SIGNALWho Pays UAE Visa and Recruitment Fees: Employer or Worker?
A genuine UAE employer should not make you buy your own job.
Article 6 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 says an employer is prohibited from charging a worker recruitment and employment fees, directly or indirectly. The UAE Government's worker guidance also says the employer covers recruitment and deployment costs, including entry-visa and post-arrival processing costs.
What a payment request can look like
Scammers rarely call it a “recruitment fee” directly. Watch for:
- visa deposit or refundable security payment;
- paid background check or security clearance;
- agency registration fee before an interview;
- payment to release a job offer or appointment letter;
- “ATS score,” document-attestation or courier payment;
- commission demanded from you after a job portal application.
The UAE Government says job portals may offer optional paid services, but a candidate who lands a job through a portal is not required to pay a commission to the recruiting company or portal operator.
What to do before paying anything
- Stop the conversation long enough to verify the employer independently.
- Compare the sender's domain with the company website.
- Ask for the formal offer and the transaction details needed for MOHRE verification.
- Call the employer through a number published on its own website.
- Keep screenshots, invoices, bank details and email headers.
Start with official-source UAE jobs and read how to verify a UAE job offer.
Work-permit fees are not a licence to charge candidates
The official work-permit page lists government fees that vary by company classification. Those are employer-side process costs. The same official system also requires a valid work permit before a person works in the UAE. Do not confuse a government fee schedule with permission for an intermediary to collect money from a candidate.
If you already paid
Do not send a second payment to “recover” the first one. Contact your bank or payment provider quickly, preserve all evidence, and report the suspected fraud through official UAE channels. You can also submit the pattern to Signal's scam report form without publishing sensitive identity documents.
Sources
Quick answers
Can a UAE employer charge a worker recruitment fees?
Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 prohibits an employer from charging a worker recruitment and employment fees, directly or indirectly.
Should I pay a visa deposit to get a UAE job?
Treat a visa deposit or recruitment payment as a serious scam signal. Pause, keep the evidence and verify the offer through official channels before sending money.
Are all UAE employment costs identical?
No. Government work-permit fees can vary by company classification and service. That does not turn a candidate into the payer of recruitment and employment costs.