Dh25K salary not needed to hire a maid
Tadbeer centres have a variety of packages for residents seeking househelps
dubai — If you’re looking at sponsoring a full-time maid in Dubai, then weigh up your options as the UAE has introduced a new policy for domestic help sponsorship.
As per the policy that was introduced some months ago, a sponsor must earn a minimum of Dh25,000 in order to have the maid on his/her visa. Previously, expatriates holding residence visas in the UAE could obtain visa for a domestic worker if they had a monthly salary of Dh6,000 or Dh5,000 plus accommodation.
However, the new rule does not mean that those who do not earn Dh25,000 cannot hire fulltime maids. Tadbeer centres that have been set up across the country to make sure that people only use legitimate channels to hire domestic helps have various packages for citizens and residents, irrespective of their salaries and bank balance.
The centres offer a variety of packages for hiring a domestic help and have tied up with professional agencies to make it a seamless process that lets people even select a maid from the centres instantly after an interview process.
Explaining the steps, a representative at one of the Tadbeer centres in Dubai said: “All you have to do is select the nationality of the maid, interview them and go home with one, without any additional paper work. All you need is your valid Emirates ID and IBAN number. You will have to sign an agreement that ‘we will take care of the salary plus expenses for visa, insurance, travel fees, medical and Emirates ID of the housemaid’. What you have to take care of is the food and basic necessities. If you are not happy with the housemaid, you can come anytime and replace the maid. Unlimited free replacement is possible for maids of the same nationality. It is a monthly contract and can be cancelled anytime.” Under this category, you need to pay Dh3,500 monthly for the first five months. If you continue with the same maid, the cost for African maids comes down to Dh2,420 from the sixth month onward, while for Indian maid, it is Dh2,800.
In the second category, the sponsor can bring to the centre any maid from the country of their choice. The centre will run a check on the nationality restriction of the maid and if cleared from immigration, then it will sponsor the maid for the employer.
“Under this package, where you get your choice of maid, we will sponsor her on your behalf and charge Dh3,150 monthly for the first two months. From the third month onwards you will pay Dh1,000 as maid’s salary and Dh620 to us as her visa fee, which makes it a total of Dh1,620. We will put Dh1,000 in her bank account as that is the minimum salary for a maid. If you want to give her more, then you are free to give that to her in cash. This cycle is repeated in the same order every year.”
In the third package of private sponsorship, the sponsors have to show the salary certificate of Dh25,000 along with their marriage certificate, spouse visa (as bachelors cannot hire a maid), work contract, title deed of the house and electricity bill.
Explaining the private sponsorship, a Tadbeer centre representative told Khaleeji Times that the first step would be to get the maid’s entry permit done for Dh3,403 at the centre that can be done after submitting the aforementioned documents along with the maid’s passport and sponsor’s passport, visa and Emirates ID.
“The second step is changing her status after issuance of visa and the last step is residency visa, which will cost Dh5,522. Every step takes two working days for the approval. This is the process of getting a yearly visa of the maid with you as a sponsor,” she added.