Attested certificates must for sponsoring family

I am working in Abu Dhabi with a private construction company as a senior quality control engineer and drawing a monthly salary of Dh14,211 with food and accommodation.

I would like to bring my family here, I wanted to know the following:

a) Whether the attested marriage certificate is mandatory even when I have my spouse's name in my passport and my spouse has my name in her passport.

b) Whether the attested birth certificate of my (six-month-old) son is mandatory even after my name and my wife's name are printed in my son's passport.

It is understood that you are working as an engineer at a private construction company in Abu Dhabi and that you wish to bring your wife and child to the UAE, on your sponsorship.

Further to your questions, it may be noted that in the UAE, certain government departments including the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs require that certificates issued by an authority of a foreign country are all duly attested, ie. notarised and legalised.

The attestation is said to be duly completed once it is attested by the competent authority in the country from which the certificate was issued and also by the UAE embassy in that country.

The attestation of marriage certificate is essential where an individual seeks to sponsor a visa for his/her spouse and the attestation of birth certificate is also essential where an individual seeks to sponsor a visa for his/her child.

In accordance with the current practice prevailing in the UAE, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs would require your marriage certificate and birth certificate of your child duly notarised and legalised in order to issue a residence visa to your wife and child.

Resignation can begiven in any month

I work in Abu Dhabi and my employer says that I can give my resignation letter only in the month of December and such a letter given in other months will not be accepted. Also, once resigned, the employee has to continue working till the end of July. If he does not continue till July, then the end-of-service benefits will be deducted. It is not a private company and we do not have labour cards. How should I resign under these circumstances?

It is understood that you are working at an entity based in Abu Dhabi, which does not fall under the purview of the Ministry of Labour of the UAE.

However, you have not mentioned the competent authority (the "Authority") under which your employment is governed.

Pursuant to your question, it is noted that your employer insists on submission of resignation from employment in the month of December and subsequently continue to work till the end of July.

Does your employment contract require you to give a six or seven months' notice period to resign from your employment? If not, it may also be noted that no authority in the UAE having jurisdiction over labour issues insists on employees to serve a notice period for a duration of seven months before the termination of the employment contract.

If such a rule exists, then the same may be deemed to be arbitrary and without any legal sanction, and further it is against the provisions of the Federal Labour Law (that is, Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 on the Regulation of Labour Relations).

In view of these, it may be advised that you may submit your resignation in any month of the year and, further, you do not have to serve a long notice period as insisted by your employer.

You may contact the authority to get the correct information on the termination of employment and also of serving the notice period and then you may try to prevail upon your employer with the information.

Should you face any hardship or should there be any dispute in this regard, you may file a complaint with the authority for amicable resolution of the dispute pertaining to the length of the notice period.