Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum Dubai Visa

Hi,

My girlfriend and I live and work in the UK and we have a 15 month old baby girl. We all have UK passports. We have not been married but I am the registered father on the birth certificate of our baby.

We are looking to move to UAE in the very near future, if I manage to find a job (I am rather optimistic) but we will only go if all of us can go together more or less. The only thing we can be flexible on is that I can go first and then the GF and baby join in 4-6 weeks time.

What visa options do we have, taking into account that we are not married? The plan is that I will be the only worker in the household. We both have post-graduate degrees and international experience in our fields but my GF has not worked in the last 2 years and she is not too keen to go back to work before the baby grows up a bit more.

Just to pre-empt the comments on marriage ... we will get married at some point but not in the next couple of years due to other family issues.

Thank you in advance for your contributions/ideas

Your GF cannot get a residence visa unless a. she is married to you and you sponsor her, or b. she finds a job and is sponsored by her employer. These are the only two options for you really. Having a UK passport she could do visa runs every 30 days and just stay on a tourist visa, but then she can't open a bank account, get a drivers license etc.

There are unmarried couples with children here, but really to avoid hassles and all sorts of questions it would be more appropriate for you to get married.

At least, can I sponsor the baby so we can have access to child care, nurseries etc until we work out a solution for the gf? Also, how many times can she do a visa run?

I would have thought so yes, that wouldn't be an issue. With a UK passport you can keep on doing visa runs, but note that she cannot work on a toursit visa. They were limiting is to a couple of renewals not so long ago.

European , Then you're working illegally and if somebody shops you, you'll be deported! You are NOT allowed to work on a tourist visa, the laws are very strict on that. The company employing you, if they are found out would lose their trade license for doing this - I've seen it happen!

If any of the above asked you do show your residency visa, they'd disconnect you in an instant. If you got the above whilst on a residency visa, then no they don't check it usually if your visa status changes. You say your company is local? Well they're bending the rules then clearly.

Please do not give this advice as you are breaking the law!

The simple fact is you CANNOT work unless you are sponsored. Even if a husband sponsors his wife, it's clearly stamped on her visa 'not allowed to work' and the husband must give his permission to work. Any company PRO or person working in HR will tell you exactly what I have said here. If you don't believe me, simply call the Ministry of Labour!

European , Clearly! But your 'situation' doesn't help the OP as your 'situation' isn't legal.

European, if you don't have a work permit you will be deported if caught. Just because you slipped through the cracks doesn't mean other people should also try to do something illegal.

Frankly, I don't understand why the company hasn't gotten you a proper visa and why you settle for that. Seems a bit foolish.

European , Many people cohabit with their other halves, the authorities let it slide, they turn a blind eye to it and you well know it, esp when it comes to westerners. A thought did occur to me about your 'situation' though. Does you company provide you with health insurance? I don't know how long you've worked for them, but you do realise that without a labour contract if you leave or you're terminated you will get absolutely nothing in final payments, gratuity etc, because you're illegal, therefore they won't have to! So I sincerely hope you haven't invested years and effort in your job, because you could well end up with zero at the end of it.

FYI, with regards to visa runs, they change their minds over that regularly, although with certain passport holders they seem allow constant visa runs, only last year they clamped down and said 'certain' people were only allowed two! It was all over the press and people were worried about it, trying to find out what was going on. They can change their mind over laws here in an instant. So it's not 'false' information, it's merely erring on the side of caution, because some people are only allowed so many before they kick you out.

You can moan and complain all you want, if you simply good visa to work in Dubai, every suggestion that comes up clearly states that a work permit is required otherwise you are illegal, no ifs or buts, that's the law.

European wrote:Are you insinuating that different nationalities are treated differently by Dubai authorities?

Troll spotted.

kanelli , It was obvious before that when the cohabiting thing was brought up, only a certain person has a bee in their bonnet and threatens people with that!
European , well your situation is irrelevent and adds nothing to what the OP was asking. ETA - lol really? And why are certain passport holders allowed a visa on arrival whereas others have to apply for a visa - no different to any country in the world. There are 33 countries that get more 'concessions' than others.

I noticed you chose to ignore my query about gratuity etc? Not worried about getting zilch when you leave?
Also with the Emirates ID card starting to be required to do anything, you won't get away with not having a work permit for too long as all banking services, car registration (if you're non-resident you can't do this anyway) etc will be linked to that.

You are not a troll European!

You will forget racism once you see real prejudice here
Stay safe

If you are a valued employee your company would get you a proper work visa.

Anyone who has lived in Dubai for even a short time knows that people from different nationalities are not treated the same.

Thank you for all the replies