How to Hire Domestic Staff in the UAE: Tadbeer, Costs & Visas

Quick answer

Every domestic worker's UAE visa runs through a MOHRE-licensed Tadbeer center, whether you hire via an agency, via Tadbeer directly, or find your own candidate on a platform like ChooseMaid. Direct sponsorship needs a minimum combined monthly household income, commonly cited as AED 25,000+ for expatriate sponsors, though the exact figure should be confirmed with a Tadbeer center or GDRFA.

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12 articles in Hiring, Visas & Costs.

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A growing set of articles covering the practical side of hiring: what an agency fee actually costs versus a platform like ChooseMaid, visa and sponsorship basics, salary ranges by role, and step-by-step guides for first-time hirers across every emirate.

Tadbeer: what it is and what it costs

Tadbeer is the MOHRE-licensed center system that legally processes every domestic worker's UAE visa, contract, and sponsorship — whether you found the candidate through an agency, through Tadbeer itself, or directly on a platform like ChooseMaid. You cannot skip Tadbeer for the visa step even when you skip the agency for the hiring step.

A Tadbeer maid visa is bundled with the center's own recruitment/sponsorship service and typically costs more than sponsoring a maid you've already found yourself, since it includes Tadbeer's placement fee on top of the standard visa costs. For the full line-by-line breakdown — service fee, employment visa, medical test, Emirates ID, insurance — see Tadbeer Maid Visa Cost in Dubai.

A Tadbeer visa processed fully through the center suits households that want the center to also find and vet the candidate. Direct sponsorship — where you find the maid yourself, on ChooseMaid or elsewhere, and use Tadbeer only for the paperwork — is typically the lower-cost route, provided you meet the income threshold below.

Maid visa sponsorship in Dubai: the AED 25,000 rule

To sponsor a maid's visa directly, UAE expats commonly need AED 25,000 combined monthly household income — the figure most consistently reported for expatriate sponsors. Some sources cite a lower threshold, commonly AED 10,000, for UAE national sponsors specifically; neither figure is published on a single official MOHRE/GDRFA page, so confirm your exact threshold with a Tadbeer center or GDRFA before applying. Below whichever threshold applies to you, sponsorship typically runs through a Tadbeer center instead, which can both source a candidate and process the paperwork in one package.

How much does hiring a maid cost in the UAE in 2026?

A full-time maid in Dubai costs AED 1,300–2,500 per month in salary in 2026, depending on nationality and experience. On top of salary, employers budget for the visa, medical, Emirates ID, and health insurance — see the full Tadbeer visa cost breakdown linked above. African-corridor nationalities start lowest; experienced Filipino maids sit highest. *Source: GCC Domestic 2026 salary guide; MOHRE.*

Can I hire a maid in Dubai without an agency?

Yes — you can hire a maid directly in the UAE with no agency fee, but the visa must still be processed through a licensed Tadbeer center, which handles the sponsorship and contract side even when you find the candidate yourself.

Agency vs. Tadbeer vs. ChooseMaid: comparing the hiring routes

Three routes exist for finding domestic staff in the UAE, and they solve different problems — cost, vetting, and visa handling aren't bundled the same way in each:

Recruitment agency

the agency sources and vets the candidate for you, but charges a commission on top of salary and visa costs — often the most expensive route, and you're dependent on their shortlist.

Tadbeer directly

the center both finds/vets a candidate and processes the visa in one package — convenient if you have no candidate in mind, but typically the priciest per-hire since Tadbeer's own placement fee is bundled in.

A direct-hire platform like ChooseMaid

you browse and interview verified candidates yourself, pay a one-time access fee instead of a commission, and use Tadbeer separately only for the legally required visa paperwork — this splits sourcing (cheap, yours to control) from sponsorship (fixed cost regardless of route).

None of these routes let you skip Tadbeer entirely if visa sponsorship is required — the difference is only in how you find the candidate, not in the legal visa process itself.

Common mistakes when budgeting for a domestic hire

Forgetting the visa is separate from the salary

Households often quote only the monthly wage and are surprised by the up-front visa, medical, and insurance costs.

Assuming every candidate needs new sponsorship

Many maids, nannies, cooks, and drivers already hold a valid UAE visa under a previous employer or their own sponsorship — hiring one of these avoids new visa costs entirely.

Skipping the legal-duties checklist

Rest hours, WPS payment timing, and leave entitlements aren't optional extras — non-compliance creates real legal and financial risk (see the section below).

Not confirming the gratuity formula in writing

Since the statutory formula isn't finalized under current law, put the agreed calculation in the contract rather than assuming it'll match a figure you read online.

Employer legal duties under UAE domestic worker law

Every employer of a maid, nanny, cook, or driver in the UAE is bound by Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 Concerning Domestic Workers (amended by Decree-Law No. 21 of 2023) — regardless of nationality, sponsorship route, or whether the worker is live-in or live-out. These aren't best-practice suggestions; they're the statutory floor an employer is expected to meet from the first day of employment. The legal minimums:

Daily rest hours. At least 12 hours of rest per day, of which at least 8 hours must be consecutive — this is the statutory floor, not a guideline. Rest hours apply the same way to a live-in worker as a live-out one; residing in the home doesn't reduce the entitlement or make the hours harder to track in practice, since the working day still has to be bounded.
One paid day off per week. If the worker is asked to work on their rest day, the employer must give an alternate day off or pay cash compensation in lieu — an employer can't simply skip the day off without one of those two remedies in its place.
30 days paid annual leave. Workers with 6–12 months of service accrue leave at 2 days per month; the employer covers the return flight if leave is spent in the worker's home country. Leave doesn't need to be taken in a single block, but the accrual itself isn't discretionary once the qualifying period is met.
Salary paid on time, every month. Domestic worker categories covered by the Wage Protection System (WPS) must be paid electronically and on schedule — MOHRE tightened the private-sector WPS deadline to the 2nd of each Gregorian month under Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026 (previously a 15-day grace period applied). Confirm with your Tadbeer center whether your worker's category is currently WPS-mandated, since coverage has been expanding role by role, and a category that wasn't covered last year may be covered now.
End-of-service gratuity. Decree-Law 9/2022 doesn't fix a statutory formula and leaves the final calculation to a future Cabinet decision — in practice, employers and Tadbeer centers still use the customary 14 days' wage per year of service as the reference figure. Treat this as the market standard, not a guaranteed legal minimum, and confirm the current calculation before finalizing a contract; put the agreed formula in writing rather than relying on an assumption that it will match whatever figure you've seen quoted elsewhere.
Mandatory health insurance, paid for by the employer, for the full duration of employment — this needs to be arranged before visa stamping, not added afterward, since insurance coverage is typically a required step in the visa process itself.
Annual flight home, employer-paid, as part of the annual leave entitlement, specifically when leave is spent in the worker's home country.
A registered employment contract. The relationship must be documented using the MOHRE Unified Standard Employment Contract and registered with MOHRE before the worker begins — a verbal-only agreement isn't legally recognized, regardless of how informal the hiring route felt.

Non-compliance is enforced by MOHRE and can result in fines, contract disputes, or a block on future visa sponsorship — so these aren't "nice to have" HR practices, they're baseline legal obligations before you hire anyone under this law. This applies identically whether you found the candidate through an agency, through Tadbeer directly, or on a direct-hire platform like ChooseMaid — the hiring route changes how you find someone, not what you owe them once they're employed. *Always confirm the current gratuity formula and WPS category rules directly with MOHRE or a licensed Tadbeer center, since both are subject to Cabinet and Ministerial updates.*

Golden Visa holders: a different set of rules

UAE Golden Visa holders are generally exempt from the AED 25,000 monthly income threshold that applies to standard residence-visa sponsors — they're assessed on overall financial solvency instead, using the same evidence base as the Golden Visa application itself. Golden Visa holders can also sponsor multiple domestic workers without the per-worker restrictions that apply to standard sponsors, and in some cases the visa validity period aligns with the longer Golden Visa term rather than the standard renewal cycle. If you hold a Golden Visa, confirm your specific entitlements with a Tadbeer center directly, since the standard-sponsor rules described elsewhere on this page don't apply to you in the same way.

Documents checklist before you start

Having the right paperwork ready before you approach a Tadbeer center or begin the sponsorship process avoids the most common delays:

Sponsor documents: passport copy, Emirates ID, salary certificate or bank statements showing income, and an Ejari-registered tenancy contract (most sponsorship routes require accommodation with at least two bedrooms).
Domestic worker documents: valid passport (typically with at least six months' validity remaining), passport-sized photos, and — depending on nationality and prior work history — a police clearance certificate from the home country.
Signed employment contract, using the MOHRE Unified Standard Employment Contract — a verbal agreement isn't legally recognized, and the contract must be registered with MOHRE before the worker begins.
Medical insurance arrangement, confirmed before visa stamping since it's a mandatory step in the process, not an optional add-on.

Missing or outdated documents are the single most common reason a Tadbeer application stalls — confirm the current checklist with your chosen Tadbeer center before your appointment, since requirements are occasionally updated.

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