United Arab Emirates: Authorities Recommit to Stricter Tenancy Contract Rules for Dependent Residence Permits

After a period of leniency, authorities in Abu Dhabi are once again only accepting Abu Dhabi-registered tenancy contracts when foreign nationals apply for, or seek to renew, an Abu Dhabi-based dependent residence permit. The contract must be submitted via Tawtheeq (an Abu Dhabi government online tenancy contract registration system). Failure to comply with this rule will result in rejection of the dependent resident permit application.

This rule may be waived at the discretion of immigration authorities if the sponsoring individual’s employer (as evidenced by their trade license) is legally registered in the same emirate as that of the associated tenancy contract. Each request is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

As background, in 2017, the requirement to provide only Abu Dhabi-registered tenancy contracts for such applications was first introduced, but authorities subsequently adopted a lenient interpretation of the rule and began accepting tenancy contracts registered in other emirates. This latest change, however, sees authorities recommitting to a strict interpretation of the 2017 policy.