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Changing Jobs in Dubai

Whether you are moving to work or planning to incorporate a company and employ expatriates in Dubai, you should be aware of the rules in regards to changing jobs in Dubai. Changing jobs in almost any other country is quite straight forward; you look around for something suitable, go for an interview, impress your new employer and finally give your notice at your old job. However things are done differently in Dubai.

In the past your visa was tied to your job and therefore your employer, if you change employer you cancelled your visa, lost your sponsor and were therefore no longer eligible to remain in Dubai. As a result, such individuals who want to leave one job to take up another were liable for an immediate 6 month labour ban before being eligible to return and apply for a new position and new visa. These rules have recently been eased a little to make life in Dubai a little more comfortable and fair.
The NOC (No Objection certificate) is what is required to ’safely’ transfer from one job to another. If you choose to leave a company within the term of your contract, and the employer is happy to let you go, they still have to produce an NOC. This is actually a brief letter stating the employees name and passport number, the company’s details, or employers details (if working for an individual) and clearly wording their agreement to let the employee transfer without a ban to the next employer. The employee is then said to have obtained a ‘release’. This letter is shown during the visa process, and as long as an NOC is obtained, there is no ban applicable.
In terms of your eligibility to change jobs once you have this NOC, it depends on the level to which you have been educated. If you’ve never been to college or university and therefore have no qualifying tertiary education you can only change jobs once. Those who have a graduate level degree can move only twice, and it is only those who have a masters or a PhD who can effectively change their job in Dubai as often as they like.
As your employer is your sponsor when you’re living and working in Dubai you have to go through the process of changing your sponsor with the Ministry of Labour before you can be allowed to change job. The first thing you need is the NOC, and then you have to go to the Ministry of Labour and ask them for the correct forms for changing your sponsor. These should be supplied to you in Arabic and your old and new employers will have to sign then and stamp them. You then present the forms together with the trade licence and the establishment card from your new employer to the Ministry. Everything will be forwarded to the Department of Immigration for processing, and eventually your newly amended visa will be returned to you.
However if your company goes out of business and you are therefore left without a sponsor, you will find it easier to transfer sponsorship to a new company. Also, if you work in one of the Free Trade Zones your employer is that zone’s Authority rather than an individual company, this is good news for those changing jobs within the zone as it means they don’t need to apply for a new visa with a new sponsor. So as you can see, changing job in Dubai is possible, but it is not as straightforward as it is in other countries.

Monisha Pyndiah
Business Consultant