UAE work visas explained: which route fits you?

Work down the questions and stop at the first yes. Two of the routes (Green and Golden) are about who sponsors your residence; you still need a MOHRE work permit from the company you work for.

• Are you a GCC national? You don’t need a residence visa to live or work in the UAE; your employer obtains a UAE/GCC national work permit.
• Do you have an offer at MOHRE level 1 or 2, a bachelor’s degree and a salary of at least AED 30,000 a month? Look at the Golden visa for skilled professionals.
• Do you have an offer at MOHRE level 1–3, a bachelor’s degree and at least AED 15,000 a month? The Green visa for skilled employees gives you five years without an employer sponsor.
• Any other genuine offer? The standard route: your employer applies for a work permit and sponsors your two-year residence visa.
• Are you a freelancer with a bachelor’s degree or specialised diploma and at least AED 360,000 a year in freelance income over the past two years? Get a MOHRE freelance permit and apply for the Green visa as a freelancer.
• No offer yet, but at level 1–3 or a recent top-500 graduate? The job-seeker visa lets you search in person for up to 120 days.
• Already living in the UAE on a family visa? Your employer applies for a work permit for a resident on family sponsorship; you keep your own visa.

This path reads the published criteria; it is not legal advice. ICP (and GDRFA for Dubai) decides residence, and MOHRE decides work permits. Check your case with them before you resign from a job at home.

This is the default route for expatriate employees. Your employer issues a MOHRE job offer, you sign it, and the employer attaches it to the application for initial work permit approval. That approval lets you enter on an employment entry permit, valid for two months. Within one month of arrival you complete the medical test and Emirates ID application, and the residence visa is issued for two years, renewable. Your signed contract must reach MOHRE within 14 days of your arrival.

The employer pays. The work permit costs AED 250 to AED 3,450 depending on the company’s MOHRE classification, and u.ae states that recruitment, travel and residency costs are borne by the employer. MOHRE’s Work Bundle, which combines the work permit, residence visa, medical and Emirates ID steps, cut processing from 30 working days to 5. GDRFA Dubai lists 48 hours for issuing a private-sector residence permit once the application is complete.

MOHRE also defines “skilled work”, which affects several later decisions: a job at professional level 1–5, a certificate above secondary level that has been attested, and a monthly salary of at least AED 4,000 excluding commission.

The Green visa is a renewable five-year residence that you sponsor yourself. It doesn’t replace the work permit, but it separates your right to live in the UAE from any one employer, and it comes with grace periods when it ends and the right to sponsor your spouse and children. Holders may also sponsor first-degree relatives.

• Skilled employees: a valid UAE employment contract, MOHRE professional level 1–3, at least a bachelor’s degree, and a monthly salary of at least AED 15,000 or its equivalent in foreign currency.
• Freelancers and self-employed: a MOHRE freelance or self-employment permit, at least a bachelor’s degree, specialised diploma or equivalent, proof of stable income for the whole residence, and freelance income of at least AED 360,000 a year during the previous two years.

If your offer is close to AED 15,000, the Green visa is worth raising in negotiation: it makes you less dependent on the employer’s sponsorship. Check with ICP how the salary is counted before you rely on allowances to reach it.

ICP grants the Golden visa for ten years with automatic renewal and no sponsor. For employees, the relevant category is skilled professionals in senior occupational levels: chairpersons and chief executives at MOHRE level 1 and specialists at level 2. You need a valid UAE work permit under an approved contract, at least a bachelor’s degree, a monthly salary of at least AED 30,000 and health insurance for you and your family.

Other categories reach beyond executives: scientists and leading specialists in healthcare, education and industry (on recommendation from the relevant ministry), exceptional talents in culture, digital technology and sport, and outstanding students. A graduate of a top-100 university with a GPA of at least 3.5 can apply within two years of graduating. Golden visa holders can sponsor their spouse and children regardless of age, and their parents. Eligible applicants outside the UAE can get a six-month multiple-entry visa, renewable once, to complete the process.

This visit visa lets you look for work without a sponsor, for 60, 90 or 120 days. You need a bachelor’s degree, a financial guarantee and either MOHRE professional level 1–3 or a degree from one of the world’s top 500 universities in the last two years. In Dubai it costs AED 200, 300 or 400 plus 5% VAT and a AED 1,000 security amount, and GDRFA lists 48 hours to process. You may not work on it. Our UAE job-search guide covers how to use the time.

MOHRE issues 13 types of work permit. Beyond the standard recruitment and transfer permits, three matter to people who don’t fit the standard route:

• Freelance work permit: for individuals, including foreign nationals on self-sponsored residence visas, who provide services to clients without an employer sponsor or an active employment contract.
• Part-time work permit: lets a company hire you on fewer hours than a full-time employee; you may work for more than one employer after MOHRE approval.
• Work permit for a resident on family sponsorship: lets a company hire you while you stay on your spouse’s or parent’s residence visa. It is valid for two years.

Golden visa holders are hired on their own permit type too. Whatever your visa, starting work before the permit is issued is illegal for you and the company.

You can move to another employer once your contract ends lawfully: it expires without renewal, ends under the Labour Law’s termination rules, or the employer ends it without fault on your part. After that you have a grace period to find a new job and permit or to leave; GDRFA Dubai lists 60 days after a private-sector residence permit is cancelled, and u.ae says grace periods reach up to six months depending on the residence category.

• Notice after probation is set in your contract, between 30 and 90 days, and both sides must give the same notice unless the difference favours you.
• Resigning during probation to join another UAE employer needs one month’s written notice, and the new employer compensates the old one for recruitment costs unless agreed otherwise.
• Resigning during probation without the employer having breached the contract, or a proven work-abandonment report, can block a new work permit for one year from your departure.

Read the non-compete clause before you sign: the Labour Law allows one limited by time, place and type of work, for up to two years after the contract ends.

On the standard route you can sponsor your spouse, unmarried daughters, sons under 25 and children with special needs if you earn at least AED 4,000 a month, or AED 3,000 plus accommodation. Family members aged 18 or over must pass a medical fitness test. Their permits follow yours: if your visa is cancelled, theirs must be too, and they get a six-month grace period to obtain a new residence permit. Green and Golden visas give wider sponsorship rights, described above. For a partner rebuilding a career, see the accompanying partners guide.

None of the official pages used for this guide describe permanent residence for employees. The long-term options are the renewable Green (five years) and Golden (five or ten years) residences. They also change the rule that normally cancels a residence visa after more than 180 days continuously outside the UAE: Golden and Green holders can enter at any time while their residency is valid.