Sponsoring a maid

Sponsoring a maid is a tad tedious if you've displeased your office PRO and have to run to the DNRD on your own! However, once sponsorred its smooth sailing for the next year, till the visa comes up for renewal.

I am not sure but I have been told that you can mainly sponsor house maids and not house boys unless you happen to be a single male. In that case, house maids are a complete no-no and you need to have a house boy.

Documents required for sponsoring a maid

- Labour contract of sponsor (min salary AEd 6000) and accommodation contract (min 2 rooms)
- Completed application form from authorized typing office (at the DNRD)
- Sponsor’s passport
- Copy of maid’s passport
- Passport photos of maid (minimum 3 required, though advisable to carry more)
- Affidavit from embassy/consulate certifying non-relationship, if maid from your country
- Also obtain a list of people that you are already sponsoring from DNRD (eg. wife, children, other maids, etc)

Sequence

Apply in the following order:

Residence Visa (employment permit to enter country)

Medical Check & Health Card (after maid enters)

Residence Stamp on Maid's Passport & Labour Card

Process 

Go to authorized typist & get form filled up. Pay AED 100 for application fee + separate typing fee (which varies from typist to typist). If urgent, pay additional AED 100 and let the typist know. Do keep in mind that an additional AED 10 is charged as knowledge fee for each transaction.

Go to Immigration & Naturalization Department & submit all documents after attaching Empost sticker for non-urgent visa. For urgent, wait for a few minutes and receive the employment entry permit. You will have to pay a refundable deposit of AED 2000/- along with the application. Please ensure that you collect the deposit receipt. You will need this to claim the refund of AED 2000 when the maid leaves the country.

Empost will courier the visa to you within 2 working days, at the address listed on the sticker.

Send either original or copy to your maid.

If only copy was sent, then deposit original at DNATA Visa Desk at Dubai airport, at least three hours before flight. Write flight number/date & time on reverse of original & get your copy stamped by DNATA as proof of their receipt of original.

Post arrival of maid

1. After your maid arrives, you must apply for a residence permit and health card. This must be done within 30 days of your maid’s entry into the country. You will need to go to a typist, pay for either urgent or or non-urgent residence permit and submit to residency section.

2. After stamping, you need to take your maid for her medical test and health card (average cost AED 250, though waiting time differs from 12 hours to 36 hours for some government hospitals to receive the results though like everything else an additional fee can expedite the process)

3. Take medical results to the typist and pay AED 5,200 (or 5,100 for non-urgent) to apply for residence visa.

4. Submit medical report with stamped employment permit, maid's original passport, sponsor's passport copy and a salary certificate/labour contract to residency section. It is preferable to take your maid with you. You must declare to the officer what salary you propose to pay your maid, and this will be entered into the contract. You will receive 4 printouts of the unified contract which has to be signed by both sponsor and maid. If your maid is with you, request her to sign. Go to the bank inside the visit visa section and purchase an AED 10 sticker for attestation, and re-submit copies of the contract to the officer, who will counter-sign all copies, attest one and return 2 copies to you. One is for the sponsor, the other for the maid to keep. A residence stamp valid for one year will then be placed in your maid's passport. You may have to return after 24 hours to collect the labour card.

Once the contract expires & the maid leaves

To collect your deposit, take your AED 2,000 sticker receipt and the passport to Counter 17 (Deposit Refund Counter). Get it signed by the officer and present the sticker to the Commercial Bank of Dubai branch inside the Immigration office for refund of deposit.

This is what my husband's PRO provided as a detailed guide. For further enquiries, or clarifications, you can call DNRD on 04-3980000 or the toll-free Amer helpline