How to Renew Your Child’s Residence Visa in Dubai

Most residence visas and Emirates IDs are valid for 2 years in the UAE, so every other year, parents need to go through the process of renewing their children’s documents (unless they’re lucky to have their employers do this for them) to ensure their stay is legal.

Parents’ and maids’ visas, on the other hand, are valid for 1 year. You can read here how we applied for Mama’s visa, and when we renewed our maid’s visa 3 years ago.

Sophie recently turned 2 years old, so this was our reminder that we had to renew her visa and Emirates ID. It took us about an hour and a half for everything to be done; this includes the waiting times and walking from one place to the next.

Here’s how you do it:

1) Gather all the requirements: child’s original passport with existing visa, child’s photograph, child’s existing Emirates ID, copy of sponsor’s (usually the father) passport and visa page, copy of sponsor’s labour contract (should be attested), copy of tenancy contract
2) Go to the typing centre and say that you need to renew your child’s Emirates ID and Residence Visa
3) Pay the fees: Dhs410 for Residence Visa and Dhs240 for Emirates ID, plus a few extra dirhams for the typing centre. There’s an additional charge of Dhs100 if you want the visa processed urgently to have it issued right away. Normal processing takes 2 to 3 days.
4) You will be given two printed forms: one for the visa that has all the attachments, and one for the Emirates ID. Keep the paper for the Emirates ID to monitor the status. Usually it will automatically be delivered to your PO Box.
5) Check the information on the Visa form. Again, it was a good thing I did because the mobile number was wrong. They amended it right away, and after making sure everything else was correct, Hubby signed the form and we headed to their Residence Department (Room 4 of the main DNRD office along Trade Centre Road)
6) Show the form to the person at the Information Desk and he will give you a number; then wait for your number to show on the screen
7) When it’s your turn, give the documents to the officer at the counter.
8) If everything is ok and you requested for Urgent processing, the officer will stamp CANCELLED on the previous visa, stick a new one in the passport, and hand it back to you. If you opted for Normal processing, you can expect to receive the passport after a few days.

Our tenancy contract was in my name, so we were ready with a copy of my passport, visa, and our marriage certificate just in case the officer asked for them. He didn’t, but at least we were prepared with all the documents that could possibly be requested (originals, copies, Sophie’s birth certificates in English and Arabic, and her medical insurance card). We learned this lesson the hard way a few years ago.

Just an update for the Emirates ID…
2 days later, Hubby received an SMS saying that Sophie’s application needed modification. I checked with our PRO and he took the corresponding application paper, Sophie’s original passport with the new visa, her existing Emirates ID, photograph and Hubby’s Emirates ID to the typing centre.

By the time our PRO returned to our office and gave all the documents back to me, Hubby had received another SMS saying that the application had been validated and the ID card issuance was being processed.

So now we’re just waiting for the Emirates ID to be delivered.