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Velarozone

For employers building a team in the UAE

Hiring your first employees in the UAE

The short answer

A UAE company hires by sponsoring the employee, which takes a work permit from MOHRE (mainland) or the free-zone authority, an entry permit or status change from the immigration authority, a signed labour contract, a medical test, Emirates ID and a residence visa. The company needs a valid establishment card first, and its premises set how many people it may sponsor. Where the jurisdiction requires it, salary is then paid through the Wage Protection System.

Hiring in the UAE is a sponsorship. The company sponsors the employee's residence, which means the company's immigration and labour files must exist and be in good standing before the first permit is applied for, and the number of employees it may sponsor is set by the jurisdiction from the premises it leases. A mainland company works through the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and the immigration authority; a free-zone company works through its zone's authority, which issues the permit and the visa under its own rules.

The contract is the second half, and the visa and PRO service runs it with the permits. The authority prescribes the form of the labour contract and the terms it must contain, the employee's salary is declared on it, and in most jurisdictions that salary must then be paid through the wage-protection arrangement the authority monitors. Getting the contract, the declared salary and the payroll to agree from the first month is what keeps the labour file clean at renewal.

This is for you if

  • Your licence is issued and the first offer is about to go out, so the quota and the establishment card need checking before it does.
  • You are recruiting from abroad, and the entry permit, medical test and Emirates ID must fit around the flight and the start date.
  • You want the labour contract, the declared salary and the first payroll file to match from the first month.
  • You want visa renewals, labour file dates and the licence renewal on one calendar, so that none lapses unnoticed.

This may not be the right route if

  • You want to engage someone without sponsoring them, such as a freelancer working under their own permit. That is a different arrangement.
  • You expect a promised decision date or processing time. The authorities set both, and we cannot guarantee either.
  • The company has no leased premises and no quota, and you would rather not settle that before the first offer.

At a glance

Indicative cost
Government, medical and Emirates ID fees are charged as the authority sets them; the Velarozone service fee per hire is itemised in your engagement letter.
Timing
A quota check before the offer; permits, medical and visa in the authority's sequence; we report by stage, never against one date.
What's included
  • The quota confirmed against the premises first
  • Permits, contracts, medicals and visas per hire
  • Renewals and cancellations on the licence's calendar

What this service includes

  • A quota check against the premises before the first offer is made.
  • Work permits, entry permits, medical tests, Emirates ID and residence visas prepared, lodged and followed for each hire.
  • Labour contracts prepared in the prescribed form, with the declared salary that the payroll will match.
  • Wage-protection registration and the labour file set up where the jurisdiction requires them.
  • Renewals, amendments and cancellations held on the same calendar as the licence.

What it does not include

  • The authorities' decisions, criteria or processing times.
  • Employment-law advice on a dispute or a termination, which comes from a licensed law firm.
  • Running the payroll itself, which is the accounting service's scope where you engage it.
  • Government, medical and Emirates ID fees, which are charged as the authority sets them.

Process

How the work is sequenced

Each stage has its own dependencies (activity approvals, document legalisation, authority processing, and bank review), and we report progress against them rather than against one overall date.

  1. 01

    Quota and file

    Headcount confirmed against the premises; labour and immigration files in good standing.

  2. 02

    Permit and entry

    Work permit and entry permit applied for; the employee's travel arranged around them.

  3. 03

    Contract and medical

    Contract signed in the prescribed form; medical test and Emirates ID done.

The full sequence, stage by stage

Hiring people who will work under their own permits instead? That is a different arrangement, and we say so first.

Prefer to start in writing? Send the details through the contact form.

Start with a structure assessment

In an initial consultation you receive a plain-language decision summary, a document-preparation list, and the next actions for your situation. Current figures are confirmed within your adviser-reviewed route comparison.

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What a hire needs

The steps behind one employee

The order is the authority's; what we control is that each step is ready when the one before it finishes.

The steps to employ one person in the UAE, and who decides each.

  • Quota

    What happens
    The company's permitted headcount, from its premises and jurisdiction
    Who decides
    The licensing or free-zone authority

  • Work permit

    What happens
    Permission to employ this person in this role
    Who decides
    MOHRE or the free-zone authority

  • Entry permit

    What happens
    The employee's permission to enter or change status
    Who decides
    The immigration authority

  • Contract

    What happens
    The prescribed labour contract with the declared salary
    Who decides
    The authority's form; signed by both

  • Medical and Emirates ID

    What happens
    The test and the identity card
    Who decides
    The health and identity authorities

  • Residence visa

    What happens
    Issued for the authority's term; the labour file updated
    Who decides
    The immigration authority

  • Payroll

    What happens
    Salary paid through the wage-protection arrangement where required
    Who decides
    The authority's rules; run by you or your accountant

The service

Visas and PRO services

The service page sets out the visa and PRO work for owners, staff and family, and what stays with the authority.

See the visas and PRO service
Modern Dubai office meeting room overlooking the city skyline

Every route is planned against how the business will actually operate in the UAE.

Licence and approvals

Two questions employers ask about the quota

How many people a company may sponsor is decided by its premises and its file before anyone is hired.

Do I need an office to get a visa?

Whether a desk package carries a visa allocation, and how many.

What is an establishment card and do I need one?

The immigration file every work permit is issued against.

After the licence

What you may also need

The four services most founders in this situation ask about next, each on its own page.

Next decision

Related reading

Visas and PRO services

Establishment card and e-channel

Legal services

Questions

Frequently asked

How many people can I hire?
Only as many as the company's quota allows. The quota follows from the premises and the jurisdiction, and a flexi-desk supports fewer sponsored employees than a leased office. We check it against your premises before you make an offer, because a permit cannot be applied for beyond it.
Can an employee start before the visa is issued?
No one should start work before the work permit is in place. Starting earlier is a breach for the company, not just the employee. We sequence the start date to the permits. Where the person is already in the UAE, a change of status inside the country avoids a fresh entry from abroad.
Do I have to pay salaries through the wage-protection system?
On the mainland, yes: salary is paid through the Wage Protection System, which MOHRE monitors. Some free zones apply it and others run their own arrangements, so we confirm what your zone requires. The contract, the declared salary and the payroll should agree from the first month, because a mismatch is what the system flags.
What does the employee need to bring?
A passport with the validity the authority requires, photographs, and the attested qualifications the role's permit calls for. We give each hire a checklist before their paperwork starts.
What happens when someone leaves?
The visa is cancelled, the labour file updated and the end-of-service entitlements settled under the contract and the law. The cancellation is part of the same service; the entitlements are calculated with your accountant and, where disputed, advised by a law firm.

Sources

Regulations, fees, and eligibility can change. Every regulatory statement is re-checked before publication and dated above.

Legal notes and scope

Velarozone provides setup and operational-readiness coordination. This page is general information, not legal, tax, immigration, or banking advice.

General information drawn from the CBUAE Rulebook, including the Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes Regulation (C 15/2021), and Cabinet Resolution No. (134) of 2025 as published, not legal or tax advice. Rules and guidance change, so confirm the current text and each institution's own requirements before you submit.

ICP and the emirate's immigration authority decide green residence applications, renewals and cancellations. MOHRE decides freelance and self-employment permits, and the licensing authority decides company licences. We prepare and coordinate the filings; we do not decide them and cannot promise an outcome.

Employment matters such as a dispute, a termination or a claim are legal matters, advised by a licensed law firm under its own engagement. Velarozone prepares and coordinates permits, visas and files and does not give legal advice.