# Sponsoring foreign spouse and stepchild?



## nebodihome (Oct 16, 2011)

Situation: 
a.) I am a U.S. citizen and will be working in Dubai. 
b.) My wife is under 25, a Colombian citizen and living in Colombia with her daughter/my stepchild.
c.) We were married in Trinidad and Tobago, which has no UAE embassy. Neither does Colombia.

How do I sponsor them? I know the general procedure, and we can obtain the father's permission. I am more concerned about how to get the marriage certificate and father's permission to be recognized by UAE authorities when they don't have a consulate or embassy in Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago.

Will I be able to sponsor them? What will be the process to handle the fact that the UAE doesn't have an embassy in Colombia/T&T?

Thanks!


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## Canuck_Sens (Nov 16, 2010)

Sorry for my bluntness.

But what is impeding you to call the UAE embassy in the US to help you out on this ?

Get in touch with them, preferably in writing. Make sure they give you the instructions and that they recognize all the paperwork before hand.

If they ask you to contact directly the immigration office in the UAE do not let them. It is their job as they represent the UAE overseas.

Before moving here, I asked all info to the Embassy of the UAE in Canada. Trust the source in this case (UAE GVT)


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

Also, if there is no consular service in Colombia or T&T, some other consulate/embassy in another country will be responsible for providing such attestation services. Call up the UAE embassy in US to find out. (e.g., there is no UAE consulate in BVI and thus the London embassy takes care of attestations etc)


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## Canuck_Sens (Nov 16, 2010)

There is a UAE embassy in Brazil. I guess it is the closest for her in Brasilia the capital. I would do everything from the US if I were you if possible.

You are better off explaining to the UAE Embassy that you are married to a woman of different nationality and that you would like to know more about the process of bringing your step child and your wife to the country under these circumstances.

In regards to your wife, I was in a similar situation.

I am Brazilian and Canadian. My wife is Brazilian and I entered the UAE with my Canadian Passport. If your wife does not carry an American passport you will need to get in the UAE first to only then get clearance with immigration to bring her later.

This is what I did:

a) Got my marriage certificate attested by the UAE Embassy. How ? I had first to translate to English through a sworn translator (i.e. Government) since my marriage certificate was issued in Portuguese. 

I attested the marriage certificate following the UAE guidelines. I got my certificate stamped by Foreign Affairs Brazil. This is important because the Embassy of the UAE wants a guarantee that the certificate is a valid legal document issued in the country. Once I ve done that, I took the certificate to the UAE Embassy in Brazil and attested there. 

SO I had at the end a Brazilian marriage certificate issued in Portuguese translated to English (sworn), stamped with the Brazilian foreign affairs stamp and a Stamp from the UAE Embassy on top. 

In all honesty, I do not recall having paid so much for a piece of paper really LOL

In your case it is a different ball game. There is not any representation in Trinidad Tobago. You will need to ask the Embassy indeed on how to proceed. DO NOT ASSUME you can do in the US, ask.

Start ASAP because it might take a long time in your case.

b) Enter in the UAE. GRAB a CELL Phone. REALLY you will need it for everything

c) Got my residence VISA First and in the mean time I had to recognize the marriage certificate again with Foreign Affairs UAE in the UAE. Bear in mind that they might ask you to translate it to Arabic ( I know translate again ? Really ?). 

They did in my case and I was pissed because the original doc was attested by the Embassy in English

Well because your original document was attested by the embassy of the UAE they cannot say the document is not original.

d) Have a copy of her passport and passport pictures (around 3 but get 6). You will also need a letter from the Embassy of the US in the UAE stating that they do not have anything against your marriage. They will issue no worries. Put all the papers together and apply to her VISA sponsored by you in the Immigration. Your company can lodge the application for you they usually do that.

Remember to explain the guy in your company of what you did. Really very important. And pay for the most secure way of shipping by mail if they use mail. You cannot afford loosing a paper with so many stamps LOL

e) Apply. Within one or two weeks you will get an SMS in Arabic saying it is done. Collect the paper, scan it and send it to your wife. With that copy of the VISA she can enter the UAE.

This is to bring your wife (supposing she is not an American Citizen), in regards to your step daughter it is a different ball game.

Hope this helps


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## nebodihome (Oct 16, 2011)

*Sponsoring stepchild, out of wedlock*

1.) I am a U.S. citizen
2.) My wife is a Colombian citizen with an out-of-wedlock stepchild

Questions:
1.) Will the fact that her child was out of wedlock complicate the process in any way?
2.) If we have a notarized letter from the biological father saying that his child can leave Colombia with the child's mom to live in any country at any time and under any legal arrangement that the mother deem best for the child's well-being, will this be good enough for the authorities in Dubai? Or does the letter specifically need to state that the biological father agrees to let the child's stepfather sponsor him in Dubai?

Lastly, I can't find the official legal information about this anywhere. I am lucky enough to live in Washington D.C. at the moment. Will a call/trip down to the U.A.E. Embassy be my best way to get the best assistance? 

Thanks!


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## nebodihome (Oct 16, 2011)

Anyone? Any quick answers? Would be appreciated, thanks


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## Welsh_lady (Aug 20, 2011)

nebodihome said:


> Anyone? Any quick answers? Would be appreciated, thanks


I'd check with the embassy but I can't see it being a major problem. 

Is the child's father on the birth certificate? As long as he is named and the letter you have from him matches that name - I think your fine. The letter probably needs to be attested though. 

My children were born before me and my husband were married (he is the father!) and it's not an issue - he is on the birth certificates so able to sponsor the children and we have an attested marriage certificate so he can sponsor me. I think that's all that matters. As long as you have your marriage cert and the birth cert shows your wife as the child's mother and a letter of no objection from the father you should be good to go!


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## nebodihome (Oct 16, 2011)

Welsh_lady said:


> I'd check with the embassy but I can't see it being a major problem.
> 
> Is the child's father on the birth certificate? As long as he is named and the letter you have from him matches that name - I think your fine. The letter probably needs to be attested though.
> 
> My children were born before me and my husband were married (he is the father!) and it's not an issue - he is on the birth certificates so able to sponsor the children and we have an attested marriage certificate so he can sponsor me. I think that's all that matters. As long as you have your marriage cert and the birth cert shows your wife as the child's mother and a letter of no objection from the father you should be good to go!


Okay, thanks!


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## nebodihome (Oct 16, 2011)

I have come across a website mentioning that for UK citizens married to non-EU spouses, they would need the UAE Embassy in the UK to produce a letter of no objection for the non-EU spouse to accompany the UK spouse to the UAE. 

That seems ridiculous. But nonetheless it has me wondering whether the UAE Embassy in the U.S. will need to also produce a letter of no objection for me to take my Colombian wife to live in the UAE? It just seems like an extra money-grabbing step, as all the checks on the legality of our marriage would already be in place regardless...


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## nebodihome (Oct 16, 2011)

Canuck_Sens said:


> There is a UAE embassy in Brazil. I guess it is the closest for her in Brasilia the capital. I would do everything from the US if I were you if possible.
> 
> You are better off explaining to the UAE Embassy that you are married to a woman of different nationality and that you would like to know more about the process of bringing your step child and your wife to the country under these circumstances.
> 
> ...


Thank you for the informative post. I think I will speak first with my company representative that would handle these things and also contact the UAE Embassy here in the U.S. I kind of want to have someone who can handle all these things, but I also want to be knowledgeable of the process myself. The wife is also under-25, which I know will call for another approval somewhere. Lol sigh


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