United Arab Emirates: Foreign Nationals Must Provide Official Attestation of Residence Lease to Sponsor Dependents in Dubai
Foreign nationals residing in Dubai and seeking to sponsor dependent family members for resident permits are now required to submit an original government attestation of their residential lease or tenancy contract. Dependent resident permit applications submitted without the lease attestation will be denied. The attestations are available through Dubai’s EJARI program, a government rent registration system.
This requirement is also in effect in Dubai’s International Financial Centre. It is expected to be extended to all of the Free Trade Zones in Dubai, though there have been no official confirmations from other Free Trade Zone authorities as of yet. Foreign nationals with Dubai-issued residence permits holding residential lease agreements in another Emirate must also have their residential leases attested, in accordance with that Emirate’s local procedures. There are no changes for foreign residents of other Emirates.
About the EJARI Program
EJARI is a registration system for residential rental agreements that was introduced by the Dubai government last year. Dubai residents are required to have their rental agreements attested at various authorized EJARI centers. To obtain a lease attestation, an individual must submit the following documents:
- Original residential rental agreement or tenancy contract;
- Copy of the tenant’s passport;
- Copy of the tenant’s employment residence permit;
- Copy of either a Dubai Electricity and Water Authority bill or receipt from a new account registration;
- Copy of the property’s title deed or affection plan that shows the plot number issued by the Dubai Municipality or Dubai Land Department;
- If the property is leased by a commercial company, a copy of that company’s trade license or approved registration.
When leasing property in Dubai from a commercial company, foreign nationals should ensure that the property is registered with the Dubai Land Department and ideally they should obtain a copy of the title deed when signing the lease contract.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen Global, or send an email to middleeast@ae.fragomen.com.
Source: Fragomen