UAE employers must get workers' health insurance before applying for work permits, clarifies ministry

The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) has issued a guide clarifying the procedures currently in force for linking the issuance and renewal of certain work permits to the requirement for a valid health insurance policy, without introducing any new obligations on employers.

The new guide is limited to regulating processes already in place and automatically integrating them within the permit issuance and renewal system.

It forms part of the efforts to complete the implementation of the health insurance system for workers at private sector establishments, as well as domestic workers, and provides a clearer and more transparent regulatory framework that ensures sustainability in labour market governance, raises government service efficiency, and protects the rights of all parties in the employment relationship.

By electronically integrating work permit issuance and renewal procedures with the verification of workers' health insurance coverage, the guide streamlines compliance checks through the ministry's digital systems. This helps ensure uninterrupted health insurance coverage for workers, strengthens compliance, accelerates the completion of procedures, and simplifies processes for employers.

The guide reaffirms the procedures currently in place whereby work permits cannot be issued until verifying that a valid health insurance document has been provided to the worker, in accordance with the regulations and standards adopted by the Ministry.

The terms and conditions regulating the health insurance policy are clearly specified in the new guide, including compliance with the minimum approved coverage requirements, maintaining coverage throughout the validity of the work permit, ensuring that workers bear no part of the cost of the insurance subscription or renewal, and preventing the cancellation of the policy during the permit's validity period in a manner that would leave the worker without health insurance coverage.

The nationwide health insurance system for workers was completed at the beginning of 2025, pursuant to the Cabinet Decision mandating the inclusion of private-sector workers and domestic workers in the northern emirates. It serves to complement existing systems implemented in other emirates, ensuring that workers across all emirates are covered, providing them with a decent life and enhancing the competitiveness of the UAE labour market.

WAM