Offer Letter UAE: MOHRE Offer Letter and Company Sample

In the UAE a job offer usually arrives twice. First, many companies send their own offer letter to confirm the salary and the start date. Then comes the offer that matters legally: the job offer issued through the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE), which you sign before the employer can apply for your work permit and which becomes your employment contract. This page explains both, shows how to check a MOHRE offer online, and gives an editable sample of the company letter.

What the MOHRE offer letter is

The UAE Government portal is direct about it: if you are offered a job in the UAE, you must get an offer letter issued by MOHRE and signed by the authorised manager. The job offer describes the rights and obligations of both sides under the Labour Law and the terms of employment, and it comes with an annex that outlines the main provisions of the Labour Law.

Offers and contracts follow the standard forms approved by the Ministry. The offer is issued in Arabic and English, and since 2016 a third language can be added at the worker’s request, chosen from Bengali, Chinese, Dari, Hindi, Malayalam, Nepalese, Sinhalese, Tamil and Urdu. For the contract itself, the law requires Arabic plus a language the worker understands, and the Arabic text prevails in a dispute.

How the offer letter moves, step by step

1. The employer signs the job offer electronically and sends it to you, directly, through a recruitment agency or through another designated entity.
2. You review and sign it. If you are already in the UAE, you sign it before the employer applies for approval to employ you.
3. The signed offer is attached to the application for initial work permit approval. That approval is what allows you to enter the UAE for the job.
4. The employer sends you an electronic entry permit for employment.
5. After you arrive, both sides sign, and the document is registered with MOHRE as your employment contract. It must be submitted within 14 days of your arrival, or of your change of status if you were already in the country.
6. The work permit and the residence visa follow. The official order is: job offer, employment contract, work permit, work visa.

A visit or tourist visa does not give you the right to work in the UAE, whatever an offer letter says. The steps after the offer are set out in the UAE work visa guide.

What an offer letter must contain

According to the UAE Government portal, the contract must specify the start date, the type of work, the workplace, the terms and conditions, the duration and the salary. The Labour Law’s Executive Regulation lists the details a contract includes in principle:

• the employer’s name and address, and the worker’s name, nationality and date of birth;
• the occupation, the date of joining and the place of work;
• working hours, rest days and the probation period, if there is one;
• the term of the contract and the wage as agreed, including benefits and allowances;
• the annual leave entitlement and the notice period.

The contract has to match the offer

The employer must use the approved standard contract that conforms with the job offer, although the contract may add more benefits than the offer contains. Once the contract is signed, the employer cannot change the terms of the offer unless you agree and the change is within the law. The terms of your contract must be consistent with the job offer you signed in your home country.

If the job or the salary you were promised is not provided, the portal’s advice is to contact MOHRE promptly. Keep a copy of the offer you signed: under Article 8 of the Labour Law you can prove your contract and your wage by any means of evidence. Employers must also make sure you have read and understood the offer, and giving the Ministry false information can lead to fines of up to AED 20,000.

How to check a job offer letter online

• Offer validity: use the offer’s reference number in MOHRE’s enquiry service, under application status. Our page on MOHRE enquiry services explains where the service lives.
• Contract after arrival: see how to check a UAE labour contract online.
• Entry permit: if it was issued in Dubai, verify it on the GDRFA website; for other emirates, use the ICP channels.
• The employer itself: search the company’s English and Arabic name in the National Economic Register, or follow our guide to verifying a company in Dubai.
• Questions to MOHRE: phone 009716-802-7666, email ask@mohre.gov.ae, live chat, WhatsApp 600590000, or the MOHRE app.

One more check is simple: the employer is not allowed to charge you the fees and costs of recruitment and employment, directly or indirectly (Article 6 of the Labour Law). An offer that asks you to pay for your own visa or work permit is a warning sign.

Company offer letter or MOHRE offer letter?

Company offer letter sample

For the letter a company sends before the MOHRE offer, adapt this layout on letterhead:

[Company Letterhead]
Date: [DD/MM/YYYY]

To: [Candidate Full Name]

Subject: Offer of employment for the position of [Job Title]

Dear [Candidate Name],

We are pleased to offer you the position of [Job Title] at [Company Name], based in [Emirate or Work Location], on the terms below.

Start date: [DD/MM/YYYY], or the date your work permit and visa are issued, whichever is later
Contract: fixed-term, [number] years, renewable
Monthly salary: Basic AED [amount], Housing AED [amount], Transport AED [amount], Other AED [amount], Total AED [amount]
Working hours: [number] hours per day, [number] days per week
Probation period: [number] months
Annual leave: [number] days per year
Other benefits: [visa and medical insurance provided by the employer, air ticket, other]

This offer is subject to the approval of your work permit by MOHRE, your medical fitness test and the documents we request. The official MOHRE offer letter and the labour contract will set out the same terms.

For [Company Name]
[Authorised Signatory Name], [Title]
[Signature and Company Stamp]

Accepted: [Candidate Name], [Signature], [Date]

Probation and contract term in an offer

The probation period cannot exceed six months from the start of work, you can be placed on probation only once with the same employer, and the probation counts as service if you stay (Article 9). There is no paid sick leave during probation, though the employer may grant unpaid sick leave (Article 31). Contracts are for a fixed term and renewable (Article 8). Some pages still mention a three-year maximum; the current text of the law does not set one. If you resign during probation, the notice rules are in our resignation letter guide.

Free zones, DIFC and ADGM

In free zones, work permits and residence visas are applied for through the free zone authority, and each authority runs its own process. DMCC, for example, asks for a signed, system-generated offer letter at the entry permit stage, and the contract is signed electronically. The two financial free zones have their own employment laws: in DIFC the employer must give a written contract in English within seven days of the start of employment, and in ADGM the contract must be in writing, in English, signed by both sides.

Related documents

When you need proof of income later, use the salary certificate format. At the end of a job you can ask for an experience certificate, laid out in the employment certificate format. Your rights under the contract are summarised in the UAE labour law guide.