Labor Card in UAE: What It Is, How to Get One, and What It Costs

If you're starting a job in the UAE mainland, your employer has to get you a labor card before you can legally work. Most employees never see the physical card anymore — it's gone digital — but the underlying approval still matters, and the fees still get paid. Here's what the labor card in UAE actually is in 2025, who issues it, and where people get caught out.

Quick answer

A labor card in UAE is the work permit issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) that authorises a foreign national to work for a specific mainland employer. It's tied to your employment contract and your residence visa. Your employer applies, pays the fees, and the card is now stored electronically in the MOHRE system rather than printed. Standard validity is two years. Free zone employees get a different permit from their zone authority, not MOHRE.

What the labor card actually is (and isn't)

The labor card in UAE — officially the MOHRE work permit — is the document that says you're allowed to work for Employer X, in Job Title Y, under a specific contract. It's not your visa. It's not your Emirates ID. Three separate documents, three separate processes, all linked.

People mix these up constantly. Frankly, even some HR staff do.

Your residence visa lets you live in the UAE. Your Emirates ID is your civil identity. Your labor card is your permission to work. If you change jobs, the visa and ID may need updating, but the labor card has to be cancelled and reissued — there's no transferring it as-is.

Since 2022, MOHRE stopped printing physical labor cards for most categories. You can download the digital version from the MOHRE app or the employer's establishment portal. If someone asks for a "copy of your labor card," that's what they mean.

The legal basis sits in Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Employment Relations (the new FDL, which replaced the old 1980 labour law) and its Executive Regulations under Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022.[1][2]

Who applies, and in what order

Your employer applies. Not you. If a recruitment agent tells you to pay for your own labor card, that's a red flag — under Article 6 of the FDL, the employer bears all recruitment costs.

The sequence for a new hire from outside the UAE looks like this:

1. Employer gets a quota approval from MOHRE for the role.
2. Employer applies for a work permit (entry permit) — this is the pre-approval that lets you enter the UAE to start the job. Valid 60 days, single entry.
3. You enter the UAE on that permit.
4. Within 60 days: medical fitness test, Emirates ID biometrics, residence visa stamping, and the actual labor card / MOHRE work permit issuance.
5. Employment contract is signed and registered with MOHRE.

For someone already inside the UAE switching jobs, steps 1, 2, and 4 collapse into a single in-country status change.

The two-month window matters. Miss it and the entry permit lapses, and you're starting over.

Watch out: Your employment contract must be registered with MOHRE in the exact same terms as the offer letter you signed. Any discrepancy — different salary, different job title, different leave — and you have grounds to refuse to sign. Once you sign the MOHRE contract, that's the binding version.

What it costs in 2025

MOHRE fees depend on the company's classification (Category 1, 2, or 3) and the employee's skill level. Category 1 companies — those with strong Emiratisation compliance and clean records — pay the lowest fees. Category 3 pays the most.

Typical fee ranges for a two-year work permit in 2025:

• Category 1, skill levels 1–3: AED 250 for issuance
• Category 2, skill levels 1–3: AED 1,200
• Category 3: AED 3,450 and up
• Domestic workers (separate Tadbeer system): different fee structure, usually AED 500 for issuance

Add typing fees, medical test (AED 320–750 depending on emirate and speed), Emirates ID (AED 370 for two years), and visa stamping (AED 500–1,000 mainland). The full package for a mid-skilled mainland hire usually lands between AED 4,500 and AED 7,500 all-in.

Your employer pays all of it. If they deduct it from your salary, that's a violation — file a complaint via the MOHRE app or call 80060.

Renewal, cancellation, and job changes

Labor cards are valid for two years. Renewal opens 30 days before expiry and follows roughly the same process minus the entry permit — fresh medical, Emirates ID renewal, visa renewal, work permit renewal.

If you resign or get terminated, the employer must cancel the labor card. Cancellation triggers a 30-day to 6-month grace period (depending on your visa type and the cancellation reason) to find new work or leave the UAE. The new employer then applies for a fresh labor card — there's no "transfer" in the old sense since the 2016 reforms simplified mobility.

Two practical points most clients get wrong:

One: You can start the new work permit before the old one is cancelled, as long as you have a signed cancellation request and no labour ban. The "ban" concept is now narrow — under Article 13 of the FDL, MOHRE only imposes a ban in specific cases like abandoning a fixed-term contract without notice. Most resignations don't trigger one.

Two: If your employer refuses to cancel, you can file a labour complaint and MOHRE can cancel unilaterally. Don't let an employer hold your status hostage. It happens, and there's a clear remedy.

For more on ending your employment cleanly, see our guide on the employment category.

Free zone employees: different rules

If you work for a company in DIFC, ADGM, JAFZA, DMCC, DAFZA, or any of the 40-plus free zones, your work permit is issued by the free zone authority, not MOHRE. DIFC has its own employment law (DIFC Law No. 2 of 2019, the Employment Law) and ADGM has the ADGM Employment Regulations 2024.[3][4]

The document is still loosely called a "labor card" in conversation, but technically it's a free zone work permit. Fees, validity, and process differ by zone. DIFC and ADGM employees, for example, don't register contracts with MOHRE — they register with the DIFC Government Services Office or ADGM's authority directly.

One quirk: free zone employees physically working in their free zone don't need a MOHRE permit. But if you're seconded or working partly on the mainland, you may need a dual-licence arrangement or a MOHRE secondment permit. This trips up startups all the time.

Costs snapshot (2025): DIFC employee work permit + visa package runs roughly AED 5,000–7,000 for two years. JAFZA is in a similar range. DMCC tends to be slightly higher. Each zone publishes its own schedule.

Checking your labor card status

Three ways to verify your work permit is active:

• MOHRE app (iOS/Android): log in with UAE Pass, view your permit, contract, and end-of-service entitlement.
• MOHRE website (mohre.gov.ae): "Inquire about Work Permit Transactions" service, enter your passport number or permit number.
• ICP app for the visa side, which is the federal Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security Authority.

If your employer says your card is "being processed" for more than 60 days after you entered the country, ask for the transaction number and check it yourself. There's no good reason a normal permit should take that long.

A live, valid labor card is what makes your salary payments through the Wage Protection System (WPS) — the mandatory salary transfer mechanism that MOHRE monitors — possible. No card, no WPS registration, no legal salary.

What to do if something's wrong

If you suspect your labor card details are wrong (job title, salary, employer name), or if you've been working without one, you have options:

• File a complaint via the MOHRE app — there's a dedicated complaint flow.
• Call 80060 (MOHRE hotline). Arabic and English. Free.
• For free zone employees, contact your zone's employment desk first; they handle most disputes internally before escalation.
• Serious cases — unpaid wages, contract fraud, illegal deductions — go to the labour court via MOHRE referral. Claims under AED 50,000 are now handled through a fast-track process under Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022.[2]

Working without a valid labor card in UAE exposes both you and your employer to penalties. For the employer, fines start at AED 50,000 per illegal worker under Article 60 of the FDL. For you, it can mean deportation and a re-entry ban. Don't let an employer convince you to "start work while we sort the paperwork." Wait for the permit.

---

Citations

[1] Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Employment Relations, UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation. [2] Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022 on the Executive Regulations of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. [3] DIFC Employment Law, DIFC Law No. 2 of 2019 (as amended). [4] ADGM Employment Regulations 2024. [5] MOHRE published fee schedule, mohre.gov.ae (2025).

Need this checked for your situation? Talk to a UAE-licensed lawyer →