As of 1 October 2026: a UAE employment residency permit costs AED 320 at minimum per year, and anyone switching status inside the UAE, moving from a visit visa to a work visa without leaving the country, pays a separate AED 500 Change of Status fee. Both figures come directly from ICP’s own service page, not an HR consultant’s onboarding guide.
How is an employment visa actually issued?
Employment residency is the most common entry point into the UAE for working expats, and it sits apart from the other ICP residence categories in how tightly it is tied to labour regulation rather than wealth, property or a specific achievement.
ICP routes this through two separate channels depending on the role. Most private-sector and MOHRE-regulated jobs go through what ICP calls the Work Bundle, tied to a Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation work permit. Domestic workers go through a separate Domestic Workers Package instead, sponsored either by a UAE national or a foreign resident already living in the country.
What does it actually cost?
The standard fee structure runs:
- Application fee: AED 100
- Issuance fee, per year of residence: AED 100
- Smart Service fee: AED 100
- Financial security deposit fee: AED 20
That is AED 320 for a one-year permit. If a Status Adjustment is needed, a separate AED 500 applies. For domestic worker sponsorship specifically, the employer additionally pays a AED 5,000 recruitment guarantee fee for every year of issuance, a cost that does not apply to standard employment categories.
What is the Change of Status fee, and who actually needs it?
This matters most for anyone who entered the UAE on a tourist or visit visa, found a job, and now wants to formalise employment residency without the cost and disruption of a visa run abroad.
This is the detail most generic visa explainers skip. If someone already inside the UAE on one visa type needs to switch to an employment residency, after cancelling their previous permit and once the new visa is issued, or where violations need settling first, ICP lets them complete the switch without leaving the country for a flat AED 500 fee. Without this option, the standard path would require exiting the UAE and re-entering on the new visa, which costs more in time and often in money too.
What documents does the application actually need?
Which route applies depends entirely on who the sponsor is, which is why ICP splits the requirement into three distinct paths rather than asking every applicant for the same single document.
Beyond a passport and photo, ICP asks for a medical report and then one of three employment-proof routes depending on the sponsor: an employment contract or appointment decision if the sponsor is a government or semi-government entity, a MOHRE work permit if the sponsor is subject to standard Labor Relations Law or is sponsoring a domestic worker, or an employment contract plus Wage Protection System enrolment if the sponsoring entity is exempt from standard labour law or a MOHRE permit. Nationals of Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq also need a copy of their personal identification card specifically.
What is the 60-day rule for employment residency?
The same structure ICP uses across its other residence categories applies here: once the employee enters the UAE, the residency procedures need to be finalised within 60 days, and missing that window brings the standard AED 50-a-day overstay fine.
How does this connect to the rest of onboarding?
Employment residency is usually the first step in a longer sequence. Once issued, it triggers the holder’s own Emirates ID application, and the permit itself needs renewing before it lapses, covered in full in our UAE residence visa renewal guide. Anyone bringing dependents over afterward should also read our UAE family visa sponsorship guide, since that process only becomes available once the sponsor’s own employment residency is active.
What is the short version?
A standard UAE employment visa costs AED 320 at minimum per year through ICP’s Work Bundle system, with a separate AED 500 fee for anyone switching status inside the UAE rather than exiting and re-entering on the new visa. Domestic worker sponsorship carries its own additional AED 5,000-a-year recruitment guarantee, and the same 60-day entry window and AED 50 daily overstay fine apply as with every other ICP residence category.
Last updated: 1 October 2026. Primary source: ICP, Issuing Residency Permit service page.
