near the Ajman Immigration Office. While you can apply online, these centers offer a valuable checking service, ensuring every field is correctly filled out according to local Ajman-specific rules, giving you the peace of mind that your family’s future in the Emirates is secure.
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