United Arab Emirates Immigration Services

With offices strategically located in Dubai, Newland Chase UAE provides corporations and individuals operating in the UAE with complete support for all their immigration and visa needs – inbound to the UAE and outbound to more than 190 countries around the world. Our full spectrum of services allows us to manage all of your business visa and employee immigration needs.

With tremendous flexibility in our technology, staff, and services, our UAE office is able to customize our immigration solutions to fit client needs. We provide high-touch customer service in a cost-effective manner through:

  • Providing a complete and comprehensive range of immigration services, so that all of the needs of the employee, their families, and the sponsoring company can be completely accommodated.
  • Providing clear, well-defined service options that allow transparency in pricing and billing.
  • Providing standardized options for the most common services to assist clients in determining the most cost-effective strategies.
  • UAE Immigration Management

    We provide support in all areas of UAE immigration for corporations and individuals – from short-term work authorization and temporary residency to long-term work authorization, and permanent residency, including both company employees and accompanying family members. Our approach covers you from comprehensive guidance and pre-planning of new assignments and immigration options to completion of all in-country requirements to ongoing compliance monitoring.

    The services listed below are just some of the services that are available to clients through the Newland Chase office in Dubai:

    • End-to-end process and program management, for the UAE and globally
    • Consolidated initiation process, billing, and reporting
    • Integrated systems and leading-edge technologies
    • ‘Hands on’ management
    • Consistent quality controls
    • Document gathering and processing
    • Translation, legalization, and authentication
    • Submission of host applications and consular applications
    • Immigration needs in non-free zones across the UAE
    • Assistance with company transfers within the UAE
    • Updating immigration documents with new passport details in free zone and non-free zones
    • Immigration assistance for non-traditional dependents (e.g. parents, nannies)
    • Legalization of documents
    • Procurement of PRO card
    • Procurement of Salary certificates and supporting documents for use outside DIFC (e.g. NOC for drivers license, NOC for liquor license)
    • Ejari or MOFA attestations in UAE
    • Assistance at main Immigration office in Dubai

    For more detailed up-to-date information on the most common work authorization routes in the UAE, see our Immigration Summary.

  • Comprehensive Global Immigration Management

    For corporations and individuals located in the UAE, we also provide support in all areas of immigration to more than 190 countries around the world. Our UAE team is part of the larger Newland Chase global team of 1,700+ expert immigration and visa professionals – specializing in everything from short-term work assignments and temporary residency to long-term work assignments, permanent residency, and citizenship throughout the world.

  • Business Traveler Management

    Business Visas are a key component of a globally mobile workforce – allowing individuals to enter UAE and other countries for non-work business activities. Business visas typically apply to business meetings, seminars, conferences, trade shows, limited sales activities, contract negotiations, and some supervisory activities. Newland Chase UAE offers comprehensive services for business travelers both inbound to the UAE and outbound to more than 190 countries.

    Our services include everything from personalized assessment of the activities and destination for visa compliance to obtaining the proper visas to tracking of the number and length of stays of your business travelers for legal compliance.

  • Immigration Policy and Compliance

    Our UAE immigration experts offer an extensive suite of advisory services and immigration compliance strategies to ensure that your organization and employees remain compliant with all UAE immigration and visa requirements. Our services include strategic guidance on immigration plans, development and implementation of immigration policies, sponsor compliance, education and training, audit support (including mock audits), and immigration compliance technology solutions.

  • Consulting and Advisory Services

    Our UAE immigration experts act as trusted business advisors – supporting you in virtually any unique or complex immigration-related matter. Our UAE team is able to manage the scope of immigration in large-scale projects and employee moves, as well as guide you through the immigration complexities involved in corporate restructuring and mergers and acquisitions.

  • Employment Entry Visa with Work Card

    The most common category for corporate transfers is the Employment Entry Visa with Work Card. For details on non-typical categories not listed below (investors, special programs), please contact your representative. The applicant must have an employment contract directly with the Emirian entity.

    The process and requirements differ depending on the Emirate where the applicant will work. Each of the seven (7) states, or Emirates, of the UAE has its own distinct immigration process. Immigration procedures are streamlined and expedited for companies located in certain Zones within each Emirate, as the UAE is keen to encourage foreign investment in these areas.

  • Dependents

    Dependent immigration status approval depends on the immigration status of the principal applicant. Where the principal applicant is in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with an Employment Entry Visa with Labor Card, legally married spouses and children under the age of eighteen are eligible for dependent status. Unmarried or same-sex partners are not eligible for dependent status in the UAE. Parents are allowed to be sponsored by assignees with an undertaking letter attested by the respective country consulate stating the assignee will be responsible for both the parents. However, assignees cannot sponsor any other family members or relatives.

  • Visa and Permit Renewals

    Under the visa and immigration processes of the UAE, visa and permit renewal is possible. Renewal processes typically take two (2) to three (3) weeks.

  • Deregistration

    Upon cancellation of a valid visa, individuals are allowed up to twenty-nine (29) calendar days from the date of the Residence Permit cancellation to change their status or leave the country. Failure to complete the change of status/exit within the twenty-nine day (29) grace period will result in fines.

    Dependents’ Residence Permit should be cancelled prior to cancelling the sponsor’s Residence Permit. The deregistering individual should be physically present at the Government Service Office to sign the visa cancellation form and confirm that he/she has received all of his/her dues and this depends upon the jurisdiction filing at the authority.

    The Free Zone Employee card for the deregistering individual should be submitted along with the visa cancellation application.

Immigration Summary

Foreign nationals wishing to work in United Arab Emirates must apply for a work permit, an employment entry permit/e-visa and a labour card in order to obtain a residence visa and an Emirates ID Card. The applicant must have an employment contract directly with the Emirian entity. The process and requirements differ depending on the Emirate where the applicant will work.

The immigration process is simpler and quicker if the UAE entity is located in one of the many Free Zones, with no Ministry of Labour approval required.

Nationals from Bangladesh, Morocco and Palestine will undergo extensive internal security checks and applications are often rejected. There is currently a visa ban in place for nationals of Afghanistan, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and Yemen. Nationalities requiring internal clearance or subject to a visa ban can change at short notice.

Foreign nationals wishing to work for a period of less than 90 days in the Mainland (non Free Zone) may follow a shorter process to obtain a Mission Visa.

Nationals of fellow members of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) wishing to work in the UAE will not need to apply for an employment entry permit in the UAE. They will just need to apply for a labour or employment card and an Emirates ID card.

Our UAE team members are highly qualified and dedicated professionals with extensive experience in all aspects of UAE immigration. They come from the best of legal, consulting, in-house corporate and government backgrounds and bring a breadth of experience and insight both in immigration and a multitude of industry sectors. With a dedication to service and a consultative approach, our people act as your trusted advisors and partners in achieving your business goals in the UAE.

Sergey Petrov

Senior Director, EMEA Immigration

London, United Kingdom

Vivek Radhakrishnan

Immigration Manager, Middle East & Africa Operations

Dubai, United Arab Emirates