Residents in the UAE who have a husband or wife that will sponsor them can now work without a permit, according to an official at the Ministry of Labour.

New law states that residents listed on the visa of their spouse will just need written permission from their husband or wife to secure work. Husbands can now act as sponsors for their wives, as well as the other way around, wives for husbands.

The Labour Ministry official spoke to Arabian Business and stated that all a resident needs in this circumstance is the written permission of their sponsor/spouse.

In the past if a husband was sponsored by his wife he would need a separate work permit application to get employment in the UAE. Certain men who were married to women in a limited list of professions, including those in the medical and teaching fields, were exempt.

The Labour Ministry announced extensive changes to the labour laws within the UAE, with an effective date of January 1.

In those changes the valid period for labour cards was shortened to two years from three and foreign workers had their retirement age pushed to 65 from 60 years old.

Other changes include the ability for teenagers aged 15 to 18 to secure part-time employment and eliminating the rule that stated skilled foreign workers must obtain a certificate of no-objection from their past employers before securing new employment.

A ministry spokesperson noted that the employment of teens would be strictly regulated.

An extremely detailed decree has been announced regarding teen employment and within that are a limited number of permissible work hours and an outline of the allowable working conditions, including no heavy lifting and no working late nights, according to the spokesperson.