DUBAI, 16 July 2004 — Foreigners married to UAE women can now be sponsored by their wives and obtain a labor card.
Until now, non-nationals married to local women were not allowed to have the sponsorship of their wives. The new system is based on the Cabinet decree No. 3/455 of 2004 which stipulates that it is permissible that husbands in this category be sponsored by their wives, Dr. Khaled Muhammad Al-Khazraji, assistant undersecretary of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs announced.
The ministerial decision will be implemented with immediate effect, a newspaper report quoted him as saying. The undersecretary said the ministerial decree also stipulates that the couple should obtain approval for the marriage from the Presidential Court.
“The ministerial decree stressed that the couple should abide by the decision of the Presidential Court concerning approval of the marriage,” said Dr. Khazraji. He said the decision would help in overcoming difficulties faced by this category of married men in being treated as foreigners.
He said his ministry had earlier received a large number of applications requesting that non-national men who are married to national women get special treatment regarding labor transactions and procedures.
