UAE raises minimum salary limit for expats with family

Expat residents who want to bring their families into the country must earn a minimum monthly salary of AED10,000 ($2,723), up from AED6,000 under new rules, it was reported on Thursday.

They must also provide their family with independent accommodation, a senior official told UAE daily Gulf News.

Major General Nasser Al Awadi Al Menhali, director general of the Naturalisation and Residency Department (NRD), told the paper the decision was made after a study into the negative effects of allowing residents to bring their families without sufficient income and a suitable place to stay.

Previously the minimum salary requirement was AED3,000, which was later raised to AED4,000 and then AED6,000, the paper reported.

Al Menhali told the paper it was best for the minimum wage to be raised to cope with the cost of living, rents, school fees and healthcare.

A resident should be able to support his family and afford their living costs to enable them to live a decent life, in line with labour and residency laws, he said.

The new rules will come into effect after an amendment to the residency law, Al Menhali said, without adding a specific date.

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