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UAE: Can children stay to finish academic year after parent's visa gets cancelled?
The reader wants to know whether his children can stay in the country legally for a few more months just so they can finish their school year
- PUBLISHED: Sun 16 Feb 2025, 9:45 AM
- By:
- Ashish Mehta
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Question: I have been informed that I will be let go as part of the company's restructuring process. My children study in a school here. How long do I have to exit the country after my visa is cancelled? Is there a way I can keep my children in the country legally for a few more months just so they can complete their academic year? What are my options?
Answer: In the UAE, Article 11 of the Federal Decree-Law No. (29) of 2021 Regarding Entry and Residence of Aliens outlines the consequences for individuals whose visit visas or residency visas have been cancelled or expired without renewal. It states that if an individual continues to reside in the country illegally after his/her residency visa has been cancelled or expired, they will be subject to an administrative fine for each day they stay in the UAE.
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Article 11 of the Federal Decree-Law No. (29) of 2021 Regarding Entry and Residence of Aliens states:
“Any Alien whose visa or residence permit has been cancelled or whose residence has expired with the expiration of the period of the visa or residence permit, and does not initiate renewal — in cases in which this is permissible — or if he did not leave the State within the periods determined by the Executive Regulations of this Decree-Law, an administrative fine shall be imposed on him for each day in which he resides illegally in the State as of the date of the expiry of these periods, and the value of this fine shall be determined by a decision of the Council of Ministers.”
"An individual’s family member(s) UAE residency visa sponsored by him/her will be valid for the same duration as the sponsor’s residence visa. Once the sponsor’s UAE residency visa expires, the UAE residency visas of family members’ of such individual’s shall also expire, regardless of when such visas were issued. This is in accordance with Article 54 (3) of Cabinet Resolution No. (65) of 2022 Issuing the Executive Regulations of the UAE Immigration Law.
“The Family Members Residence Permit shall be granted for the same period of residence as the Guarantor/Head of the family, and in all cases, the validity term of residence for family members shall not exceed the validity term of the residence of the Guarantor/Head of the family.”
Furthermore, it should be noted that in the UAE once a residency visa is cancelled, an individual may be allowed to stay until the grace period mentioned in his or her visa cancellation document. This document is normally issued by the General Directorate of Residency & Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) Dubai.
Prior to the cancellation of your UAE residency visa by your employer, you are required to cancel the UAE residency visa of your family members who are under your sponsorship. Your wife may sponsor the visa of your children as long as she is not on your visa and has a separate visa from her employer. Alternatively, you may put your children's residency visa on hold, seek new employment, and then again sponsor your children’s visa. For further advise, you may contact GDRFA – Dubai.
Ashish Mehta is the founder and Managing Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates. He is qualified to practise law in Dubai, the United Kingdom and India. Full details of his firm on: www.amalawyers.com. Readers may e-mail their questions to: news@khaleejtimes.com or send them to Legal View, Khaleej Times, PO Box 11243, Dubai.