Employment residence visa and Emirates ID
Valid for: Usually 2 years, renewable
2-4 weeks from your employer's application
Your employer pays, by law. Work permit, entry permit, medical, Emirates ID and residence together usually come to AED 3,500-8,000.
- 1Accept the offer and sign the MOHRE offer letter. Your employer applies for the work permit.
- 2Your employer gets your entry permit. You then have 60 days to enter the UAE, or change status if you are already here.
- 3Take the medical fitness test (blood test and chest X-ray).
- 4Give your Emirates ID biometrics.
- 5Sign the employment contract in the MOHRE system. Check it matches the offer letter before you sign.
- 6The residence visa is issued digitally and linked to your Emirates ID. There is no passport sticker.
If your passport is ECR (Emigration Check Required), your employer must be registered on eMigrate and you need emigration clearance before you fly. ECNR passports skip this.
- Passport valid for at least 6 months
- Passport photo on a white background
- Signed MOHRE offer letter
- Degree certificate, attested, if your job title is classed as skilled
- Medical fitness test at an approved centre in the UAE
- Emirates ID biometrics (face and fingerprints)
- Health insurance, provided by your employer
United Arab Emirates needs the full legalisation chain: notarised where required, attested by your home country's foreign ministry, legalised by the United Arab Emirates embassy or consulate, then attested by United Arab Emirates's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Start early. Attestation often takes 2 to 6 weeks, and some job titles need the attested degree before the work permit is filed.
- Your employer must pay all recruitment and visa costs and cannot take them from your salary (Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021).
- Your employer is not allowed to keep your passport.
- You can change employer without a No Objection Certificate, subject to the notice period in your contract.
- Health insurance is mandatory and employer-paid for private-sector staff in every emirate.
You can sponsor a spouse and children on a salary of AED 4,000 a month, or AED 3,000 plus accommodation from your employer. A tenancy contract (Ejari in Dubai) is needed.
High earners and skilled professionals may qualify for a self-sponsored Green Visa (5 years) or a Golden Visa (10 years), which do not depend on one employer.
Processing Time Tracker
Share your real processing time anonymously to help future applicants from India moving to United Arab Emirates. Reports are reviewed before they appear.
Sign in to share how long yours took.