Employing House Help
There are 3 ways to hire house help in Dubai. You can employ domestic help that will come to your house at 7am and leave at 5pm. This is convenient for those who are uncomfortable with having a stranger live with them and value their personal space. It costs between 900 AED and 1,300 AED to hire a full time helper that will not be living with you. The second option, which is the cheapest option, is to hire a part-time helper. You can find a number of agencies offering cleaning services on an hourly basis. The standard rate is about Dhs25 an hour, with a minimum of two hours paid work per visit. This option is ideal for bachelors who just need the occasional ‘spring’ cleaning. The last option is to sponsor a domestic helper to come live with you. There are many agencies here that assist in finding domestic help to tailor to your needs, however before you decide that is the best option for you listed below are a few things to consider:
- Only the head of the family (couple with or without children) or a working widow or divorced mother with children, or a widower or divorced father with children can apply for a domestic helper's visa.
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- If a bachelor applies for such a visa it will be dealt with on a case by case basis. The director-general of the department will decide if there is a need for the bachelor to sponsor a domestic helper.
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- The sponsor should earn a salary of not less than Dh5,000 with accommodation or Dh6,000.
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- No one is allowed to employ a domestic helper who is not under his or her sponsorship. Those who employ maids illegally are liable to be fined not less than Dh10,000.
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- When applying for the domestic helper's visa an expatriate must pay a Dh5,000 refundable deposit which will be returned when the residence visa is stamped on the domestic helper's passport.
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- The sponsor must retain the deposit receipt to obtain a refund.
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In the case of a dispute between the sponsor and the domestic helper, the sponsor has the right to cancel the visa of the domestic helper and impose a one-year ban, if the sponsor can prove that the domestic helper has broken the law.
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- The sponsor will face charges and punishment in case he or she causes harm to the domestic helper.
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Applying
To apply for your domestic help’s residency have the following documents ready to be submitted to the visa section of the Residency and Naturalisation Department of the emirate which issued him/her the residence visa:
- An e-form application filled and signed by the sponsor.
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- A copy of the sponsor's passport.
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- A copy of the domestic helper's passport.
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- Three passport photos of the helper.
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Fees
Now here come the fees. As expected this last option is the most expensive out of all the options. Having a live-in house keeper isn’t that cheap, however, for working parents the additional costs can be considered worth it.
- When the residence visa is stamped on the domestic helper's passport 4,800 AED must be paid in Interior Ministry fees.
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- Apart from the fee another 100 AED must be paid for the residence visa.
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- 100 AED for the sponsorship
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- 100 AED for a domestic helper's card.
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- When the domestic helper enters the country, she or he must undergo a health check-up at a government hospital in the emirate where the visa was issued. The cost of the medical check-up is 1,200 AED. This should be done before applying for the residence visa. The domestic helper will then be given a health card. He or she will also be taken for an iris scan and fingerprinting at the police headquarters of the emirate.
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- If you use the labour recruitment agency you will be charged 3,500 AED for their services.
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- An urgent visa will cost an additional 100 AED.
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