Key Takeaways
- For an entry permit, ICP lists AED 100 for the application, AED 100 for issuance and AED 100 for the smart service. The person then has 60 days to enter the country (October 2026).
- Issuing or renewing a Dubai establishment card costs AED 200 plus 5% VAT, AED 20 in levies and an AED 50 service fee (GDRFA, October 2026).
- A mainland company only gets its work-permit quota with a valid Ta'qeem report from MOHRE, which costs about AED 406 (MOHRE service page, subject to change).
- Each free zone sets its own visa fees. At DMCC, a new two-year employment visa applied for from outside the UAE costs AED 2,972.5 (October 2026).
- Nobody publishes a single fee for the medical test, and nobody publishes a total time from application to visa in hand.
Work out the Dubai employment visa cost for one person and you'll find yourself paying several different bodies. First come the immigration authorities: the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) and, in Dubai, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA). A mainland company, meaning one based anywhere in the emirate outside a free zone, also pays the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE). A free zone company pays its zone instead. Then there's the insurer.
Agents roll all of this into one number, and that number hides which parts are government fees. This page only lists fees that an authority or a zone publishes, as of October 2026 unless another date is given. You'll have to ask the agent separately what their own service fee is.
Government fees versus agent bundles
Agents usually sell a visa at one all-in price. No authority publishes a price like that. Use this table to see the separate charges behind the Dubai employment visa fee and which body sets each one.
| Charge | Set by | Amount | Label | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry visa: application, issuance and smart service | ICP | AED 100, AED 100 and AED 100; two days; entry within 60 days | fee schedule | October 2026 |
| Emirates ID for residents | ICP | Rises with the years of residence, plus a smart-service fee; check the live fee table | fee schedule | October 2026 |
| Establishment card in Dubai | GDRFA | AED 200 plus 5% VAT, AED 20 in levies and an AED 50 service fee, to issue or renew; 48 hours | fee schedule | October 2026 |
| Ta'qeem evaluation for a mainland quota | MOHRE | about AED 406, subject to change; you need a valid report to get the quota | fee schedule | October 2026 |
| Basic health insurance package | Employer, per MOHRE | AED 320 per year | fee schedule | October 2026 |
ICP sets the federal fees. GDRFA sets the price of the establishment card in Dubai, and MOHRE sets the labour fees for mainland companies. Free zones add their own price lists on top of these.
Entry permit and Emirates ID
The entry permit lets a new employee come into the UAE to start the residence process. ICP's entry-permit page lists AED 100 each for the application, the issuance and the smart service. It takes two days, and the person must enter within 60 days (ICP, October 2026).
That page puts the fees for different visa categories in separate blocks, so make sure you read the block for your category. Some categories also need a guarantee. If the employer is registered with MOHRE, its employees go through MOHRE's Work Bundle, a single service for the work permit and residence.
Emirates ID, the identity card every resident must hold, comes after the residence permit. ICP's fee for residents goes up with the number of years of residence. If you renew late, you pay AED 20 a day, up to AED 1,000 (u.ae, February 2026).
Some zones charge for a typing service as well. DMCC, the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre free zone, lists Emirates ID typing at AED 351.40 for one year and AED 451.40 for two years. That's the zone's own service charge and is separate from the ICP fee (DMCC schedule, October 2026).
Establishment card fees by authority
A company needs an establishment card, the immigration record that lets it sponsor visas, before it can bring in any employee. A company in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), for example, needs one from GDRFA before it can sponsor staff (DIFC handbook, September 2026).
ICP's page for issuing an establishment card lists AED 100 for the application, AED 100 a year for issuance and AED 100 for smart services. It also lists AED 2,000 to subscribe to its electronic system for establishments. That page was last updated in December 2024, so check the live fee. Free zone companies don't apply to ICP directly. They go through their free zone authority.
A Dubai mainland company pays GDRFA AED 200 plus 5% VAT, AED 20 in levies and an AED 50 service fee to issue or renew the card (October 2026). Free zones set their own prices. DMCC lists AED 1,825 a year. DIFC lists USD 618, or USD 656 for the express service, plus a USD 680 sponsorship deposit, according to its September 2026 handbook.
Don't get a card for a company that isn't really trading. ICP's entry-permit page sets a fine of AED 20,000 where it's proven that the establishment is not conducting business. Its establishment card page lists the same AED 20,000 for issuing entry permits to an establishment with no business activity. For the order of the steps, see the free zone visa guide.
Mainland work permits, Ta'qeem and the quota
On the mainland, MOHRE sets your work-permit quota, the number of work permits your company may apply for. One condition is a valid Ta'qeem report, which is MOHRE's check of your business before it sets the quota. MOHRE doesn't publish a formula that links the quota to office size. In February 2026 it said quotas are now issued instantly.
MOHRE lists the Ta'qeem fee at about AED 406. Its website and app charge only government fees, and business centres may add a commission of no more than AED 72 (MOHRE, subject to change). Check the amount in the MOHRE app on the day you apply.
For a mainland employee, the work permit cost in Dubai includes a federal fee for a two-year permit. How much it is depends on your establishment's category. Before you sign a lease, ask your PRO, the person who handles your government paperwork, which category you're in and what quota you can expect. The Dubai trade licence cost page lists the mainland fees you pay before the visa stage.
Free zone visa fees are set by each zone
There's no federal formula for visa prices in the free zones. Each zone publishes its own, or publishes nothing. The table covers the zones that do print visa fees, so you can see what one visa costs in each.
| Zone | Fee | Amount | Label | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DMCC | New employment visa applied for from outside the UAE, one or two years | AED 2,237 or AED 2,972.5 | fee schedule | October 2026 |
| DMCC | New visa applied for inside the UAE, without or with a status amendment, two years | AED 3,407.5 or AED 4,220 | fee schedule | October 2026 |
| DMCC | Renewal, one or two years | AED 2,200 or AED 2,790 | fee schedule | October 2026 |
| DMCC | Extra visa quota | AED 500 per visa plus a non-refundable AED 250 application fee | fee schedule | October 2026 |
| Meydan | Investor visa, employee visa, establishment card | from AED 4,000, from AED 3,500 and from AED 2,000 | package | October 2026 |
| RAKEZ | Extra visas on the all-inclusive package | AED 4,000 each, up to three | package | October 2026 |
| UAQ FTZ | START package with one investor visa, Emirates ID, medical test and basic insurance | AED 12,500 for the whole package | package | October 2026 |
A status amendment applies when the person is already in the UAE on another visa. RAKEZ is the Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone, and UAQ FTZ is the Umm Al Quwain Free Trade Zone.
IFZA, the International Free Zone Authority, publishes no visa table on its public pages, so you only learn the number of visas from its quotation. JAFZA, the Jebel Ali Free Zone, states no visa quota rule on its public pages either. Ajman Free Zone says the quota depends on your location and that each package comes with a different number. The AFZ guide shows where to find it. The RAKEZ guide explains how RAKEZ ties the quota to desks, and the IFZA guide explains why only a quotation gives you a number.
Medical test, insurance and deposits
You can't get residence without passing the medical fitness test, yet no authority publishes a single fee for it. The price depends on the centre and how fast you want the result. Take the figure from your zone's or the centre's current list and budget for it as a separate cost.
Health insurance does have a published reference figure. Since 1 January 2025, employers in every emirate have had to provide health insurance for private-sector workers. MOHRE lists a basic package at AED 320 per year (October 2026). The residence permit can't be issued or renewed without the policy, so put it in the budget ahead of the visa.
Some price lists include deposits. DIFC takes a USD 680 sponsorship deposit. Meydan lists an AED 3,000 deposit when an investor sponsors a dependant, such as a spouse or child (Meydan calculator, October 2026). Payroll set-up and unemployment cover may cost money too. We found no published amounts for them, so ask your PRO.
Authorities only give a time for each step. The entry visa takes two days at ICP, the card 48 hours at GDRFA Dubai and Emirates ID five days. Nobody publishes a total from application to visa in hand.
Your own visa in Dubai as an owner
As an owner, you get your residence visa through your own company, which acts as your sponsor. GDRFA Dubai lists a green residence permit for investors and partners that runs for up to five years. You pay AED 200 for issuance, AED 10 plus AED 10 in dirham levies, AED 500 inside the country and AED 20 for delivery. GDRFA gives 48 hours as the processing time, and the fee goes up by AED 100 for each year beyond two (October 2026).
It isn't clear whether you need a minimum investment. GDRFA's residence permit page mentions none. Its green visa issuance page for investors and partners, though, asks for a paid share of at least AED 1,000,000. ICP's residence permit service page, with content dated 11 December 2024, gives the same AED 1,000,000 in cash or equivalent. ICP's 2026 Green Residence guide gives no figure at all. Check with ICP which rule applies to your shareholding.
Free zones set their own conditions for an owner's visa. Meydan's FAQ asks for AED 50,000 of share capital, the money the owners commit to the company, for investor and partner visas. Other zones have their own thresholds, so ask your zone which one applies to you.
A worked budget for one visa
You can only build a worked example where a zone lists each visa fee separately, as DMCC does. Take one employee at DMCC on a two-year visa applied for from outside the UAE. The visa costs AED 2,972.5, Emirates ID typing AED 451.40 and two years of basic insurance AED 640. That comes to AED 4,063.90. If the AED 1,825 establishment card is also due, the total is AED 5,888.90. These are published fees added up to show how it works, not a quote (based on the DMCC schedule and MOHRE, October 2026).
The total leaves out the medical test and any agent fee. A mainland employee goes through a different set of charges: the Ta'qeem fee, a federal work-permit fee that depends on the establishment's category, the entry visa fees and the insurance. Because the category changes the amounts, we haven't given a total.
Visa budgets tend to go wrong when steps happen in the wrong order. Someone is hired before the establishment card is active, say, or an entry permit is issued before the quota is confirmed. A PRO can plan the steps so the employee enters within the 60 days that ICP allows. To turn these fees into a full quote, see the packages guide and the cost overview.
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