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How to work as a nurse in the UAE from India

A nurse from India gets a DHA licence in 10 steps over about 5 months on the main route, with AED 1,135 + US$240 in published fees, and one thing is different from India: emigration clearance through eMigrate.

Checked 23 Oct 2026 · DHA ↗

What is different from India

If your passport is from India

Do I need emigration clearance?

Yes. Since 31 May 2015 Indian nurses need emigration clearance (eMigrate) for employment in the 18 ECR countries, whatever their passport endorsement.

Recruitment of nurses for overseas employment is restricted to state-run recruiting agencies (MEA names NORKA Roots and ODEPC in Kerala and the Overseas Manpower Corporation in Tamil Nadu; the current list of authorised agencies is to be verified).

ECR countries list: where Indian nurses need emigration clearance →

Your steps, in order

Registered Nurse licence (Unified PQR) · Dubai Health Authority · ~5 months · 10 steps
  1. 1
    Valid licence or registration to practise in your home country or country of last employment
    Source ↗
  2. 2
    Bachelor's degree in nursing of at least three years full-time, with the transcript; no distance or correspondence qualifications
    Source ↗
  3. 3
    No gap of practice longer than five years
    Source ↗
  4. 4
    Primary source verification of your qualification, home registration and experience (DataFlow)
    ~5 weeks · ~AED 935 · who pays varies · Source ↗
  5. 5
    Pass DHA's nursing exam at a Prometric centre (USD 240; 150 questions in three hours, pass score 50%; three attempts across all UAE authorities)
    ~AED 880 · who pays varies · Source ↗
  6. 6
    Valid Basic Life Support (BLS) certificate
    you pay · Source ↗
  7. 7
    Certificate of good standing issued within the last six months by the regulator of the country of last employment
    you pay · Source ↗
  8. 8
    Emigration clearance through eMigrate, recruited only through a government agency (Indian nurses)
    you pay · Source ↗
  9. 9
    Apply to DHA to Get Registered once DataFlow and the exam are done (decision in five working days)
    ~1 week · ~AED 200 · who pays varies · Source ↗
  10. 10
    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

Emigration clearance through eMigrate 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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