UAE Work Permit Degree Requirements | MOHRE Document Checks
Check MOHRE's skill-level qualification requirements and separate degree translation, attestation and recognition before preparing your work permit documents.
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We provide document translation only. We do not provide attestation services. For official attestation or application requirements, contact the relevant authority.
The degree you need depends on the permit service and the job’s skill level. A work permit, degree attestation, qualification recognition and professional licence are different checks. Completing one does not establish that the others are satisfied.
Start with the employer’s actual document request. If it asks for translation, confirm the target language and certification before paying. If your degree is already in English, confirm whether the recipient requests a translation before ordering. Do not assume English is accepted for every application.
MOHRE’s published academic requirements
The MOHRE overseas work-permit service is for establishments recruiting or employing a worker from outside the UAE. Its academic-certificate checklist sets out these qualification levels:
| Skill level on this service | Academic qualification listed |
|---|---|
| 1 and 2 | Bachelor’s degree or higher |
| 3 and 4 | Diploma or higher |
| 5 | High-school certificate |
| 6 to 9 | No academic certificate required on this service card |
The certificate must be clear and bear the employee’s name. The service also lists a professional licence for occupations that require one. These academic rows are not the whole work-permit checklist and do not guarantee approval.
Ask HR or the establishment’s authorised representative for the permit service, occupation and skill level being used. Do not choose a degree requirement from a salary-band table or assume this overseas-service checklist governs every free-zone, residency or professional-licensing application.
Bachelor’s degrees, postgraduate awards and diplomas
A bachelor’s degree or higher meets the qualification level named for skill levels 1 and 2 on this service card; that does not certify a particular award, institution or applicant. Likewise, the diploma row does not establish that every short course or professional certificate counts as a diploma.
If the employer asks for a master’s or doctoral award, ask whether it also needs the earlier degree or transcript. Do not buy translations of all your qualifications merely because you hold them. Our degree certificate translation service covers the document you actually need translated; transcript translation is a separate document request.
Professional qualifications and regulated roles
MOHRE’s checklist identifies professional licences separately from academic certificates, including examples such as doctors, nurses, teachers and advocates. A professional certification is not automatically a substitute for the required academic award or licence.
For a regulated occupation, ask the relevant licensing body and employer which credentials are required. A degree translation does not confer permission to practise, determine a job classification or establish recognition of the institution.
Does the degree need Arabic translation?
The public academic checklist for the overseas-permit service does not specify a universal translation language. That silence is not an English exemption or an Arabic mandate. The useful question is what the establishment needs for your named application and document.
Before ordering, confirm:
- The document: final degree, diploma, transcript, professional certificate or another named item.
- The recipient and stage: MOHRE work-permit submission, MoFA attestation, a recognition partner, the Ministry’s recognition stage or a professional regulator.
- The language: whether the original can be used, or which target language is requested.
- Certification and attachments: the required translator certification, and whether the original, reverse side, stamps or supporting pages must accompany it.
If the instruction is unclear, ask the establishment to obtain clarification from the receiving authority. We can quote for the requested translation once its scope is clear; we cannot decide which language an authority must accept.
MoFA attestation is a separate requirement
MoFA’s attestation service describes attestation as authenticating signatures and seals. For its courier-attestation route, the requirements include an original in Arabic or English, or a legally certified translation, relevant competent-authority certification or attestation where applicable, and an unlaminated document.
This establishes that route’s document preparation rule. It does not establish the language required for every MOHRE permit or Ministry recognition application.
For a document issued abroad, check the instructions of the relevant UAE mission and the competent authorities handling the document. The issuing country, document and translation route matter. Do not treat “translate first” or “attest first” as a universal sequence, or assume an issuing-country authentication step completes every UAE requirement. Use our attestation guidance to identify questions for the authorities; OnlineTranslation.ae provides translation, not attestation or application handling.
Verification and Ministry recognition are different stages
In May 2025, MOHRE and MoHESR announced integrated academic verification for private-sector employers and workers with overseas qualifications at skill levels 1 to 4. The announcement does not tell every applicant to purchase a separate recognition report or establish a universal translation requirement. Ask the employer which step the current permit workflow requires.
The Ministry’s qualification-recognition entry page distinguishes partner verification from the subsequent Ministry recognition application. A partner verification result should not be described as the final Ministry recognition report.
What DataFlow’s document guidance actually says
For its MoHESR verification service, DataFlow’s guidance asks for the final degree and a transcript or marksheet covering the study period. It permits English or Arabic documents; originals in another language need a legal translation into one of those languages.
Its guidance also specifies translation-provider requirements and additional authentication conditions: a translation obtained in the country of study must have UAE MoFA attestation; for an applicant outside the UAE, it calls for translation attestation by the UAE embassy or consulate in the country of residence. Check the complete provider instructions for the route you use before commissioning work.
These are DataFlow verification-stage instructions. They do not settle the language requirement for every later Ministry Stage 2 application. For an already verified English degree and transcript, we have not established a universal Ministry Stage 2 Arabic requirement or English exemption. Follow the current Ministry checklist or written request for that application.
Institution recognition, online study and foreign qualifications
The Ministry’s published recognition-system update identifies qualification authenticity and the awarding institution’s legal establishment, licensing and home-country accreditation as key conditions.
Do not infer acceptance from a country name, a course title or a translation stamp. For online, distance, overseas-campus or other non-standard study arrangements, provide the actual study details when requesting the relevant authority’s assessment. We do not determine academic recognition or promise that translation will resolve an eligibility issue.
If the application reports a missing document or upload error
MOHRE’s overseas-permit service says shortfalls are reported to the establishment for completion. Ask for the exact notice and attachment field. A missing educational certificate, a file-format error and a request for translation are different problems.
- Read the current field’s accepted file types, size limits and page instructions.
- Confirm the intended document is attached in the correct field and all required pages are readable.
- Check names against the source documents. If they differ, ask what supporting evidence or correction the recipient needs; a translator should not silently change the original record.
- If the error persists, the establishment should use MOHRE’s official support route with the notice and relevant screen details.
Do not assume converting a PDF to an image, adding OCR or buying another translation will solve the problem. A published manual may depict an older interface; its attachment limits should not replace the instructions on the current application. Follow any deadline in the actual notice rather than an assumed universal cancellation period.
Arrange only the translation you need
If translation is requested, send us:
- The degree or other document, including the pages and stamps the recipient requires.
- Its issuing country and original language.
- The recipient’s target-language and certification instructions.
- The passport-name spelling to use when transliteration is needed, while preserving the source document’s content.
- Your requested delivery date, so we can confirm availability and the quote.
We provide document translation. The employer, issuing institution and receiving authority remain responsible for their application, verification and acceptance decisions. For a translation quote, view pricing or send the document and translation request on WhatsApp.