Daijiworld Media Network - UAE (SR)

Abu Dhabi, Jul 29: Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) has announced that women employed in the UAE, can now sponsor their husbands and adult children to work in the country. A senior official at MoHRE said on Saturday, that the ministry has started issuing work permits to companies that want to hire eligible men who are under their families' sponsorship.

As reported in Khaleej Times, assistant under secretary for Communication and International Relations at the MoHRE, Dr Omar Al Naimi, told the publication that the new rule allows women working in the UAE to bring their family members and sponsor them, irrelevant of their professions. "It only sets a minimum salary for that sponsorship. It also broadened the scope of women able to bring their family members."

Under the new law, men who are sponsored by their wives, or parents sponsored by their children and young graduates who are supported by their parents can join the UAE workforce. These permits previously were only issued to women who were under the sponsorship of their family and there are a lot of women who are employed in the UAE under visas provided by their husbands or fathers.

Al Naimi said the new work permit is an initiative, aimed at achieving more stability for expatriate families in the UAE. "It (new work permit) will be implemented at all service centres of MoHRE. The new work permit is also expected to ease the burden on employers as they do not have to bear the cost of visas while recruiting from the local labour market," Naimi added.