UAE Government Fees 2026: Official Fee Tables for MOHRE, GDRFA, ICP, DLD, MOFA and DET

UAE government fees 2026 are the charges published by federal and emirate authorities for their own services: MOHRE for work permits, GDRFA Dubai and ICP for entry permits, residence, Emirates ID and establishment cards, the Dubai Land Department for tenancy registration, MOFA for attestation, MoHESR for degree recognition, the health authorities for visa medicals and the Department of Economy and Tourism for trade licences. Each authority publishes its fees on a service card or in a Cabinet resolution. Anything a centre or agent adds on top, such as typing, commission or VAT on a service charge, is not a government fee and should be shown on a separate line.

This page is the hub. It lists the published lines, authority by authority, and sends you to the deep guide for each transaction. It does not repeat the step-by-step procedures; those live in the linked guides, which carry the same figures.

Every figure was checked against the authority’s page, the Cabinet resolution or a receipt on 23 and 24 September 2026. Where an official source is silent, the cell says so. Where two official sources conflict, we show both and tell you which one we budget on.

UAE government fees by authority: the map at a glance

Start here. Find the authority that owns your transaction, take the headline figure, then follow the link to the full government fee table further down this page or to the guide that explains the process.

UAE government fees 2026: how MIRDXB PRO helps

Most business owners and HR managers do not need a government fee list; they need to know what the next hire, renewal or cancellation will cost, and that nothing on the receipt is a surprise. That is the work we do every day for mainland and free zone companies across Dubai and the northern emirates.

What we do

• Price any transaction line by line before you pay: each government fee with its authority and source, then the centre charge, then our fee.
• Check your company file first: establishment card expiry, MOHRE category, available quota, Ejari and licence dates, and any fines on the file.
• File the transactions with MOHRE, GDRFA Dubai and ICP through the official channels, and hand you the official receipts.
• Run a renewal calendar for companies that want one, so establishment cards, work permits, residences and Emirates IDs are renewed before fines start.
• Audit a quote you already have from someone else and tell you which lines are government fees and which are not.

How it works

1. Message us on WhatsApp with the transaction and your trade licence (and the employee’s passport if it concerns a person).
2. We check the file and send an itemised quote in writing: government fees at cost, centre charges as printed, our fee separately.
3. You approve and pay the government fees directly or through us, with receipts.
4. We file, track and send you the result and every receipt, and diarise the next renewal date.

What it costs

Government fees are passed on at cost, exactly as the authority charges them. Our own fee depends on the transaction and is quoted in writing before we start; our fees page explains how we price. We never fold our fee into a “government fee” line.

Why companies use us

• We publish our sources. Every figure on this page links to the authority page or law it comes from, and we show real receipts where we have them.
• We cover both immigration systems: GDRFA for Dubai files and ICP for Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah, plus MOHRE for the labour side.
• We tell you when you do not need us. Work permit cancellation has no fee on the MOHRE app, and Ejari cancellation has no fee on the DLD app; we will say so.
• You can visit us. 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 outsourced company work on a regular basis, see our corporate PRO services in Dubai.

How a UAE government fee line is built

Almost every receipt from a Dubai or federal channel is assembled from the same few pieces. Naming them makes any quote easier to read.

A real example shows how the blocks stack. On 4 September 2026, a Dubai re-entry (return) permit for a resident outside the UAE for more than six months, filed at an Amer centre for three periods, came to AED 622.50: AED 570 to GDRFA, AED 50 to the centre and AED 2.50 VAT on the centre’s fee.

The line-by-line receipt, the fee calculator and the full re-entry rules are in our re-entry permit UAE fees guide, and the difference between the two kinds of centre is in Amer vs Tasheel.

MOHRE government fees: work permits, quota and labour services

MOHRE, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, charges for the labour side of employment on the mainland: the company’s labour file, quota and work permits. Its fees are set federally in Cabinet Resolution 21 of 2020 and printed on each service card. Two rules run through all of them: the service carries no charge on MOHRE’s website and app apart from the government fee itself, and a business service centre may add a commission of up to AED 72.

The one line that changes from company to company is the two-year work permit government fee, which depends on the establishment’s MOHRE category. Category 1 companies pay AED 250, category 2 companies AED 1,200 and category 3 companies AED 3,450. How the categories are decided is set out in our guide to MOHRE.

Worker protection, ILOE and health insurance: charges linked to MOHRE rules

These are not MOHRE service fees, but the rules behind them are federal labour rules and they appear on almost every employment budget. They belong in any honest list of what a hire costs.

Article 6(4) of the Labour Law forbids charging recruitment and employment costs to the worker, so the MOHRE, immigration, medical and Emirates ID lines on this page are the employer’s. ILOE is the exception: it is the worker’s own policy. The full split is in our employment visa cost breakdown and our ILOE guide.

Emiratisation: contributions and circumvention fines

Companies with 50 or more employees, and companies with 20 to 49 employees in named sectors, have Emiratisation targets. Missing a target leads to a financial contribution for each Emirati not hired; gaming the system leads to fines. Under Ministerial Resolution 279 of 2022 the contribution rises by AED 1,000 a month each year; for 2026 it is AED 10,000 a month for each unfilled position, AED 60,000 per half year (MOHRE, as reported in June 2026). Fake Emiratisation is fined AED 20,000 to AED 100,000 per case (Cabinet Resolution 95 of 2022), and circumvention by establishments is fined AED 100,000, AED 300,000 and AED 500,000 for first, second and later offences (Cabinet Resolution 44 of 2023). Targets, deadlines and the current contribution are set out in our Emiratisation rules guide.

GDRFA Dubai government fees for visas, residence and company cards

For any residence file issued in Dubai (file number starting with 2), the General Directorate of Identity and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (still widely called GDRFA) sets the immigration fee. Its cards share a pattern: a base fee, a AED 10 Knowledge Dirham and a AED 10 Innovation Dirham, and an extra AED 500 when the person is already inside the UAE. These are the Dubai government fees most companies meet every month.

GDRFA visit and tourist visas

Companies bring in visitors, candidates and family of staff on visit visas, so the visit lines matter too. GDRFA’s cards list these Dubai government fees; each adds AED 500 + AED 10 + AED 10 when the applicant is already inside the UAE.

The full list of visa types, with conditions, is in our UAE visa types guide.

ICP government fees: residence in the other emirates and every Emirates ID

The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) issues residence for files in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah, and the Emirates ID for everyone in the country, Dubai residents included. ICP cards follow a simple formula: an application fee, an issuance fee (often AED 100 per year of validity) and a AED 100 smart services fee. Together with the GDRFA lines above, these MOHRE, GDRFA, ICP fees make up most company budgets.

Emirates ID government fees (ICP, every emirate)

The Emirates ID is always an ICP card, even when GDRFA issues the residence. Its government fee follows the residence: AED 100 for each year of validity plus AED 100 smart services.

Processing time, tracking and the late fine are covered in our Emirates ID status check and Emirates ID fine guides.

Visa medical government fees: DHA, Smart Salem, EHS and Abu Dhabi

Every expatriate aged 18 or over sits a medical fitness test for a new or renewed residence. The government fee depends on the emirate and on how fast you want the result. There is no single federal price.

Who needs it, what is tested and what happens after an unfit result are in our UAE visa medical test guide. For a family renewal, the medical is often the line people forget to budget.

Dubai Land Department and Ejari government fees (and tenancy registration elsewhere)

For a Dubai mainland company, the registered tenancy (Ejari) is small in fee terms and large in consequence: the licence renewal and the establishment’s visa capacity both lean on it, and family visas in Dubai ask for it. The DLD publishes the Ejari government fee on its service page.

The Ejari steps and why GDRFA asks for it are in our Ejari for family visa guide; the DLD Golden route is compared with GDRFA’s in our Golden visa cost guide. If you would rather not do it yourself, our Ejari registration service handles it.

MOFA attestation: government fees per document

Foreign degrees, marriage and birth certificates, powers of attorney and company documents all need UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs attestation before a UAE authority accepts them. Since 1 February 2023 the government fee depends on the kind of document, not its value (Cabinet Resolution 38 of 2022).

A degree and its transcript are two documents, so AED 300 at MOFA, not AED 150. Home-country fees, digital attestation and worked totals beyond the UAE government fee by country are in our attestation cost guide; the order of the stamps is in attestation process explained.

MoHESR and Ministry of Education: equivalency government fees

Many work permits at skill levels 1 to 5 and every regulated profession need a recognised degree. The recognition report comes from the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MoHESR), not from MOHRE, even though people call it the “MOHRE equivalency certificate”.

The route, timings and the 2025 rule change are in our MOHRE equivalency certificate guide.

DET trade licence government fees (Dubai mainland)

The Department of Economy and Tourism (DET, formerly Dubai Economy and before that DED) issues and renews mainland licences. Unlike the immigration cards, a licence voucher is partly fixed and partly calculated from your own file: your rent, your activities, your partners and your trade name. That is why two companies with the same activity rarely pay the same.

The fixed lines above add up to AED 1,020 before activity fees, the market fee and any approvals. Treat the whole table as a checklist for reading your payment voucher, not as a price. The renewal steps, the Ejari link and free zone renewals are in our trade licence renewal guide, and what happens when a licence expires is in expired trade licence Dubai. Our trade licence renewal service files it for you.

Free zone fees: a different schedule from UAE government fees 2026

Free zone companies still pay the federal lines on this page: ICP for the Emirates ID, the medical, MOFA and MoHESR, and GDRFA or ICP for residence. The licence, the establishment card and the visa package fees, however, are set and published by each zone. Two examples from published schedules show how different they are.

How a free zone compares with a mainland company on authorities, quota and costs is in our free zone vs mainland guide.

UAE government fees 2026 for common company transactions

The table sums the published lines for the transactions a company runs most often, before centre charges. Where an official source gives two figures, both are shown.

For one complete hire, add the lines in order. A Dubai category 2 employer hiring someone from abroad pays about AED 2,914 in published lines; a hire already inside the UAE adds AED 1,090. The full build, with the observed Amer and Tasheel sheet, is in our employment visa cost guide. You can also try our visa cost estimator.

UAE government fines: the master table

Fines are government charges too, and on many files they cost more than the government fees. Most immigration fines sit in one table: the annex to Cabinet Resolution 89 of 2022, in force since 3 October 2022. Labour fines sit in Cabinet Resolution 21 of 2020 and the Labour Law.

You can work out an overstay figure with our overstay fine calculator. When a fine is already on the file, the routes to have it reduced or waived are in our fine waiver guide; there has been no general amnesty in 2025 or 2026, and the 2026 airspace measures have ended.

Where official sources disagree on MOHRE, GDRFA, ICP fees

A government fee list is only honest if it shows the places where the authorities do not agree with themselves. These are the ones that matter most for budgets, with the figure we plan on.

VAT, Knowledge and Innovation Dirhams and centre charges on a government fee

Three things confuse most quotes: which lines carry VAT, what the two AED 10 Dubai levies are, and how much a centre may add.

VAT

Most immigration and labour government fees are printed on their cards without VAT, and on the Amer and Tasheel sheets we hold the tax column for those lines is zero. VAT at 5% appears in two places. First, where the authority’s own card says “+ VAT”: the GDRFA work visa fee, Dubai visit visas, the sponsor file and the establishment card fee. Second, on the centre’s own charge: AED 2.50 on the AED 50 Amer fee, and on a Tasheel sheet we reviewed, AED 23.22 of VAT on AED 713.87 of transaction charges. If VAT appears on a line where neither the card nor the receipt shows it, ask why.

Knowledge Dirham and Innovation Dirham

These are two AED 10 levies that Dubai adds to government transactions: they appear on GDRFA cards, on the Ejari fee and on DEWA’s connection lines. They are genuine government charges, not centre fees. ICP cards for the other emirates do not show them, which is one reason the same transaction costs slightly differently in Dubai.

Centre charges: Amer, Tasheel and typing offices

MOHRE’s service cards cap a business service centre’s commission at AED 72 per service and add that tax and collection charges are extra. GDRFA prints specific Amer additions on some cards (AED 100 on an establishment card issue and on a PRO card), and Amer charges its own fee on the receipt (AED 50 on our return permit receipt). A typing office for ICP transactions shows its charge on the receipt. In each case the centre charge is legal and normal, but it belongs on its own line. For the difference between the two kinds of centre, see our Amer vs Tasheel guide, and for how PRO pricing works on top of all this, our PRO services cost guide.

How to budget UAE government fees 2026 for a year

Recurring government fees are predictable if you list them by date. For a Dubai mainland company, the recurring government lines fall into four groups; the table gives the published figure and the cycle.

Keep last year’s receipts: for recurring lines they are the best guide, adjusted for any change of category, lease or validity.

Worked cases: UAE government fees 2026 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 new Dubai mainland trading company getting ready to hire

The owner has the trade licence and a signed office lease and wants to hire two staff next month. Before any visa, three company files must exist: the Ejari, the GDRFA establishment card and the MOHRE labour file with quota.

The licence itself is separate and on the DET voucher. The point of the case is the order: an unregistered lease holds the licence, which holds the files, which holds every hire. Our labour file opening service and establishment card service cover these steps.

Case 2: a category 2 hire who is already in Dubai

An HR manager received a supplier quote of AED 6,500 described as “government fees” for one employee already in Dubai on a visit visa. The published lines for a category 2 company add up to AED 4,004.38: AED 1,250 at MOHRE, AED 144.38 worker protection insurance with VAT, AED 730 for the entry permit with the inside-country lines, AED 570 for the status amendment, AED 270 medical, AED 300 Emirates ID and AED 740 residence. At our October 2026 counter prices, typing included, with the MOHRE-side Tasheel lines taken from an observed sheet, the same kind of hire comes to about AED 5,178.85.

So roughly AED 1,300 to AED 2,500 of the AED 6,500 was not government money. That can be a fair service fee, but it should have been shown as one. The line-by-line reconciliation is in our employment visa cost guide.

Case 3: renewing ten residences for a Sharjah company (ICP)

A category 2 company in Sharjah has ten employees whose permits and residences fall due in the same quarter. On ICP and MOHRE lines, each two-year renewal costs AED 1,200 (work permit), AED 400 (residence: AED 100 + AED 200 + AED 100), AED 300 (Emirates ID) and AED 260 (EHS category A medical, plus the service centre fee).

Had the same company been in category 1, the permit line would have been AED 2,500 instead of AED 12,000. The category is worth checking before a renewal cycle, not after.

Case 4: an Ajman company that let its cards lapse

A small Ajman contractor found its ICP establishment card had expired about three months earlier and two work permits had expired 90 days earlier. On the published rules, the establishment card fine is AED 100 a month once 30 days have passed, capped at AED 1,000: about AED 200 here, depending on how ICP counts the part month. Each work permit carries AED 200 a month once 60 days have passed: AED 200 per permit, AED 400 in total.

The fines were small. The real cost was that no visa transaction could move for the company until the card was renewed, including a new hire waiting abroad. Renewing on time would have cost only the renewal government fees. Our establishment card guide explains the renewal.

Case 5: closing a departing employee’s Dubai file with his family

An employee sponsored his wife and son on his own residence and resigned. The order and the government fees on the published lines were: the family’s cancellations first, by him as individual sponsor (GDRFA FAQ: AED 190 each inside the UAE, plus Amer fees); then MOHRE work permit cancellation by the company (no fee online, or up to AED 72 at a business centre); then his residence cancellation by the company (AED 225 inside the UAE, plus Amer fees).

Government total: AED 605 plus centre charges. u.ae says family members’ visas must be cancelled before the sponsor’s own, and on an ICP file cancelling him first would have triggered a AED 5,000 guarantee. After cancellation each person has a grace period, then AED 50 a day. Our guide to cancelling an employment visa has the full sequence.

Case 6: auditing a quota quote

A company received a quote listing “quota approval, government fee: AED 1,500”. MOHRE’s quota card says the service carries no charge on its website and app apart from government fees and lists a Ta’qeem fee of AED 406; a business centre may add up to AED 72. The government share is therefore at most AED 478. The remaining AED 1,022 is the provider’s fee. It may be reasonable for the work involved, but it is not a government fee and should not be labelled as one. Quota itself is explained in our company visa quota guide, and our quota approval service files it.

How to check a quote against the published UAE visa fees list

A ten-minute check with this page catches most problems. Work through the quote in this order.

1. Ask for the quote in writing, one line per government fee, with the authority named.
2. Match each line to a row in the tables above. Mark it as published, calculated (for example a DET market fee) or not on any official page.
3. Check the variables: the company’s MOHRE category, whether the person is inside or outside the UAE, the emirate of the file and the validity period.
4. Separate the centre charges and the VAT on them. For MOHRE work, the commission cap is AED 72 per service.
5. Look for missing lines: health insurance, worker protection, medical, Emirates ID, attestation and any fines already on the file.
6. Ask what happens on refusal. ICP refunds issuance fees for a service not completed but not application or smart services fees; MOFA refunds the attestation fee on a rejection within 14 working days.

If two quotes differ widely, ask the higher one what it found; it may have spotted a fine or an expired card.

What circulates online that is not true

How to verify every government fee on this page

Every figure above can be checked by you in a few minutes. This is where to look.

What we will and will not do

Related guides

• UAE employment visa cost: every fee line for category 1, 2 and 3 employers
• Visa change status fees in Dubai and the other emirates
• Golden visa cost in Dubai
• Attestation cost in the UAE
• UAE overstay fine per day
• Establishment card explained
• How to renew a trade licence in Dubai
• PRO services cost in Dubai
• UAE visa processing times
• ICP vs GDRFA

Keeping a company’s licences, cards, permits and residences renewed and every government fee accounted for is what our PRO services in Dubai team handles.