Licensing for nurses and doctors in the UAE
The UAE has more than one health regulator: the authority depends on the emirate where you will work. They share one set of qualification rules, so the steps look alike, but you apply to the authority of your emirate.
General information, written in our own words from the official pages linked under each step; not advice on your case. Rules, fees and processing times change: check the regulator before you apply or pay. Sources checked 26 October 2026.
The regulators
- Dubai Health Authority (DHA) (opens in new tab)
Licenses health professionals in Dubai.
- Department of Health (DOH) (opens in new tab)
Licenses health professionals in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
- Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) (opens in new tab)
Licenses health professionals in the other emirates; Sharjah also has its own health authority.
How licensing works
Find the authority for your emirate
A job in Dubai is licensed by the Dubai Health Authority, a job in Abu Dhabi by the Department of Health, and a job in most other emirates by the Ministry of Health and Prevention. Sharjah also has its own health authority. The job posting or the employer will tell you which one applies.
Source: Dubai Health Authority, Manual for Professional Assessment (Oral/CBT), 2023 (opens in new tab)
Check your title against the unified qualification requirements (PQR)
The regulators publish one shared document, the Unified Healthcare Professional Qualification Requirements (PQR), which sets the qualifications, experience and other conditions for each professional title, and the rules for moving a licence from one emirate to another.
Your position is described by category, title and specialty. Experience counts only if it was paid, licensed clinical work at full working hours: volunteering, observerships and clinical attachments do not count.
Source: Dubai Health Authority, Manual for Professional Assessment (Oral/CBT), 2023 (opens in new tab)
Have your documents verified at the source
Primary source verification means the regulator's verification provider checks your degree, licence and experience letters directly with the university, regulator or employer that issued them. Start it early: it waits on replies from those institutions.
Source: Dubai Health Authority, Manual for Professional Assessment (Oral/CBT), 2023 (opens in new tab)
Pass the assessment, unless your title is exempt
In Dubai the assessment is a computer-based test run by Prometric, an oral assessment, or both, depending on your category. The PQR exempts some professionals from it. Oral assessments are held in English, without an interpreter, and the result is a plain pass or fail.
The DHA manual allows three attempts in total under the PQR, and the DHA may cut that to one or two if the panel finds a major gap in competence. After a third failure you cannot reapply to the DHA for two years, though you may be granted one last attempt with a different UAE authority.
Source: Dubai Health Authority, Manual for Professional Assessment (Oral/CBT), 2023 (opens in new tab)
Registration first, then the licence through your employer
Passing gives you a DHA registration: proof that you are eligible for the position. It becomes a licence to practise only when a hiring facility activates it, so the employer completes the last step. The DHA manual says the registration stays valid for one year from the result date.
Source: Dubai Health Authority, Manual for Professional Assessment (Oral/CBT), 2023 (opens in new tab)
Questions
- Does a licence from one emirate let me work in another?
- Not by itself. The unified PQR sets the rules for transferring a licence between the UAE authorities, but you still apply to the authority of the new emirate.
- Where do I apply in Dubai?
- Through Sheryan, the DHA's online licensing system. Abu Dhabi and the federal ministry have their own systems: start on the authority's website.
- How much does it cost and how long does it take?
- We don't quote fees or processing times: they change and depend on your title. The authority's own service pages are the authority on both. The DHA manual does say that exam fees are not refunded if you cancel or miss the exam.