UAE Employment Visa Cost 2026: Every Fee Line for Category 1, 2 and 3 Employers, Dubai and Abu Dhabi

The UAE employment visa cost is the total of every government fee an employer pays to put one foreign employee legally to work on the mainland: the MOHRE work permit, worker protection cover, the entry permit, the medical fitness test, the Emirates ID, the residence permit and health insurance, plus the charges of the centre that types them. The only line set by the company itself is the MOHRE work permit fee, which depends on whether the establishment sits in category 1, 2 or 3. Everything else is the same for every employer in the same emirate, and changes mainly with two questions: is the candidate already inside the UAE, and which emirate issues the residence?

This guide builds the UAE employment visa cost one fee at a time, with the official source for each line, then adds the lines up for Dubai category 1, 2 and 3 employers, an Abu Dhabi hire and a DMCC free zone hire.

If you want the list of every fee across all UAE authorities, our government fees reference for 2026 has it. This page is narrower: the employee visa cost of one hire, from the first MOHRE application to the finished residence.

UAE employment visa cost at a glance

The table lists every per-employee line of the employment visa cost in the order it is paid, with the published amount and the source. Read the notes column: several lines have a published figure and a different figure on real centre sheets, and both matter when you compare quotes.

How the employment visa cost is built: two authorities, one sequence

Every mainland employment visa passes through two separate systems, and the fees follow that split.

• The labour side (MOHRE). The Ministry authorises the person to work for this employer. It charges the application fee, the category-based work permit fee and, later, handles the employment contract. Business service centres still called Tasheel type these transactions; MOHRE’s website and app do the same without a service charge.
• The immigration side (GDRFA in Dubai, ICP elsewhere). The immigration authority authorises the person to enter and live in the UAE. It charges for the entry permit, any status change, the residence and, through ICP everywhere, the Emirates ID. In Dubai, Amer centres type these.

Two further lines of the employment visa cost sit beside them: the medical fitness test (Dubai Health in Dubai, the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi, Emirates Health Services in the northern emirates) and health insurance, which a private insurer sells but the residence system checks.

The order is fixed. GDRFA’s work visa card makes MOHRE’s endorsement of the work permit a condition, so nothing on the immigration side starts until the labour side is approved. That is why so much of the employment visa cost is committed before the candidate has even been issued an entry permit, a point we come back to in the worked cases.

UAE employment visa cost: how MIRDXB PRO helps

Most employers do not overpay on the UAE employment visa cost because a government fee is high. They overpay because something is out of order: a candidate still on an old work permit, an establishment card about to expire, a quota that has run out, or a medical booked too late for a 60-day window. We run the whole file so each fee is paid once, at the right point, and you can see every line.

What we do

• Check the company first. Trade licence, MOHRE category, establishment card, quota and any open fines, before any per-employee fee is spent.
• Check the candidate. Whether they hold an active work permit, whether they are inside or outside the UAE, and how long any current status has left.
• Price the full file in writing. Every government line at cost, with the source, and our fee as a separate line.
• File the MOHRE side: offer, work permit, worker protection (guarantee or insurance) and the employment contract.
• File the immigration side with GDRFA or ICP: entry permit, status change where needed, medical booking, Emirates ID and residence.
• Hand over a clean record: permit, contract, residence, Emirates ID and every receipt, with the renewal dates noted.

How it works

1. Message us on WhatsApp with the trade licence and the candidate’s passport copy and current visa (if any).
2. We confirm your category and route and flag anything that would block the file.
3. You approve a written quote: government fees at cost, our fee stated separately.
4. We file and follow up through MOHRE, then GDRFA or ICP, and book the medical and biometrics around the candidate’s diary.
5. You receive the finished residence and a folder of receipts that you can check against this guide.

What it costs

Government fees are passed on at cost, exactly as printed on the official receipts. Our own fee depends on the file (category, emirate, inside or outside the country, how many hires at once) and is quoted in writing before we start. Our general pricing is on the fees page, and our guide to PRO services cost in Dubai explains how PRO fees are usually structured.

Why employers use us

• We publish our sources. Every figure here links to the service card it came from, and we show real receipt lines where we have them.
• We cover both authorities: MOHRE for the labour side, GDRFA for Dubai residence and ICP for the other emirates.
• We tell you when you do not need us. A company with UAE PASS access and a simple file can run much of this on the MOHRE and GDRFA apps, and we will say so.
• You can walk in. Our office is in Al Barsha 1, Dubai, open by appointment; whatsApp us any time, 24 hours; office open Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 18:00 (Dubai time).

For the service itself, including what we need from you, see our employment visa service page. To model a file yourself first, try the visa cost estimator.

Stage 1: company costs that come before any employment visa cost

None of the lines in this section appear on an employee’s fee sheet, but every one of them has to be in place before a single employee visa cost is incurred. They are paid per company, not per head, so a business hiring its first employee feels them most.

The establishment card (immigration file)

The immigration authority needs a company file before it will sponsor anyone. In the emirates served by ICP, the “Issuing an Establishment Card” service card lists an application fee of AED 100, an issuance fee of AED 100 per year, an AED 100 smart services fee and an AED 2,000 subscription to ICP’s electronic system for establishments, with a completion time of two days. It also says initial approval and card issuance must be submitted only through authorised service providers.

In Dubai the card is issued by GDRFA. We cover its fees, renewal and fines separately in our establishment card guide, because the figures depend on the establishment type. What matters for the visa budget is simple: an expired establishment card stops every visa transaction for the company.

The MOHRE company file and quota

On the labour side, MOHRE’s card for a new work permit lists as its first condition that “the establishment must have an available electronic quota”. A company with no available quota cannot issue a permit at any price. How quota is set and increased is covered in our company visa quota guide, and the MOHRE file itself in our labour file opening service.

Stage 2: the MOHRE work permit fee and the category 1, 2, 3 visa cost

This is the line that makes one company’s employment visa cost so different from another’s. MOHRE’s service card for issuing a new work permit to a worker from abroad lists:

The card gives a completion time of two working days, and the work permit fee buys a permit valid for two years. Its conditions are short: available quota, an employee aged at least 18, no active work permit for the employee, a valid licence without violations, and an application submitted by the authorised signatory. The documents are a photo, a passport copy with six months’ validity, the official job offer signed by both sides, academic certificates where the skill level needs them, and a professional licence where the job requires one.

What the categories are, and the work permit fee in each

The category 1, 2, 3 visa cost comes from a classification introduced on 1 June 2022. Mainland companies were placed into three categories under Cabinet Resolution No. 18 of 2022. In short: category 1 is a compliant company with an extra achievement (for example high Emiratisation or cultural diversity), category 2 is the ordinary compliant company, and category 3 is a company with recorded breaches such as unpaid wages or fake Emiratisation. MOHRE says the system can cut fees by up to 80% for companies with major achievements and that employing UAE and GCC nationals is fee-exempt. The criteria are explained in our guide to MOHRE; the permit types that use a flat fee instead of the category fee are in our work permit types guide.

For the employment visa cost, the arithmetic is what matters. Between category 1 and category 3 the work permit fee gap is AED 3,200 per hire every two years. For a company issuing 20 permits in a cycle, that is AED 64,000.

Deadlines that turn into fines

Cabinet Resolution 21 of 2020, Article 3, adds two fines that belong in any honest budget:

• a work permit not renewed within 60 days of expiry: AED 200 per month, up to AED 2,000;
• an employment contract not given to MOHRE within 60 days of entry: AED 100 per month, up to AED 2,000.

Both are avoidable. Neither appears on a first quote. Our MOHRE labour card guide covers the permit document the employee receives.

Stage 3: worker protection in the employment visa cost (guarantee or insurance)

Before the permit is issued, the employer must secure the worker’s entitlements, and this adds a line to the employment visa cost. Ministerial Resolution No. 318 of 2022 on bank guarantees and the employees’ protection insurance scheme gives the employer a choice, as MOHRE’s announcement of 9 August 2022 set out:

The insurance covers up to AED 20,000 per worker, including wages for the last 120 working days, end-of-service gratuity and the cost of returning the worker home. u.ae adds the catch: “In case the insurance company pays the worker, the employer will have to repay the same to the insurance company.” It is protection for the worker, not a transfer of the employer’s liability.

A bank guarantee is refundable. MOHRE lists the cases in which it can be recovered: the work permit is cancelled with proof of departure, the worker dies with proof of repatriation, the worker transfers to another employer, or the employer proves the permit is cancelled and the dues paid. Money parked in guarantees is still money the business cannot use, which is why most small employers take the insurance.

Stage 4: the entry permit, and why location changes the employment visa cost

Once MOHRE has approved the permit, the immigration authority issues the entry permit that lets the employee enter (or remain) for the purpose of work. This is the first line where the candidate’s location changes the employment visa cost.

Dubai: GDRFA

GDRFA’s card “Visa Issuance for Foreigners linked with Job Contract” lists: “Work visa fee: AED200 In addition to the value-added tax (5%).” If the sponsored person is already in the country, three more lines apply: Knowledge Dirham AED 10, Innovation Dirham AED 10 and a “fee inside the country” of AED 500. The completion time is 48 hours. The permit gives the holder 60 days from the date of entry to complete the residence.

For the employment visa cost Dubai employers actually pay, the counter price for the inside-country entry permit is AED 395 above the card total, and it includes typing. GDRFA’s card does not itemise what else may be charged, and we have not found an official page that does. The card’s own note (“the total amount of the visa may vary”) is the only explanation on record. When you compare quotes, ask for this line to be shown as it appears on the GDRFA payment screen.

Other emirates: ICP

ICP’s “Issuance of a Visa” card lists, for work and employment entry permits, an application fee of AED 100, an issuance fee of AED 100 and an AED 100 smart services fee: AED 300 on the published lines. The holder must enter within the permit’s 60-day validity, a valid UAE health insurance policy is a condition, and the card gives two days to process.

Inside the country: the status change

A candidate already in the UAE (on a visit visa, a cancelled residence or a family visa) must be moved to the new status without leaving. In Dubai that is GDRFA’s Status Amendment: AED 500 + AED 10 + AED 10 + AED 50 establishment fee = AED 570 when a company applies. ICP lists “Status adjustment: 500 AED” on its residence card. At the Amer counter, a status change currently costs about AED 680, typing included (MirDxbPRO counter price list, October 2026). The full rules and conditions are in our visa change status fees guide; here it is enough to know the effect on the UAE employment visa cost.

Stage 5: the medical fitness test in the employment visa cost

Every employee aged 18 and over needs a medical fitness certificate before the residence is issued, so the medical is part of every employment visa cost. GDRFA’s residence card lists “a proper medical examination approved by the relevant authorities for those over 18 years of age” among the documents. The fee depends on the emirate, the speed and the job category. How the test works, what it screens for and what happens after a referral are in our UAE visa medical test guide; here are the published fees.

At the Amer counter, the regular medical currently costs about AED 330, typing included (MirDxbPRO counter price list, October 2026): Dubai Health’s AED 270 standard fee plus AED 60 of typing and centre charges (our arithmetic). For a hire from abroad on a tight 60-day window, the faster tiers can be worth the extra AED 430: a referred medical stops everything behind it.

Stage 6: the Emirates ID

The Emirates ID is issued by ICP in every emirate, including Dubai, so this part of the UAE employment visa cost is the same everywhere. ICP’s “New Identity Card Issuance” card sets, for residents, AED 100 for each year of residence plus an AED 100 smart services fee, with an urgent option at AED 150 and a completion time of five days. For a two-year residence the published cost is AED 300.

At the Amer counter, a two-year Emirates ID currently costs about AED 385, typing included (MirDxbPRO counter price list, October 2026). That is AED 85 above ICP’s published AED 300; the counter price is not split into government fee and charges. ICP’s cards do not say whether the smart services fee is charged once or twice when the residence and the ID are applied for together, so check the ICP screen for your file.

Biometrics are part of this step, and they take the employee’s time. How the ID and the residence are linked is in our Emirates ID and visa linking guide.

Stage 7: the residence permit, the last immigration line

The final immigration step issues the residence itself. The UAE stopped placing residence stickers in passports in 2022, and ICP now treats the resident’s Emirates ID as proof of residence, but the line is still called “visa stamping” on many centre sheets.

Employment visa cost Dubai: two official residence figures that do not agree

GDRFA’s card “Issuing residence permits for the private sector” lists: residence permit fee AED 200, Knowledge Dirham AED 10, Innovation Dirham AED 10, fee inside the country AED 500 and delivery AED 20, with AED 100 more for each year beyond two, and a completion time of 48 hours. Added up, that is AED 740 for two years.

GDRFA’s FAQ tells a different story for renewals: a two-year residence renewal costs “460 AED” with an expatriate sponsor. At the Amer counter, a new two-year employee residence (visa stamping) currently costs about AED 550, typing included (MirDxbPRO counter price list, October 2026), which is much closer to the FAQ than to the card. The card’s AED 500 “fee inside the country” is the line in doubt: everyone is inside the country when their residence is issued, and a counter price below the card total suggests it is not charged on this line.

Our worked totals use the card figure of AED 740 as the published basis and show the AED 280 lower alternative next to it. The GDRFA payment screen for your file is the figure you will actually pay.

Other emirates: ICP

ICP’s “Issuing Residency Permit” card is simpler: application AED 100, residence issuance AED 100 per year and smart services AED 100, which is AED 400 for two years, completed in two days. The same card sets the rule that matters for an overseas hire: the foreigner’s stay “does not exceed sixty (60) days from the date of entry” for completing the residence, after which overstay fines apply.

Stage 8: health insurance, the employer’s annual cost

Health insurance is not a government fee, but the residence cannot be issued without it, and it recurs every year. It is also the line most often left out of a quote.

• Dubai. u.ae: “In the emirate of Dubai, employers are required to provide health insurance coverage for their employees.” For employees earning AED 4,000 a month or less, the Dubai scheme’s basic Essential Benefits Plan was published at AED 500 to AED 700 a year per employee in DHA’s employer information pack, as repeated in DMCC’s FAQ. That range dates from 2014 to 2016; current insurer prices vary, so treat it as a guide, not a tariff. The same FAQ states that “no company can shift the burden of the premium on the employee.”
• Northern emirates. u.ae: “From 1 January 2025, employers are required to purchase health insurance policy as a prerequisite for applying for the issuance or renewal of residency permits of private sector employees and domestic workers.” The basic package costs AED 320 a year, with no waiting period for chronic conditions.
• Abu Dhabi. u.ae: “employers and sponsors are responsible for the providing health insurance coverage for their employees and their families (1 spouse and 3 children under 18 years).” No government premium is published; the insurer prices it.

Because the insurer sets the price, our worked employment visa cost totals show health insurance separately. For a lower-salary Dubai hire, adding AED 500 to AED 700 for the first year is a reasonable planning figure; for Abu Dhabi, where the employer also covers the family, get a quote before you commit.

Stage 9: ILOE, the one line the employee pays

The Involuntary Loss of Employment scheme is the only part of the employment visa cost that falls on the worker by law. Cabinet Resolution 97 of 2022 sets the premium at AED 5 a month plus VAT for a basic salary of AED 16,000 or less, and AED 10 a month plus VAT above that. A year costs AED 63 or AED 126 with VAT. The fine for never subscribing is AED 400. Categories, channels and exemptions are in our ILOE insurance guide.

The observed Tasheel sheet carried “Insurance certificate, involuntary loss of employment” at AED 126 + AED 19.05 charge + AED 0.95 VAT = AED 146. AED 126 is exactly AED 120 of premium plus 5% VAT: two years in the lower category or one year in the higher one (our arithmetic; the sheet does not say which). The previous version of this guide said this certificate “does not discharge the employee’s own subscription duty”. We could not support that: if the premium on the sheet was paid into the employee’s ILOE policy, it is the subscription. Check “View Policy Details” on iloe.ae to see what is actually in force.

Tasheel, Amer, typing charges and VAT: reading an employment visa cost sheet

Every line on a centre breakdown has four columns: the government fee, the centre’s transaction charge, VAT and the total. Knowing which column is which is the fastest way to compare two quotes.

On the observed sheet, the four MOHRE-side Tasheel lines shown in the breakdown below carried AED 355.85 of transaction charges between them, including AED 216.80 on a job offer line whose fee was AED 50.36. MOHRE’s published cap is AED 72 per service package. We cannot reconcile the two from official sources: some lines (ILOE, Tawjeeh) may not be MOHRE service packages at all, and MOHRE does not say how a “package” is counted. What you can do is ask the centre which charges are MOHRE commission and which are something else, or file the MOHRE side yourself on the website or app, where MOHRE states there is no charge.

The Knowledge Dirham and Innovation Dirham (AED 10 each) appear on most Dubai government transactions. VAT on the four observed Tasheel lines came to AED 17.79. Our Amer counter prices include typing and are quoted as one figure per line.

One line on the observed sheet has no clear official fee: “Tawjeeh services”, AED 152.28 + AED 50 + AED 2.50 = AED 204.78. MOHRE describes Tawjeeh centres as providing orientation on the Labour Law for employers and employees and delivering “work contracts and work permits”. Its Tawjeeh page does not publish a fee or say which workers must attend. The previous version of this guide said contracts for skill levels 6 to 9 are delivered only at awareness centres; we could not confirm that on MOHRE’s page and have removed it.

The employment visa cost Dubai sheet, line by line

This is a full Tasheel and Amer employment visa cost breakdown for a Dubai mainland hire, candidate inside the country, category 3 and category 2 versions. The four MOHRE-side Tasheel lines (labour fees, ILOE, Tawjeeh and job offer) come from the real sheet this guide has always been built on; its date was not recorded, so read those lines as an example of how a centre bills. The worker protection insurance and the five Amer lines are our current counter prices (MirDxbPRO counter price list, October 2026), typing included, so each is shown as one figure and not split into fee, charge and VAT. Only the labour fees line changes between the two categories.

Nine of the ten lines are the same in both columns and add up to AED 3,896.78. The four observed Tasheel lines come to AED 4,176.91 (category 3) or AED 1,910.85 (category 2), of which AED 355.85 is transaction charges and AED 17.79 VAT; the six counter-price lines add AED 3,268.

No category 1 employment visa cost sheet has been observed. Applying MOHRE’s AED 250 with the same 0.71% difference seen on the other two labour lines gives a labour fees line of about AED 251.78, a line total of about AED 325.28 and a total of about AED 4,222. That is an estimate and is labelled as one everywhere it appears.

Worked totals: employment visa cost Dubai, category 1, 2 and 3

Here is the same employment visa cost Dubai hire rebuilt from the published service cards only, so you can see what the authorities themselves print. Assumptions: a skilled worker, worker protection by insurance, a regular-speed medical, a two-year Emirates ID and residence, and no centre charges. We checked every total by calculation.

Then add the centre’s transaction and typing charges (see the breakdown above: AED 355.85 on the four observed Tasheel lines, with typing already inside the counter prices) or file the MOHRE and GDRFA steps online. The employee’s ILOE premium is not part of the employer’s total.

Why the card total and the counter breakdown differ

For a category 3 hire inside the country, the published card lines add up to AED 6,254.38 and the counter breakdown to AED 7,444.91, a gap of AED 1,190.53. The gap is not one hidden fee. It is spread across lines, and most of it is explained:

The practical lesson: compare quotes on the fee column first, then on charges. A cheaper quote that simply leaves out the insurance, the ILOE line or the status change is not cheaper; it is incomplete.

Worked total: UAE employment visa cost for an Abu Dhabi hire (ICP)

Outside Dubai, the immigration half of the UAE employment visa cost goes through ICP, with a simpler set of published lines. The example is a category 2 company in Abu Dhabi hiring a skilled worker from abroad.

Two cautions. ICP’s cards do not say whether the AED 100 smart services fee is charged once or on each of the entry permit, residence and ID, so the screen total may differ. And Abu Dhabi requires the employer to insure the employee’s family (one spouse and three children under 18), which can make health insurance the largest single line in the employment visa cost. Which authority handles which file is explained in our ICP vs GDRFA guide.

For Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah the ICP lines are the same, the medical is at an EHS centre (AED 260 in category A plus the centre’s fee), and the basic health package is AED 320 a year.

Free zone comparison: a DMCC employment visa cost example

Free zone companies do not use MOHRE work permits or the category 1, 2, 3 visa cost. The free zone authority issues the employment documents and sponsors the residence through GDRFA or ICP, and it publishes its own schedule of charges. To show what that looks like, here are the lines from DMCC’s published schedule of charges as read on 23 September 2026, next to our own DMCC price list for October 2026.

DMCC’s schedule prices only typing services for the medical (Smart Salem AED 800, VIP AED 770), not the test, and does not say which steps the visa fee bundles. Our price list covers the whole step for a hire from abroad: 2,975 + 330 + 477 + 414 = AED 4,196 with a normal medical, or AED 4,701 when the medical is done at Smart Salem, a fast-track centre. Health insurance is extra, as on the mainland.

Compared with the mainland totals above, the DMCC figure sits between a category 2 and a category 3 mainland hire on published lines, but the two are not like for like: the free zone line bundles items the mainland shows separately, and a free zone employee can work only for the free zone company. Other free zones publish different schedules. For the structural differences, see our free zone vs mainland Dubai guide, and for help in a zone, our free zone visa services.

How much is a 3-month employment (mission) visa in Dubai?

A 3-month employment visa in Dubai is the MOHRE mission work permit, which lets a mainland company bring a worker from abroad for short-term, project-based work. MOHRE’s service card gives it three months’ validity, renewable once for a similar period, and a federal fee of AED 50, with no category fee shown. People also search for it as a mission visa, a 90-day work visa or a short-term work permit.

The company still needs a valid licence with no violations, an electronic quota and a worker aged 18 or over with no active work permit. It is not a residence visa: the worker comes in on a GDRFA Dubai entry permit, and GDRFA does not publish a separate mission fee in its service catalogue, so that line appears on the payment screen. A worker already inside the UAE needs the temporary work permit instead. Both are compared in our work permit types guide, and the standard permit is on our MOHRE work permit page.

Our service fee for a mission work permit is AED 400, 5% VAT included, with every government fee paid at cost and receipted (see our service charges).

Who legally pays each line of the employment visa cost

This is the part of the employment visa cost that employees ask about most, and the law is clear on the main point. Article 6(4) of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 prohibits an employer from “charging the Worker the fees and costs of recruitment and employment or collecting them from him, whether directly or indirectly”. Work permits, entry permits, status changes, medicals, the Emirates ID and the residence are all costs of employing the worker.

Two common arrangements need care. A “visa loan” deducted from salary until the cost is “repaid” is an indirect collection of recruitment costs. So is a deduction from the final settlement described as “visa charges”. Deductions from wages are limited by Article 25 of the Labour Law in any case, and our end-of-service gratuity guide explains what can and cannot come off the final amount.

There is one situation where someone other than the first employer pays. Article 9 of the Labour Law says that where a worker leaves during probation to join another employer in the UAE, the new employer compensates the original employer for the recruitment or contracting costs, unless agreed otherwise. That is a claim between employers; it is never passed to the worker. Our probation guide has the notice rules.

If an employer is recovering visa costs from you, the route is a complaint to MOHRE, set out step by step in our MOHRE complaint guide. The MOHRE call centre is 600590000.

Renewal versus first-time UAE employment visa cost

The work permit and the residence both run for two years, so the employment visa cost comes round again. A renewal drops the lines that only exist to bring someone in: the entry permit, the status change and the application for a new permit. It repeats the rest.

On published lines, a Dubai renewal employment visa cost (work permit fee, regular medical, Emirates ID and residence at the card figure) costs AED 1,540 in category 1, AED 2,490 in category 2 and AED 4,740 in category 3, or AED 280 less on the FAQ residence figure. That is about AED 404 less than the first visa for an overseas hire, and about AED 1,494 less than a first visa for someone hired inside the country (our arithmetic). The renewal steps, timing and residence fees are covered in our employment visa renewal service, including the urgent route.

Two things push the renewal employment visa cost higher than it needs to be: a category that has slipped from 1 or 2 to 3 since the first visa, and fines for renewing late. A permit renewed more than 60 days after expiry attracts AED 200 a month under Cabinet Resolution 21 of 2020, and once a residence is cancelled, the standard grace period in Dubai is 30 days (some categories get 60, 90 or 180 days; your exact period is shown on your cancellation letter); overstay fines start the day after it ends. Our grace period guide has the ICP scale.

What an employment visa cost quote usually leaves out

An employment visa cost quote can be accurate line by line and still under-budget the hire. These costs sit outside the government sheet.

• Health insurance. Insurer-priced and annual. In Abu Dhabi it includes the family.
• Attestation. Where the skill level needs an attested degree, the attestation chain is a separate cost and takes weeks. See our attestation cost guide.
• Faster medical tiers. AED 700 or more instead of AED 270.
• Company-level items. Establishment card, trade licence, quota. Paid per company, but they must be current.
• Fines. Open company fines block the file; late renewal and late contract fines add up quietly.
• Recruitment and travel. Agency fees, flights and first accommodation for an overseas hire are not visa fees, but they are the employer’s recruitment costs under Article 6.
• Cancellation at the end. Cancelling a work permit has no fee online at MOHRE, but the residence cancellation has GDRFA or ICP fees. See our guide to cancelling an employment visa.

What circulates online that is not true

Worked cases: UAE employment visa cost in practice

These cases are built from the situations we see most often. Names and identifying details are left out, and the figures are the published ones.

Case 1: a first hire for a new trading company (category 2)

Situation. A newly licensed Dubai mainland trading company wanted to hire a sales executive from India. The owner had budgeted “about AED 3,000” from a friend’s estimate.

What applied. A new company is normally category 2. On published lines, the overseas hire came to AED 2,914.38: MOHRE AED 1,250, insurance AED 144.38, entry permit AED 210, medical AED 270, Emirates ID AED 300, residence AED 740. Health insurance for a basic-salary employee added roughly AED 500 to 700 for the year. The company’s own establishment card and quota had to be in place first.

Outcome. The realistic first-year figure, with centre charges and insurance, was well above AED 3,000. The owner filed the MOHRE side on the app and saved most of the Tasheel charges.

Case 2: the candidate who was already in Dubai (category 3)

Situation. A contracting company in category 3 hired a site supervisor who was in Dubai on a visit visa with three weeks left.

What applied. Inside-country hire: published lines AED 6,254.38, with the AED 520 inside-country lines and the AED 570 status amendment. At our October 2026 counter prices, the counter breakdown for this pattern is AED 7,444.91. The visit visa’s remaining time was the real risk: the status change had to be done before it ran out.

Outcome. MOHRE approval, the entry permit and the status change were filed in the same week. The company then asked why it was in category 3, which is worth more than any single hire: the permit alone cost AED 3,200 more than in category 1.

Case 3: an Abu Dhabi hire with a family

Situation. An Abu Dhabi engineering firm (category 2) hired an engineer from abroad who planned to bring a spouse and two children.

What applied. ICP published lines: AED 2,644.38. Abu Dhabi requires the employer to insure the employee and family (one spouse and three children under 18), so health insurance for four people became the largest cost.

Outcome. The firm budgeted the insurance before making the offer. The family visas themselves were the engineer’s files, sponsored by him; our family residence service covers that side.

Case 4: the employee asked to pay a “visa deposit”

Situation. A new hire was told AED 5,000 would be deducted over five months for “visa costs”, refundable after two years.

What applied. Article 6(4) prohibits collecting recruitment and employment costs from the worker, directly or indirectly. A deduction from salary is indirect collection. The only line the employee owes by law is the ILOE premium (AED 5 a month plus VAT at his salary).

Outcome. He raised it with the employer in writing, quoting the article, and was prepared to use MOHRE’s complaint route if needed.

Case 5: renewing twenty permits after a category change

Situation. A services company in category 2 found at renewal that it had been moved to category 3 after late salary payments.

What applied. Twenty renewals at AED 3,450 instead of AED 1,200: AED 45,000 more in permit fees for the cycle. Renewal on published lines went from AED 2,490 to AED 4,740 per head.

Outcome. The company fixed its WPS payments first. Our WPS guide sets out the system; the category itself is MOHRE’s decision.

How to audit an employment visa cost quote in ten minutes

1. Ask for the itemised sheet: fee, charge, VAT and total per line. A single bundled figure cannot be checked.
2. Find the MOHRE permit line. It should be close to AED 250, AED 1,200 or AED 3,450. If it does not match your category, ask why.
3. Check the worker protection line. AED 137.50 for a skilled worker, AED 180 low-skilled, plus VAT; or a AED 3,000 guarantee. Make sure the skill level is right.
4. Check location. For a candidate outside the UAE there should be no status change and no inside-country lines on the entry permit.
5. Check the medical tier. Regular is AED 270 in Dubai. If you are paying for express, you should have asked for it.
6. Check the Emirates ID and residence years. Both should match a two-year residence unless you agreed otherwise.
7. Look for health insurance. It should be a separate, named line or a separate quote, never folded into “government fees”.
8. Look for ILOE. If it is on the employer’s sheet, the employer is paying the employee’s premium; confirm the policy is in the employee’s name.
9. Add up the lines. They must equal the total.
10. Find the service fee. Whatever a provider charges should be its own line.

How to verify every employment visa cost figure in this guide

Every number here can be checked on an official page. Fees change, so check before you rely on one.

If an official page shows a different figure on the day you read it, the official page wins. Tell us and we will update the guide.

What we will and will not do

We will check the company and the candidate before any fee is paid, price the full file in writing with every government fee at cost, file the MOHRE and immigration steps in the right order, and give you the receipts. We will tell you when your file is simple enough to run yourself on the MOHRE and GDRFA apps.

We will not hide our fee inside the government column, recover visa costs from an employee on an employer’s behalf, register a worker at the wrong skill level to save on insurance, or promise an approval that MOHRE, GDRFA or ICP decides.

Related guides

• Employment visa service in Dubai: we run the whole file for you
• Visa cost estimator: model your own file
• UAE government fees 2026: the full fee list across authorities
• PRO services cost in Dubai: how service fees are priced
• Visa change status fees: the inside-country step in detail
• UAE visa medical test: process, tiers and referrals
• ILOE insurance: what the employee must subscribe to
• Work permit types UAE: which permits use the category fee
• What is MOHRE: the categories and channels
• Free zone vs mainland Dubai
• UAE visa processing times
• Cancel employment visa UAE: the end of the file

Pricing the UAE employment visa cost of a hire accurately, sequencing MOHRE and immigration, and keeping renewals ahead of their fines is what our PRO services in Dubai team handles.