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Here is the part no competitor explains, and it is the single most useful thing to understand before you apply. You will find published figures that flatly contradict each other: some say AED 10,000, some still say AED 20,000. Only one of them is on GDRFA's current service card.
The figure to plan around in Dubai is AED 10,000. That is what GDRFA-Dubai's own service card lists today for sponsoring a mother and father: a salary certificate (government sector) or employment contract (private sector) "with a minimum salary of AED 10,000".
The AED 20,000 number is still repeated in many guides, but it does not appear on the current GDRFA card, and we could not find it on any current official page. Outside Dubai the file goes through ICP, whose public residence-permit card does not publish a parent-specific salary, so confirm your figure with GDRFA (Dubai) or ICP (other emirates) before you commit a dirham.
The logic behind the higher cost is straightforward once you see it from the government's side. A spouse or child is expected to be a dependant for the long term, often working or studying. A parent is older, more likely to need medical care, and is presumed to have no income of their own in the UAE.
So the authorities want evidence that you can carry that cost without strain. The salary requirement, the per-parent security deposit, and the pricier mandatory insurance all flow from the same assumption: an elderly dependant is a heavier financial responsibility than a spouse.
This also explains why a parent visa is issued for only one year and renewed annually, even when your own visa runs for two or three years. GDRFA renews it "under the same conditions under which it was granted", so expect those conditions to be looked at again every twelve months, because a parent's situation — and yours — can change quickly.
Don’t want to figure this out alone? Sarmat is a KHDA-certified training provider and registered typing centre in Deira, Dubai. Message us on WhatsApp — we answer questions like this every day.
If you have already sponsored a spouse, you have a mental model of the process. Reset it. The parent visa is heavier on almost every axis that involves cost or paperwork.
| Factor | Parent residence visa | Spouse residence visa |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum sponsor salary (Dubai) | AED 10,000/month (GDRFA-Dubai service card) | ~AED 4,000/month (or AED 3,000 + accommodation) |
| Visa validity | 1 year, renewed annually | Matches the sponsor's permit and cannot exceed it (ICP) |
| Security deposit | Financial guarantee of AED 5,000 per request on approval (total capped at AED 15,000) | None listed on GDRFA's family-residence card |
| Mandatory health insurance | Higher — scales with parent's age | Set by the insurer |
| Extra document | Three-month bank statement; ask whether a consulate letter on supporting your parents is needed | Attested marriage certificate |
| Both-or-one rule | Usually both parents together; not stated on GDRFA's card — confirm (see below) | N/A |
The takeaways: budget for renewal every single year, expect the guarantee and insurance to be counted for each parent rather than once per family, and have your bank statements and tenancy contract ready — the parent file asks for more proof that you can support them than the spouse file does. For a side-by-side on the spouse route, see our guide to spouse and family visa sponsorship.
Most guides describe a "humanitarian route" as a fallback for sponsors who earn too little. That is not how GDRFA-Dubai sets it out. Sponsoring your mother and father is itself the first category on GDRFA's service card "Issuance of a residence permit for humanitarian cases" — the AED 10,000 salary, the attested tenancy contract and the three-month bank statement are the requirements of that service, not of a separate standard route.
The same card covers parents-in-law (same AED 10,000 salary), siblings, stepchildren, guardianship and custody cases, divorced or widowed women, and a wife and children where the sponsor's salary is under AED 4,000. It does not publish a lower salary tier for parents, so if you earn less than AED 10,000, ask GDRFA's Humanitarian Cases Section or an Amer centre before you build a file.
The permit is valid for one year and renewable. Upon approval GDRFA requires a financial guarantee of AED 5,000 for each request, capped at AED 15,000 in total. The card lists the expected completion time as 14 days, and applications go through GDRFA's digital channels or an Amer centre.
Short answer: it is a financial guarantee, not a fee, and GDRFA counts it per request. The federal portal u.ae puts it as "a deposit as a guarantee for each parent", so sponsor two parents and you should plan to lodge it for each.
Now the amount. GDRFA-Dubai's service card reads: upon approval, a financial guarantee of AED 5,000 is required for each request, provided the total guarantee does not exceed AED 15,000. The renewal card repeats the same figures, and ICP's federal residence-permit card lists the same guarantee for humanitarian cases: AED 5,000 for each individual, up to AED 15,000. Neither GDRFA card sets out how or when the guarantee is returned, so ask GDRFA for the refund procedure and keep the receipt.
One clarification that saves confusion. The guarantee is separate from the government fees. GDRFA's card lists those as: residence permit fee AED 200, Knowledge Dirham AED 10, Innovation Dirham AED 10, a fee of AED 500 when the applicant is inside the country, and AED 20 for delivery. Those are fees, not a deposit, and they are not returned.
Health insurance is the cost item most people underestimate. ICP's residence-permit service card lists valid health insurance among the documents for a residence permit; GDRFA's parent card does not mention it, so confirm with GDRFA or your typing centre which policy your file needs before you buy.
We do not quote a price here, because there is no official tariff: the premium is set by the insurer and depends on the parent's age and health. A parent in their seventies, or one with a pre-existing condition, will usually cost noticeably more than one in their fifties. Get written quotes for each parent before you budget.
Two practical points. First, this is a recurring annual cost, not one-off — it repeats at every renewal. Second, before you pay, confirm with the insurer that the policy is accepted for a residence permit in the emirate issuing it; a plan that is not accepted means buying twice.
The rule you will usually hear is that both parents are sponsored together. GDRFA-Dubai's current service card for sponsoring parents does not spell that out either way, so treat it as something to confirm with GDRFA or an Amer centre before you file for one parent only.
The exception usually quoted is death or divorce: if the other parent has died or the parents are divorced, the remaining parent is sponsored alone. The same GDRFA card uses that wording for siblings — "Sponsorship of the parents is required first, except in cases of death or divorce". This is the route behind most "mother visa Dubai" and "father visa UAE" searches.
If you are filing for one parent, have the proof ready: an attested death certificate or an attested divorce decree. The card does not list these documents for parents, so ask GDRFA or an Amer centre what your file needs before you submit. Because the UAE is not a Hague Apostille country, that certificate must be legalised through the full consular chain (your home-country authorities, then the UAE Embassy in that country, then UAE MOFA — the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, formerly MOFAIC) — never an apostille alone.
This trips people up, so it is worth stating plainly: no, you generally cannot sponsor a sibling on a standard residence visa. Residence sponsorship is reserved for immediate family — spouse, children, and parents. Brothers and sisters sit outside that circle under the standard rules.
The realistic path for a sibling is a visit visa, not residence, and even that carries its own sponsor-salary band: AED 8,000 per month, the official ICP minimum for sponsoring second-degree relatives on a visit visa. Residence sponsorship of a sibling only happens under narrow, case-by-case humanitarian or guardianship circumstances. If a relative is selling you on an easy sibling residence visa, be cautious. For the full map of who can sponsor whom, our breakdown of UAE visa types lays out each category.
The mechanics are document-heavy but predictable. In Dubai you will move through GDRFA (in person or via the GDRFA app and an Amer-authorised typing centre); in other emirates the equivalent flow runs through ICP.
Any document issued abroad that goes into the file has to be legalised through the consular chain rather than apostilled; our guide to degree certificate attestation in the UAE shows how that chain works, using a degree as the example.
Most rejections are not bad luck — they are predictable, and avoidable. Knowing them in advance is the single best thing you can do for your file.
You can assemble all of this yourself, learn the GDRFA forms by trial and error, and find out which attestation you got wrong only after a rejection. Or you can have it typed and submitted correctly the first time. The steps that most often go wrong — the application itself and the attestation of foreign documents — are exactly the steps a typing centre handles every day.
As an Amer-authorised typing centre in Deira, Sarmat's typing and document services prepare the entry-permit submission, format the supporting documents to GDRFA's expectations, and tell you which attestations your specific file needs before you pay deposits or buy insurance. With 12+ years in UAE government services and 5,000+ clients handled, the aim is simple: one clean submission instead of two.
If you want a quick read on whether your salary meets GDRFA's AED 10,000 requirement — and what your parents' file will need — message us on WhatsApp at wa.me/971506395245 and we will walk you through it before you start spending.
AED 10,000 per month. GDRFA Dubai's service card for sponsoring parents asks for a salary certificate or employment contract with a minimum salary of AED 10,000, plus an attested tenancy contract and a three-month bank statement. The AED 20,000 figure still quoted in older guides is not on the current GDRFA card. Outside Dubai, confirm the figure with ICP before applying.
GDRFA Dubai's service card says that, upon approval, a financial guarantee of AED 5,000 is required for each request, with the total guarantee capped at AED 15,000. The federal portal u.ae describes it as a deposit paid as a guarantee for each parent, so plan AED 10,000 for two parents. The card does not set out the refund procedure, so ask GDRFA or your typing centre how and when the guarantee is returned.
The rule usually quoted is both parents together, with an exception where the other parent has died or the parents are divorced. GDRFA Dubai's current service card for sponsoring parents does not state it, so confirm with GDRFA or an Amer centre before filing for one parent, and have an attested death certificate or divorce decree ready. Because the UAE is not a Hague Apostille country, that certificate must be legalised through the full consular chain, not an apostille alone.
There is no official price: the premium depends on the insurer, the parent's age and their health, and it recurs every year with the one-year permit. ICP's residence-permit service card lists valid health insurance among the documents for a residence permit, so get quotes for each parent and confirm with GDRFA or your typing centre that the policy will be accepted before you buy.
The parent residence visa is valid for one year and must be renewed annually, regardless of whether your own visa runs for two or three years. Renewal is granted under the same conditions as the first permit, and GDRFA's renewal card ties it to the financial guarantee being in place and a medical fitness exam.
Generally no — residence sponsorship covers immediate family only (spouse, children, parents). Siblings normally route to a visit visa, which carries an AED 8,000 sponsor-salary band (the official ICP minimum for second-degree relatives), with residence sponsorship reserved for narrow humanitarian or guardianship cases.
A parent visa is the kind of file where one missing bank statement, one wrongly attested certificate, or one unpaid guarantee costs you weeks and a second trip. Sarmat's typing-centre and document services prepare and submit the application the way GDRFA expects it — salary documentation, bank statements, Ejari, insurance, entry permit, Emirates ID, and the financial guarantee, end to end.
Message us on WhatsApp at wa.me/971506395245 with your monthly salary and whether you are sponsoring one parent or both, and we will check your salary against GDRFA's AED 10,000 requirement and map your file before you spend a dirham.
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