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My family (parents, bro and sis) are from uk but all live in dubai. I live in SA and want to leave but my husband does not want to come to Dubai. I have 2 kids, the youngest only 3 months old so I won't be working for another year at least. Can my father sponsor me to be here? Can he also sponsor my kids?

Also, I'm a skilled & experienced editor/copywriter. Would I be able to build up a small client base for freelancing in this field, just to keep the wolf from the door til I get a "proper" job when my baby's a bit older?

Thanks for your help!

The simple answer to your question is no. Daughters can only be under their fathers sponsorship if they are single and unmarried.

In your area of work, there is not alot of freelance work here, as all the publishing/pr/marketing companies and agenies all employ their own copy writers and editors, and many of those do some freelance work on the side, but to purely do it freelance would be very difficult here.

Plus it is not a good time to look for a job in that industry, as the majority of the publishing houses have put a freeze on recruitment until further notice, due to the current economuic climate.

Sorry I can't give you better news, but that's the state of play across the media sectors right now.

If you're not going to be working for a year, and you have UK nationality, then you could come on a visit visa and renew it every 2 months (it's not necessarily legal but it is possible, and relatively common). If you're children are South African then it gets more complicated since I don't think they're on the list of free visa on arrival countries. You may then also be in a better position to judge if you can get freelance work although what C says sounds right, and she's much more familiar with the media industry than I am.

Thanks for the info. I would do the visit visa thing (my kids have UK passports), but it seems I won't be able to put the older one in school without residency. I do believe I'd be able to build up a client base and generally get by, I've done it in several other countries, but my daughter has to go to school! Single mothers don't really fit into the Dubai dream; it just so happens that this is where my folks are. Grr!

It might be worth phoning one or two schools to see if they're flexible about the residence visa requirement - say you're looking to set up but it may take a while.

But how are you going to get residency without being employed by a company? You can get visas through the media city freezone, but only for specific areas of work.

You really cannot compare this country to any other, things just don't work that way. If you are able to get freelance work, don't expect to get paid quickly! Companies normally take around 4 months, even longer to pay up.

Also the maximum age for a single female to be sponsored by her father is 21.

arniegang wrote:Also the maximum age for a single female to be sponsored by her father is 21.

I believe that this can be extended to 30

arniegang wrote:Also the maximum age for a single female to be sponsored by her father is 21.

So it's not! There is no maximum age for a single female to be sponsored by her father! I'm in my 30's and on my fathers! Neh!

Chocoholic wrote:But how are you going to get residency without being employed by a company? You can get visas through the media city freezone, but only for specific areas of work.

I was thinking of a freezone but my suggestion was to enable OP to get into country, get kids into school, and then figure it out. Not necessarily the best solution but if she's desperate to live in the UAE, that's one way that might work.

Chocoholic wrote:If you are able to get freelance work, don't expect to get paid quickly! Companies normally take around 4 months, even longer to pay up.

A very good point, and with money tight everywhere, they may take even longer. I'd allow 6 months or more.

Trouble with the freezone visas is obviously you are footing the initial outlay, which can be thousands.

[quote="Chocoholic"]You can get visas through the media city freezone, but only for specific areas of work.



How do I find out more about this?

[quote="Chocoholic"]The simple answer to your question is no. Daughters can only be under their fathers sponsorship if they are single and unmarried.

Hi Chocoholic,

It seems you are mistaken. I spoke to immigration today and they said that a father can sponsor his daughter, even if she is married. It is Arab custom that if a woman leaves her husband, she goes to her parents... Oh, and of course I need permission from my children's father to bring them here. Yay!

Thanks again,

s

saslei wrote:It seems you are mistaken. I spoke to immigration today and they said that a father can sponsor his daughter, even if she is married. It is Arab custom that if a woman leaves her husband, she goes to her parents... Oh, and of course I need permission from my children's father to bring them here. Yay!
Thanks again,
s

1.So this is applicable for Arab women only?
2.How about non-Arabs?
3.For arab women, they are allowed to be sponsored by their parent s even if they are already 40's? 50's? No age limit?.. sounds wierd though!

It's confusing. But you specified that if a women 'leaves her husband'! Can she be still sponsored if she is still married?

Or is it that fact that her husband will not be here to sponsor her. Please clarify!

It's the fact that her husband will not be here to sponsor her, ie that even though she's married, her husband will not be here. Of course it only works if her father IS here. And obviously the father can't sponsor the husband as well.

ArchitectRoel wrote:1.So this is applicable for Arab women only?
2.How about non-Arabs?
3.For arab women, they are allowed to be sponsored by their parent s even if they are already 40's? 50's? No age limit?.. sounds wierd though!

I think it's for any woman if her father is here but not her husband. And I think it's ok for any age - although obviously not many expat 50 year old women would have fathers who work here, so the question becomes redundant.

It's clearly quite an unusual circumstance, and of course the applicant needs to have motivate for it to immigration - the visa won't just be issued as a matter of course (but then, they never are, are they?)