Table of Contents
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the French office in Dubai an embassy or a consulate?
The French Embassy is in Abu Dhabi, but Dubai has the Consulate General of France, at the Al Habtoor Business Tower in Dubai Marina, which handles consular matters for French nationals living in the emirate.
Do French documents need an apostille for the UAE?
No. The UAE is not part of the Hague Apostille Convention, so French documents follow the fuller legalisation and attestation route instead. Start this before leaving France, as it takes time.
How do I bring my family to Dubai from France?
Your spouse and children come on dependant visas that you sponsor. You need your own UAE residency first, from owning a company, then mResidency processes the family's dependant visas.
What income do I need to sponsor my family in Dubai?
To sponsor a spouse and children, you generally need a minimum income of AED 4,000 a month, or AED 3,000 plus accommodation, along with an Ejari tenancy and attested certificates.
What most often delays a family visa?
Unattested marriage and birth certificates are the most common cause. Legalising them in France before you leave, since the UAE is not a Hague Apostille country, keeps the family's visas on schedule.
Topic Summary
Apostille Is Not Enough
The UAE is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention for residence purposes. Every French civil document — birth certificate, marriage certificate, diploma — must complete full legalisation at the UAE Embassy in Paris before the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs will accept it.
Your Trade License Anchors Everything
A Meydan Free Zone Trade License from AED 12,500 is the legal foundation that activates your investor visa, then lets you sponsor your spouse and children on dependent visas. Without it, no residence process starts and no family sponsorship opens.
Police Clearance Has a Short Window
Your Casier Judiciaire Bulletin No. 3 is valid for only three months from the date of issue. Time your request carefully so it does not expire before the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs attestation stage — a lapse means restarting from France.
Document Translation Is Mandatory
All attested French documents must be translated into Arabic by a UAE Ministry of Justice-approved legal translator before submission to any Dubai government authority. Allow three to five working days per document set and factor this into your overall settlement timeline.
Your Own Visa Comes Before Your Family's
The dependent visa sequence is fixed: your own investor residence visa must be stamped before dependent applications for your spouse and children can open. Doing them out of order stalls the entire process and can push families back by weeks.
Budget Per Person, Not Per Family
Medical fitness tests required for everyone aged 18 and over, Emirates ID fees, and residence visa government fees apply per applicant. Use the Meydan Free Zone cost calculator to model the real total before finalising your relocation budget — costs compound quickly for larger families.
French Passive Income Stays Taxable in France
The France–UAE double taxation treaty governs passive income from French property. Relocating to Dubai does not eliminate French tax obligations on that income source. Seek specialist advice to address your French tax exit obligations before the process starts, not after.
Family Relocation from France to Dubai: Embassy Checklist
Moving a family from France to Dubai runs on two administrative systems, not one. There is the French side, handled through the Consulate General, which certifies who you are and keeps your family connected to French services from abroad.
And there is the UAE side, residency, Emirates ID and dependant visas, which decides whether your family can legally live in Dubai. Getting the French paperwork right early is what keeps the UAE side moving without delays. This is a practical checklist of what genuinely involves the French Consulate, and how it connects to the rest of the move.
You would be in growing company. An estimated 35,000 French nationals live in the UAE, one of the largest French communities in the Gulf, according to France Diplomatie,¹ and the number of French companies registered in the country rose 44% in a single year to over 10,000, per the UAE Ministry of Economy.²
Many of those arrivals are founders relocating with families, which is where the French consular checklist and the UAE residency process meet. On the UAE side, a Meydan Free Zone company provides the residency that lets you sponsor your spouse and children.
Embassy or Consulate: Where to Go
France's Embassy to the UAE is in Abu Dhabi, but for anything to do with living in Dubai, your office is the Consulate General of France in Dubai, at the Al Habtoor Business Tower in Dubai Marina.
It serves French nationals across the emirate and handles the day-to-day consular matters a relocating family needs.
What the French Consulate Actually Handles
The Consulate is your point of contact for the French side of the move:
- Consular registration: Registering on the registre des Français établis hors de France keeps you connected to French services, voting and support while abroad, and is the first thing to do once settled.
- Passports and national ID: Renewals and applications for passports and the carte nationale d'identité.
- Civil status: Recording births, marriages and other civil-status events that happen while you live abroad.
- Document legalisation: Certifying French documents a UAE bank or authority may request, including powers of attorney and certified copies of civil-status papers.
- Family and schooling support: Guidance on bourses scolaires (means-tested school grants for French nationals) and the paperwork for minors travelling.
The Document Checklist Before You Leave
Some documents are far easier to obtain and certify in France than from Dubai. Gather and legalise these before departure:
| Document | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Passports (whole family) | Required for visas, Emirates ID and school enrolment |
| Birth certificates | Needed for dependant visas for children |
| Marriage certificate | Needed to sponsor a spouse's dependant visa |
| Children's school records | Requested by Dubai schools for admission |
| Qualifications and diplomas | May be needed for licensing or employment |
| Medical and vaccination records | For insurance and school registration |
One point that catches French families out: the UAE is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so French documents cannot simply be apostilled.
They follow the fuller legalisation route, certified by the French authorities and then attested for use in the UAE. Start this early, because it takes longer than an apostille and is far harder to arrange once you have left France.
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The UAE Side: Residency and Dependant Visas
This is where the French checklist meets the UAE system. Your family enters on dependant visas that you sponsor, and your right to sponsor comes from your own residency, which comes from owning a UAE company. The order is fixed: company, then your residency, then your family's.
A Meydan Free Zone company sets this in motion, formed remotely from France with a Regular license from AED 12,500 (roughly €2,979) or a Fawri license in under 60 minutes. Your own investor visa, medical and Emirates ID typically take five to seven working days. Once your residency is active, you can sponsor your family. What that needs:
- A minimum income of AED 4,000 a month, or AED 3,000 plus accommodation.
- A tenancy contract (Ejari) in your name, your residential lease, not your business address.
- Attested marriage and birth certificates, the marriage certificate for a spouse, birth certificates for children.
- Health insurance for each dependant, valid for the full visa period.
- A medical fitness test for any dependant aged 18 or over. Children under 18 are exempt.
mResidency coordinates the whole chain, your visa first, then each dependant's entry permit, medical, Emirates ID and visa stamping. The dependant process typically takes one to four weeks, depending on document readiness.
One point ties directly back to your French paperwork: unattested marriage and birth certificates are the single most common cause of dependant-visa delays. Getting them legalised before you leave France is what keeps the family's visas on schedule.
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A Sensible Sequence
Handled in the right order, the two systems support each other:
- Gather and legalise French documents while still in France, civil-status certificates, school records, qualifications.
- Set up the UAE company remotely and receive your license.
- Complete your residency and Emirates ID through mResidency.
- Sponsor your family as dependants once your own residency is active.
- Register with the Consulate in Dubai and enrol the children in school.
In Conclusion
A family move from France to Dubai is really two checklists that meet in the middle. The French Consulate in Dubai handles your registration, passports, civil status and document legalisation; the UAE side handles residency, Emirates ID and your family's dependant visas. Prepare and legalise your French documents early, since that is the step most likely to hold things up, and set the moving date around your children's school places.
Meydan Free Zone covers the UAE half: the company that gives you residency, and the dependant visas that bring your family with you. To set up the company and coordinate your family's residency, book a free consultation with a setup advisor at Meydan Free Zone.
Footnotes
¹ France Diplomatie, France and the United Arab Emirates, an estimated 35,000 French nationals live in the UAE, 2026.
² UAE Ministry of Economy, via Gulf News, UAE and France expand ties as French companies surge 44%, French companies in the UAE grew from 7,089 in 2024 to 10,202 in 2025 (44%), 2026.
