The DHA licensing and Dubai recruitment process varies on each individual Doctors’ situation, training and background. However, typically we can say for tier 1 qualified Doctors the licensing process takes on average 3 months, for tier 2 or 3 qualified Doctors the process can take up to 6 months or even more due to the variances of training systems and documentation requirements of different countries, translation issues and assessment booking.

Once the doctors have received their DHA License registration we then focus on what jobs are available in the market, sometimes we will have a vacancy right away, sometimes we have to wait for the right opportunity to become available which can take a few months or longer. If we do not have any suitable vacancies with our hospital contracts once you obtain your DHA registration, we will consult you on which are the most appropriate hospitals to apply to directly. Most Dubai hospitals do their recruitment in house and they only come to recruitment agencies as a last resort if they are really struggling to fill a difficult or urgent position. The vacancies that we have available in our recruitment contracts are not a reflection of the actual working opportunities that are available in the market.

In Dubai we have Doctors and nurses working here from all over the world with a multitude of skills from different training systems. It is essential that the DHA has a strong system and guidelines for recognizing the overall caliber and strengths of a particular countries’ training system in order to maintain the highest possible standards of practice in the Dubai healthcare system and to protect the safety of the public as much as possible.

It is not possible to promise or guarantee securing work for any healthcare professional that we work with, however we do only encourage Doctors and Nurses to work with us and invest in our services if we really feel that there is a significant chance that they will be successful in securing a work opportunity in Dubai – (based on our experience of being focused on this industry over the years).

We have strong market sensitivity of the Dubai Healthcare demands, we know which factors the hospitals are looking out for when reviewing cv’s. There are certain specialties of Doctors and nurses that are always needed and difficult to find, so as a company these are the professionals we aim to focus on attracting and encouraging to work with us.

Dubai is more practical for long term relocation, the hospitals are ideally looking for Doctors who are looking to settle here and make Dubai their home. It takes a long time to adapt to the culture and systems as well as build a patient base and referral network so it is much more preferable if the Doctors and Nurses are looking to commit long term.

The employment contracts in Dubai are either categorized as limited or unlimited:

Limited term contract (fixed-term):

In general, limited term contracts mention the start and end dates of the employment period. Unless the contract is renewed, it is automatically cancelled when it expires.

These contracts are adopted where an employer needs to engage employees for specific projects or specific duration.

According to recent reforms in the UAE’s labour market, limited term contracts are for a maximum duration of 2 years, unlike 4 years as before. The contract must also include a notice for termination.

Unlimited term contracts:

An unlimited term contract is open-ended, more flexible and commonly used in the UAE. It can be terminated with mutual consent or by giving a notice of 1 to 3 months. The parties involved must honour their obligations throughout the notice period.

Therefore, an employment relationship is deemed to have ended without due process when either the employer or employee terminates the employment relationship without complying with legally mandated procedures.