UAEHumanitarian protectionLimited

Humanitarian residence permit in the UAE

The humanitarian residence permit is a residence that the GDRFA grants on the decision of a dedicated committee to people who fit none of the ordinary categories: work, study, investment or family sponsorship. It is arranged not by the applicant but by a sponsor or host party, who takes on their maintenance. What sets the status apart from work and family residence is that the decision rests with a committee rather than on meeting a formal threshold — and the committee examines every application separately. Humanitarian residence is not asylum: the list of visas on the UAE government portal contains no such category.

Visa term

Stated as 2 years, renewable; the GDRFA Dubai variant is 1 year, renewable

Threshold

GDRFA Dubai: a sponsor or host party, a salary certificate or contract of about AED 10,000

Processing time

No standard timeline is given in official sources

Work

This is a residence permit, not a work permit; separate work authorisation is required

Source: gdrfad.gov.ae — residence permit on humanitarian grounds, Dubai

Grounds for applying

GDRFA Dubai lists the categories separately in the service card. The main ones are below.

Parents

A UAE resident brings in a father, mother or parents-in-law.
The sponsor's salary — from AED 10,000.
A salary certificate or employment contract, a tenancy contract, a bank statement.

Low income

A resident brings in a wife and children but does not qualify for ordinary family residence.
The sponsor's salary — or the couple's combined salary — is below the threshold for ordinary family sponsorship.
A marriage certificate, the children's birth certificates, a tenancy contract, a bank statement.

Widows, divorcees

A woman who has lost her husband or whose marriage has been dissolved, and her children.
The GDRFA publishes no monetary threshold for this category.
A husband's death certificate or a divorce certificate; the application must be made within six months of the event.

Guardianship

A guardian or foster family brings in a child in their care.
The GDRFA publishes no monetary threshold.
A guardianship or adoption certificate issued by a court.

War, disaster

Nationals of countries affected by wars and disasters.
The GDRFA publishes no monetary conditions.
The requirements for this category are set by a separate ministerial decision; the text of those requirements is not in the service card.

When the programme will not suit

Humanitarian residence is an exception to the visa rules, not a separate route for relocation.

You are seeking asylum from war or persecution.

There is no asylum in the list of residence visas on the UAE government portal, and none among the GDRFA's services either. The category «countries affected by wars and disasters» does appear in the GDRFA card, but its conditions are set by a separate ministerial decision and are not publicly available. You have to ask the GDRFA humanitarian affairs department directly; no ready public route exists.

You are bringing in a wife and children and earn enough.

That is ordinary family residence, with no committee involved. The threshold for it is AED 4,000, or AED 3,000 if the employer provides housing.

Visa for relatives

You need a long status that does not depend on a sponsor.

Humanitarian residence is tied to the sponsor and to the committee's decision. A long term without a sponsor is given by ICP golden residence — 10 years, including under the category for people engaged in humanitarian work.

Golden Visa

What it costs

Residence feeThe main GDRFA fee. The same amount is charged on renewal.	200 AED
Knowledge dirhamA federal surcharge.	10 AED
Innovation dirhamA federal surcharge.	10 AED
DeliverySending the documents to the applicant.	20 AED
Fee inside the countryIn the GDRFA schedule the line is called «Fee inside the country».	+500 AED
Financial guaranteeA deposit for each application after approval. Across all applications the total is no more than 15,000.	+5 000 AED
Total government feesThe sum of the mandatory rows in the table. “Fee inside the country” adds 500 AED; “Financial guarantee” adds 5 000 AED. Charges with no official price list are in the list below.	240–5 740 AED

Paid separately

Medical examination — the GDRFA does not publish a price in the service card
Emirates ID — paid separately at ICP rates
Medical insurance — the price is set by the insurer
Legalisation and translation of documents —

The total includes the AED 5,000 financial guarantee — a refundable deposit rather than a fee. The amounts are taken from GDRFA Dubai service cards; in other emirates the rates are set by the local authority and may differ.

Documents to gather

The basic package is the same for every category; court documents are added for the particular ground.

The passport of the person being brought in
A salary certificate or the sponsor's employment contract
A three-month bank statement
A tenancy contract
A marriage certificate — legalised
The children's birth certificates — legalised
Court documents for the category: guardianship, adoption, divorce, death of a spouse
A marital status certificate from the court
The result of the medical examination — for adults
An explanatory letter from the sponsor setting out the reasons for the application
Proof of continuing study — if an adult child is being brought in

How the process runs

1
Gathering the grounds
The sponsor or host party collects the documents for their category: family ties, income, housing, a court decision.
2
Filing the application
Online through the GDRFA smart services with UAE PASS login — around the clock. In person — at AMER centres and at the humanitarian affairs department in Festival Centre.
3
Paying the fees
The fees are paid when the application is filed.
4
Review by the committee
14 days — the processing time stated by the GDRFA for the service
The application is examined by the relevant GDRFA committee — each case separately.
5
Medical examination
Applicants aged 18 and over undergo a medical fitness check.
6
Paying the financial guarantee
After approval a deposit is paid for each application.
7
Residence and Emirates ID
The GDRFA issues the residence, and an Emirates ID card is arranged alongside it.

Who you can bring with you

Humanitarian residence is itself the result of sponsorship: it is arranged not by the applicant but by the host party. The GDRFA publishes no rules under which the holder of such a residence may sponsor anyone else. Below is who a sponsor may bring in.

A UAE citizen

Brings in relatives, including grandchildren. For a citizen the GDRFA sets out a separate, shorter list of documents than for a resident.

A UAE resident

Brings in parents, parents-in-law, minor brothers and sisters, a spouse's children and a son's wife. Attaches an explanatory letter setting out the reasons for the application.

A guardian under a court decision

Brings in a child in their care or an adopted child — on a certificate issued by a court.

The children of a widow or divorcee

Come as a separate category together with their mother; the documents are filed within the same deadline.

Trips, renewal and the grace period

Presence in the UAE when applying

The GDRFA handles renewal as a separate service on the same conditions under which the residence was granted. Every application goes back to the relevant committee. The stated processing time for renewal is 5 days. Adults undergo the medical examination again; marital status is confirmed by the court. The financial guarantee has to be maintained. Once the residence expires or is cancelled, 60 days remain to stay in the country.

Humanitarian residence, family residence and the Golden Visa

The difference lies in who takes the decision: a formal threshold or a committee.

	Humanitarian residence	Family residence	Golden Visa
Who decides	The relevant GDRFA committee, each case separately	A formal income threshold for the sponsor	Formal ICP conditions
Who files the application	The sponsor or the host party	A resident sponsor	The holder themselves
What the status depends on	On the sponsor and the committee's decision	On the sponsor's residence	On no one
Term	1 year on the GDRFA card, renewable	The sponsor's visa term	5 or 10 years

What comes next: permanent residence and citizenship

Route to permanent residence

Not a Golden Visa; there is no standard route to permanent residence

Route to citizenship

Extremely rare; no route from this permit is described

Frequently asked questions about Humanitarian residence permit

How many years is a humanitarian residence permit granted for in the UAE?

GDRFA Dubai's service card states one year with the right of renewal. There is no separate two-year humanitarian residence in the GDRFA materials — the two-year mark is mentioned only in the fee schedule, as the threshold beyond which the issuing fee increases.

Can you obtain refugee status in the UAE?

The UAE government portal lists golden, blue, work, student, investor, tourist, transit and medical visas. Asylum is not among them, and humanitarian residence is not in that federal list either — it is run by the emirate's GDRFA as a separate service.

Who decides whether humanitarian residence is granted?

The relevant GDRFA committee. The service card states that the committee examines and assesses every application separately, and that renewals are also referred to the committee. The GDRFA gives no public approval criteria, so the decision cannot be predicted from the service description.

Are a medical examination and medical insurance required?

Yes. Under the general UAE residence rules, adult applicants undergo a medical fitness check and a security check, and the document package includes medical insurance or a health card. An Emirates ID card is issued alongside the residence and expires together with the visa.

How does humanitarian residence differ from the Golden Visa for humanitarian workers?

These are different statuses. The GDRFA grants humanitarian residence to someone maintained by a sponsor. The ICP grants golden residence for a person's own contribution to humanitarian work: at least 5 years with humanitarian organisations, or at least 500 hours of volunteering, or financial support for initiatives of at least AED 2 million.

Is there humanitarian residence at federal level, through the ICP?

There is no separate service card on the ICP website. In the federal residence issuing service, humanitarian cases are mentioned only in the fee schedule — as a ground for the financial guarantee. The service itself is run by the residency authorities in the emirates.

Other ways to move to UAE

Every route in one list — migration programmes: UAE.

The terms and the amounts are checked against official sources — the link sits under each section.Last checked on: 7 August 2026.