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A Dubai work visa for an Indian citizen is applied for and paid for by the UAE employer, not by you. The employer gets a MOHRE work permit, then a GDRFA employment entry permit at AED 200 plus 5% VAT. If your Indian passport is ECR, India also requires emigration clearance before you leave. Skilled jobs need an attested degree.
The UAE side is the same employment visa every nationality gets. What changes for Indians is what has to happen in India first, and that is where most delays start. If you are only visiting, the Dubai visa for Indians page covers tourist and family routes.
ECR or ECNR: look at your passport first
India's Emigration Act says no citizen may emigrate for work without clearance from the Protector of Emigrants, unless the passport is exempt. In practice it comes down to two labels.
- ECR (Emigration Check Required). You need emigration clearance if you go to one of the 17 ECR countries to take up a job. The UAE is on that list, with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain.
- ECNR (Emigration Check Not Required). No clearance is needed. Any passport without the ECR endorsement falls here.
The rule is about employment only. An ECR holder flying to Dubai on a tourist visa needs a valid passport, the visa and a return ticket, nothing more. Once a job is the reason for travel, clearance applies.
MEA's online system for this is eMigrate (emigrate.gov.in). We could not read its guidance pages in , so confirm the current steps with your registered recruiting agent or the Protector of Emigrants office.
If an Indian agent recruits you
The MEA page is blunt: ask the agent to show the original registration certificate issued by the Protector General of Emigrants. MEA also caps what a registered agent may charge, linked to the wage in your contract, and the page states the limit. Read it before you pay anything. On the UAE side, the law is stricter still: charging recruitment fees to job seekers is illegal.
Degree attestation for skilled jobs
MOHRE sorts every job into a skill level, and the paperwork follows from it.
| MOHRE skill level | Minimum qualification |
|---|---|
| Levels 1 and 2 | Bachelor's degree |
| Levels 3 and 4 | Diploma |
| Level 5 | High school |
| Levels 6 to 9 | No qualification set |
Source: MOHRE recruiting-from-overseas service page, checked . A job paying under AED 4,000 a month, or held without a degree, does not count as skilled.
For a skilled permit the degree must be attested. An Indian degree goes through three steps:
- The state education department authenticates it. In Kerala, NORKA Roots handles this step for educational documents.
- The Ministry of External Affairs attests it. An apostille does not work here, because the UAE is not part of the Apostille Convention.
- The UAE Embassy in New Delhi attests it through its digital service on the MOFA website, which gives the UAE embassy and MOFA stamps in one go. MOFA lists AED 150 per personal or educational document.
The Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General of India in Dubai can attest Indian certificates too, but only after the state and MEA steps are done in India. Start attestation the day the offer arrives. It takes longer than every UAE step put together.
What the work visa costs, and who pays
| Government fee line | Amount | Paid by |
|---|---|---|
| MOHRE application | AED 50 | Employer |
| MOHRE two-year work permit | AED 250, AED 1,200 or AED 3,450, by company category | Employer |
| GDRFA employment entry permit | AED 200 plus 5% VAT | Employer |
| DHA medical fitness test, 24 hours | AED 270 | Employer |
| Emirates ID | AED 100 per year plus AED 100 smart service | Employer |
| GDRFA residence permit | AED 200, AED 10, AED 10, AED 20 delivery | Employer |
| Applicant already inside the UAE | AED 500 plus AED 10 and AED 10 | Employer |
Source: MOHRE service pages (), GDRFA, ICP and DHA fee pages, checked . No official page gives one total, so we show the lines. The employment visa cost page explains the company categories.
The u.ae labour rights page says recruitment, travel and residence costs "shall be borne by the employer". If someone asks an Indian worker to repay the visa from the first salary, that is the employer's cost being moved onto you.
What Dubai agencies charge
Published estimates from 4 Dubai business setup and PRO providers put a two-year mainland employment visa at about AED 3,500 to AED 8,000 per employee, all in, checked . That is the employer's bill, with insurance and service charges included.
Documents to have ready
- Indian passport valid at least 6 months, with the ECR or ECNR status visible
- Photo on a white background
- MOHRE job offer, signed by you and the employer
- Degree or diploma, attested in India and by the UAE side, for skilled jobs
- Professional licence where the job needs one, such as nursing or engineering
- Emigration clearance, if the passport is ECR
The full UAE list is on the work visa requirements page.
Processing time
MOHRE states 2 working days for the work permit. GDRFA states 48 hours for the entry permit, and you then have 60 days from entry to finish the residence steps. The medical result takes about 24 hours on the standard service and the Emirates ID about 5 days. Attestation in India is the part with no fixed clock, so plan weeks, not days.
Why Indian work visa files stall
- Degree not attested, or attested only by a notary. MOHRE needs the full chain for skilled levels.
- ECR passport with no clearance. Indian law requires it before you emigrate for work, and the UAE visa does not replace it.
- Name spelling differs between the degree, the passport and the job offer.
- Job title does not match the degree. A commerce graduate offered an engineering title gets questions.
- No quota. A new permit needs an electronic quota on the company file, which only the employer can fix.
Tips before you accept
Keep a copy of the signed offer. Check the permit later on the work permit status check. Your employer may not hold your passport, as confiscation is prohibited. If you want to search for jobs in person first, a job seeker visa suits graduates better than a tourist visa. Once settled, the family visa for Indians explains bringing your spouse and children.
How it works with us
You send the job offer, your passport page and the degree details on WhatsApp or through the form on this page. A visa adviser checks the ECR status, whether the degree is attested far enough for the skill level, and what the employer still has to file. If your employer is a small company without a PRO, our team can prepare and submit the MOHRE and GDRFA steps for them and follow each one up. You get one total price, confirmed on WhatsApp before you pay. DubaiVisaDesk.com is a private visa service, not MOHRE, GDRFA or ICP, and those authorities decide every permit.
If a permit or visa is refused, the government fees are not returned by the authorities. Before you pay, the adviser tells you in writing which part of our total, if any, comes back.
Official sources
- MEA on emigration for employment: ECR rule, the 17 ECR countries, recruiting agent checks.
- MOHRE recruiting a worker from overseas: documents, skill levels, permit fees.
- GDRFA employment entry permit: fee, 60 days, 48 hours.
- GDRFA private sector residence permit: residence fee lines.
- u.ae labour rights: employer pays, recruitment fee ban, passports.
- Embassy of India, attestation services: Indian attestation steps.
