MOHRE Offer Letter Translation: What Employers and Employees Actually Need

Your new employee arrived from abroad. MOHRE’s work permit application is sitting in the queue. HR flagged that the offer letter needs an Arabic translation — but now the question is whether you need the full contract translated, just specific clauses, or whether the bilingual SEC already covers you.

This is one of those questions where getting it wrong costs time and sometimes the entire permit application.

What MOHRE Actually Uses

MOHRE operates on the Standard Employment Contract (SEC) — a bilingual template with Arabic on the left column and English on the right. When an employer uses only the SEC, no separate translation is needed. The Arabic is already there.

The problem starts when employers layer on top of the SEC. Separate offer letters. Salary adjustment addenda. Probation terms. NDA clauses. Anything outside the SEC template that exists only in English is invisible to MOHRE’s Arabic-side processing.

For work permit applications, MOHRE’s systems expect Arabic documentation. For labour complaints and ILOE (Involuntary Loss of Employment) insurance claims, Arabic is non-negotiable.

The Four Situations That Require Translation

1. Offer letter with terms beyond the SEC

If the offer letter specifies allowances, benefits, or conditions beyond what the SEC captures — housing, transport, performance bonuses — that addendum needs Arabic translation. MOHRE reviewers working the Arabic side of the application will flag the gap.

2. ILOE insurance claim documentation

When a worker files an ILOE claim after losing their job, MOHRE requires the full employment record in Arabic. The contract, the termination notice, supporting correspondence — all of it. We’ve processed hundreds of these. An English-only contract submitted to an ILOE claim is kicked back within 24 hours.

3. Labour dispute submissions

A dispute that reaches MOHRE’s complaint department or escalates to the Labour Court operates in Arabic. If your strongest piece of evidence — the contract clause that was breached — exists only in English, the Arabic-language proceedings will treat it as uncorroborated.

We’ve seen workers win on principle but lose the outcome because their contract evidence wasn’t in Arabic.

4. Free zone employers submitting to mainland MOHRE

DIFC and ADGM employers operating under English common law sometimes assume their contracts don’t need translation for mainland staff. When those workers file MOHRE complaints, the contracts do need Arabic versions. The free zone status of the employer doesn’t exempt the mainland MOHRE process.

What Gets Rejected

The rejections we see most often:

Separate document instead of bilingual layout. MOHRE’s expectation, particularly for work permit applications, is a bilingual contract with Arabic alongside English. Submitting a separate translated document — a clean Arabic version with the original English attached — sometimes gets rejected because the format doesn’t match the SEC bilingual structure. The fix is to format the translation as a parallel-column bilingual document, not two separate files.

Name and ID mismatches. The employee name in the Arabic translation must match the passport exactly, including middle names. A translation that renders Mohammed Al Farsi as Mohamed Alfarsi will be flagged. The passport number must also appear in the Arabic version exactly as it appears in the original.

Expired translator certification. MOJ-certified translators renew annually. A translation stamped with an expired license number is rejected automatically. We verify certification status before every submission.

Approximate figures. “Basic salary approximately AED 8,000” instead of “Basic salary AED 8,000.00.” MOHRE’s Arabic side expects exact numbers. Approximations suggest either carelessness or deliberate ambiguity — both are grounds for rejection.

The Decision Matrix: MOJ vs Certified vs Internal

The most common overpay we see: employers ordering MOJ translation for internal HR documentation they will never submit to a government entity. Save that cost for the submissions that actually require it.

Pre-Screening: What We Check Before Translating

Before we start, we review the source document for:

• Scope: Is this the full contract, an addendum, or an offer letter? Each has a different translation approach for MOHRE formatting.
• Clause completeness: Some contracts reference appendices that weren’t included. An incomplete translation of an incomplete document creates submission problems downstream.
• Format match: If the contract will be submitted alongside the SEC, we format the translation to mirror the bilingual column structure.
• Numbers and names: We flag any discrepancy between the contract’s employee details and the passport provided before starting — not after.

This takes us 10–15 minutes per document. It’s the reason we rarely see MOHRE rejections on our translations.

ILOE Claims: The Specific Requirements

For Involuntary Loss of Employment insurance claims, MOHRE requires:

1. The original employment contract — in Arabic or with MOJ-certified Arabic translation
2. The termination notice or end-of-service letter — same requirement
3. Any supporting correspondence that forms part of the claim record

If the termination was verbal or informal and no written notice exists, that documentation gap becomes the issue — not the translation. We can translate what exists; we can’t create documents that don’t.

ILOE processing times at MOHRE are typically 15–30 days. A translation error that results in a rejected submission restarts the clock.

Employer Side: Work Permit Applications

For new work permit applications, the employer’s HR or PRO typically handles the document preparation. The sequence:

1. Employer issues offer letter or executes SEC with additional terms
2. Additional terms (if any) translated to Arabic, MOJ-certified
3. Complete package submitted to MOHRE with all documents bilingual
4. MOHRE reviews the Arabic side of the application

The translation rarely delays the application if it’s prepared alongside the offer letter. Delays happen when translation is treated as an afterthought — ordered after the permit application is already submitted and the reviewer flags a missing document.

Order translation the same day you finalise the offer letter terms. Same-day turnaround means there is no reason to wait.

Send your employment contract or offer letter via WhatsApp. We review it, confirm the MOHRE format requirements for your specific submission type, and provide a time and cost before you commit.