UAE legal Q&As: How do I transfer my sponsorship from student to employee?

A reader asks about having sponsorship transferred from student to employee after graduating and finding a job.

I was sponsored by my father while I was a student. Now that I have graduated and found a job, how can I have my sponsorship transferred from student to employer?

You have to provide the naturalisation and residency department with your work contract, passport copy and other documents that may be requested by the department.

I resigned from my company after six years of employment. However, it has not cancelled my residence permit and is trying to twist my arm to sign a compensation agreement valid for 10 years which it says is a legal procedure. I am not able to take up another post as they have not cancelled my residence permit. Is this legal and am I entitled to compensation for this delay under the law?

You will lose all your benefits if you sign these documents, and forcing an employee to sign such documents is an illegal procedure and since you are still on the company’s sponsorship, you will not be able to start your new work, therefore you have to visit the Ministry of Labour within three months time of this problem and lodge a complaint and also a request to have your residency on the old company cancelled. You have to provide the ministry copies of your old and new contracts when you lodge the complaint after which a legal researcher at ministry will investigate the issue and summon a representative from the company. A decision will be issued following the findings of the legal researcher’s investigation which if proved your claims, will order the cancellation of your visa on the old company.

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