All You Need To Know About Bringing A Nanny Or Maid In UAE

by Saniya
All You Need To Know About Bringing A Nanny Or Maid In UAE

Is the housework getting too much for you? Do you think you could do with some help at home with the chores? Then getting a nanny or a domestic help might well be on your mind. But, brining a nanny to the UAE comes with a bag of rules. Here’s all that you need to know about the visas and legal procedures to sponsor your maid in the UAE.

maid in UAE
(Credits: The National)

Who is Eligible?

If you are an expat with a salary of AED 6000 per month or AED 5000 plus housing, then you are eligible to apply for a residence visa for your nanny or sponsor your maid in UAE.

Where Can The Maid Be From?

You can get your house help from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Philipines. Depending on the nationality of the workforce, the minimum salaries are fixed. So you may want to be balancing out personal comfort as well your budget too while selecting this one.

What’s The Process?

Now that you know you are eligible to sponsor your maid’s visa, it’s time to familiarize yourself with the process. To put it concisely, the formalities have three major phases. So what are they? It is the application process, medical fitness test, and finally, the stamping of the visa and documentation process.

The Application Process

The first step of the visa application is so to prepare for all the required documents in advance before heading to submit them. Here is the document checklist:

1. An Authorized Typing Centre typed Application Form
2. Passport of Sponsor
3. Passport Copy of Nanny
4. Passport-sized photos of the nanny
5. Sponsor’s salary certificate or labor contract
6. Sponsor’s Ejari Contract of minimum to 2 bedroom apartment
7. An affidavit from the embassy if sponsor and maid are from the same country

Now that you have prepared all the documents, its time to file in the application.

1. Get the documents types out from an authorized typing center for an employment entry permit. This will cost you around AED 110 plus the typing fee under a regular application. In a hurry to call in your maid? Pay up an extra AED 100 for it and fast track your visa process.

2. Now, head out to the General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs (GDRFA) and file in your documents and application. Fast track applicants receive their permit in a few minutes. Yep! It’s that quick.

3. Deposit a refundable fee of AED 2000 that you can reclaim once your maid completes her contract and leaves the country.

4. Received the employment permit? Now you can send it to your maid so that she can enter the country for further processing of her residency.

Medical Fitness Test

Once your maid receives the employment entry permit, she can travel to the country on it. Upon her arrival, take her to one of the 14 health centers in Dubai for the medical fitness test.

1. Firstly, you gotta register for the test through an authorized typing center. This will cost you AED 140 for the Emirates ID, and an additional typing fee of about AED 30.

2. Next, you will apply for your maid to take the blood test, x-ray, and a prescribed Hepatitis B vaccination.

Cost: Non-urgent- AED 325, (takes 5-7 working days) | 48 hour service- AED 420 | 24 hour service- AED 520

3. You will receive an SMS notifying about the medical results as well as a courier of the same

4. Once your maid has cleared the fitness test, head to the Emirates ID and Identification office to submit the application and register the fingerprints.

5. Once you have registered for the Emirates ID, head to an authorized typing center and pay for the Residence Visa Application.

Cost: AED 5,100 (Regular) | AED 5,200 (Urgent)

Stamping Of Visa And Document Collection Process

Now, most of the tedious job is done. So once you receive your medical fitness results, submit it to the GDRFA branch. Make sure to attach the Emirates ID and Residence Visa Application.

At the GDRFA, submit all the documents from the checklist. Let your attending officer know about the salary you have negotiated with your maid. This will be entered into the contract. The copy of this contract will is handed to you and your maid, one each. Additionally, a residence visa stamp akin to the one in your passport will be attached to the maid’s passport.

The Domestic Workers Card will be mailed to you via post while you can collect the Emirates ID from the post once you have received an SMS notification that the ID is ready.

Voila! Once you have completed this elaborate process, you can let your nanny or maid take care of the work in UAE!