If you have got a job or planning to work in the UAE, you must fulfill the criteria of UAE’s labour and immigration laws to work in the country. In this endeavour, it is mandatory to have a legal work permit in the UAE, so you must seek a work permit from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE).
If you get the work permit, you may have to go through the MOHRE’s programmes such as worker training and educating workers about their rights and responsibilities at Tawjeeh centres across the UAE.
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Before obtaining a legal work permit, you need to meet a series of other work-specific requirements like age restrictions, medical conditions, etc.
Age Restrictions
The minimum legal age to start working in the UAE is 15. If your age is above 15 but under 18, you can work legally by applying for a juvenile work permit as the law has certain work restrictions for employing minors. Anyone above the age of 18 years and below 60 years of age is eligible to work in the UAE. However, once you turn 60, you are allowed to work up to 65 years of your age subject to MOHRE’s approval.
The work permit can be as short as six months and as long as two years.
Health Conditions
Before applying for a legal work permit, you as a foreign citizen need to be free of communicable diseases like tuberculosis (TB), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
You may have to go through some additional tests such as Hepatitis B and syphilis if you wish to work in nurseries, restaurants and cafes as a food handler, salons and beauty parlours, health clubs or as housemaids, nannies and drivers.
Female domestic workers must carry a negative test result of pregnancy.
The authorities in the UAE capital city, Abu Dhabi strictly screen foreign citizens to spot pulmonary tuberculosis by performing a chest x-ray. The emirate of Dubai, however, doesn’t impose such a rule as per the UAE government’s official website.
According to a 2016’s cabinet resolution, all resident expatriates who renew their residence visas have to mandatorily go through TB screening. If found with active TB or drug-resistant TB, then the person/ persons will be issued a conditional health certificate and a residence visa for one year. After this, they can treat themselves in the UAE.
Educational Qualification
You can work in the UAE regardless of your educational qualification. MOHRE has assigned jobs in the UAE based on five points. Level 1 is for highly skilled workers and level 5 for low-skilled workers.
If you are applying for a job under either skill level 1, 2, or 3, you need to submit your academic certificates duly attested to get a work permit. People seeking level 4 and 5 professions do not require attestations.
