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🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates · Doctors from the Philippines

How to work as a doctor in the UAE from the Philippines

A doctor from the Philippines gets a DHA licence in 12 steps over about 5 months on the main route, with AED 1,235 + US$280 in published fees, and one thing is different from the Philippines: the Department of Migrant Workers' Overseas Employment Certificate.

Checked 23 Oct 2026 · DHA ↗

What is different from the Philippines

If your passport is from the Philippines

What do I need from the Department of Migrant Workers?

A DMW (formerly POEA) clearance and an Overseas Employment Certificate, valid 60 days from issue and used once.

Direct hiring is prohibited except by the diplomatic corps, international organisations and senior government officials, and by others the administration allows, including employers of professionals and skilled workers on verified contracts above POEA standards (no more than five first-time hires) and relatives who are permanent residents of the host country.

Your steps, in order

General Practitioner licence (Unified PQR) · Dubai Health Authority · ~5 months · 12 steps
  1. 1
    Medical degree of at least five years (excluding the internship) from a recognised, accredited medical school
    Source ↗
  2. 2
    Confirm your medical school is listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools (search.wdoms.org)
    Source ↗
  3. 3
    Valid licence or registration to practise in your home country or country of last employment
    Source ↗
  4. 4
    One-year internship after graduation (or two extra years of experience without one)
    Source ↗
  5. 5
    Two years of clinical experience after the internship in an accepted specialty (medicine, surgery, paediatrics, obstetrics, emergency, family medicine, cardiology or critical care)
    Source ↗
  6. 6
    No gap of practice longer than five years
    Source ↗
  7. 7
    Primary source verification of your degree, specialty certificate, home registration and experience (DataFlow)
    ~5 weeks · ~AED 1,235 · who pays varies · Source ↗
  8. 8
    Pass DHA's General Practice exam at a Prometric centre (USD 280; 150 questions in three hours, pass score 60%; three attempts across all UAE authorities), unless an accepted international exam exempts you
    ~AED 1,030 · who pays varies · Source ↗
  9. 9
    Certificate of good standing issued within the last six months by the regulator of the country of last employment
    you pay · Source ↗
  10. 10
    Overseas Employment Certificate from the Department of Migrant Workers, through a DMW-licensed recruitment agency or an employer the DMW allows to hire directly (Filipino workers)
    who pays varies · Source ↗
  11. 11
    Apply to DHA to Get Registered once DataFlow and the exam are done (five working days; registration valid one year)
    ~1 week · who pays varies · Source ↗
  12. 12
    A licensed facility activates your licence (a job offer is needed to practise)
    who pays varies · Source ↗

The published fees leave out certificates from home, the visa or work permit and one step whose fee is not published.

Other routes

The Department of Migrant Workers' Overseas Employment Certificate applies on each of them too.

Every step on every route →

What to do next

Tell us about your training, your registration and your experience, and we show which of DHA's steps you have left, with each fee and how long it takes.

Sources

outcomeOS describes each regulator's published rules; it does not advise on your individual case. · What changed · Privacy · Terms

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