mikefran

Hi Everyone,

I have a question I'd like to ask of those living in the UAE please. I'm interviewing for a job based in Al Ain with a foreign company who have a contract there. My question surrounds the Visa situation for spouses. The Employer has indicated that Wives will be sponsored into the UAE, and from what I've researched through the forums here the Employer will act as the sponsor. Will my wife's visa allow her to look for work herself? We have no children and she would like to keep working herself. I've looked at the wiki, and Embassy websites, but haven't been able to find any reference to employment of spouses, so hoping there's a spouse or two here who may be able to shed some light for me.

Many thanks in anticipation

Millhouse

Yes. You just have to issue a letter of No Objection.

al dente

Who do you need to issue it to?

I'm working freelance here because the PRO at Adia couldn't seem to work out a way for me to get a labour card.

Mind you, i haven't tried recently since there was a re vamp in the labour law.

Millhouse

ah, I've just re-read the post... I thought he was sponsoring the wife, not his employer. In that case, I have no idea.

Meow

I'd have thought that was unlikely. It not clear from what the OP is saying, but he probably does not understand the situation here himself. Chances are this wife will be sponsored by him and be on a spouse's visa.

If that's the case, then as you say he just need to give her a NOC, but the employer must also provide her with a Labour Card.

mikefran

Thanks everyone for the answers provided. You're right though, I'm a little unsure about who would be sponsoring my wife. The prospective employer wasn't giving much away during my initial enquiries, so hopefully when I interview next week I'll be able to get something definitive out of them. Obviously to relocate is a big decision, and her working is a major stipulation of this move, so I'm trying to gather as much info as I can before the yay or nay stage. It does look as though if I was to act as sponsor, she would be able to seek employment (with the necessary paperwork/letters etc), but if the employer handles it then we're still unsure

Millhouse

You can sponsor your wife. I guess you don't have to have your employer do it (which seems highly unlikely anyway).

Blue Cat

if she gets a job her employer will sponsor her, when you say sponsored into the UAE I assume you mean a visit visa?

mikefran

Well the overwhelming response seems to be that she would have no problems looking for work after she arrives, once we've sorted all the documentation.

My next question would be this.....what is the job market like in Al Ain at the moment for someone in the secretarial/PA/EA field? She is Irish, and has worked in the ME before, so we know she'd be competing against nationalities that would work for less salary, but salary isn't the overriding factor in our case. I'm still working through the posts and are taking names of agencies that I happen across, but it would be nice to hear how things are from those there. Many thanks everyone for your help so far, my interview is next week and have a list of questions prepped for them

Ditzy

Hi,
there are two options.

Either your wife is sponsored by the company she works for, and receives her labour card etc from them.

Or she is sponsored by you, and receives a labour card from the company. If she is sponsored by you (this would be the case 90% of the time), her UAE visa would state 'housewife, not allowed to work'. You rectify this by issuing her a NOC stating that you have no objection to her working whilst under your sponsorship. She then receives her ministry contract/labour card from the company.

Nearly all companies would prefer to hire your wife whilst she is under your sponsorship, it is cheaper for them than providing a visa for her, and much easier to process.

It also means for your wife that she can change jobs easier than if she was on company sponsorship, she would not need to worry about having her visa banned etc which can happen under company sponsorship depending on the length of time she has worked etc.

Much easier to be under your sponsorship.

As regards jobs, it should be easy to network in Al Ain and I'm sure she'll find something soon.

ETA, Just make sure that if she does work whilst under your sponsorship, that she DOES receive her ministry contract & labour card.