PRO services are the government side of running a company: work permits and employment contracts at MOHRE, the establishment card, residence visas and Emirates IDs at GDRFA and ICP, and the trade licence renewal the rest of them hang off. We do that work for companies in Dubai and across the UAE, either one transaction at a time or as the people keeping the whole file in order.
Every transaction carries two prices. The authority's is published and the same whoever files it: MOHRE charges AED 50 to apply for a two-year work permit and AED 250, AED 1,200 or AED 3,450 to issue it, depending on the category it has placed your company in, and GDRFA charges AED 200 to issue or renew an establishment card. Ours pays for the work, and you see both before anything is filed.
None of these jobs is difficult on its own. What catches companies out is that each document depends on another, the renewal dates fall in different months, and one lapsed card can hold up every visa on the company until somebody fixes it. Below: what the work covers, which authority each piece belongs to, what MOHRE's category does to the cost, the order a new hire runs in, what a lapse costs, how to choose a PRO company, and when you can reasonably do it without one.
What we handle when we hold the file
- Setting the company up with the authorities. The establishment card at GDRFA or ICP first, then the company's own file at MOHRE: its establishment card, the personal numbers of the owners and signatories, and the electronic quota that work permits are issued against. A mainland company needs all of it before the first hire.
- Work permits and contracts with MOHRE: a hire from overseas, a transfer from another employer, a permit for a spouse or child already on a family visa, a six-month temporary permit, contract renewals and cancellations. The channel is set out on the Tasheel and MOHRE services page.
- Residence visas for staff: entry permit or change of status, medical, Emirates ID, then renewals and cancellations. The sequence is set out on the Amer and immigration services page.
- Owners' and partners' visas, which run on a different route from an employee's: see own visa in Dubai and the investor and partner visa.
- Family sponsorship once the sponsor's own residence is in place, covered in sponsoring your family after setup.
- Licence renewals and amendments with DET, including the external approvals some activities need before the department will act: trade licence services and what a renewal costs.
- More visas than the licence allows, when the quota is full: visa quota in Dubai explains what moves it.
- Emirates ID renewals, and the personal data changes ICP expects to be reported within 30 days.
- Attested and translated documents where a submission needs them, through our legal translation service.
- Tax registration at setup, so a new company is not caught by a deadline in its first year.
- Closing a company: labour and immigration cancellations in the order the authorities require, before the licence itself. The fees are in trade licence cancellation costs.
The establishment card is the one people forget exists until a visa application bounces. It is a GDRFA record separate from the trade licence, with its own renewal date, and the company's immigration transactions are filed against it. MOHRE keeps a second one for labour transactions, so a company has two establishment files, not one.
Five authorities, one company file
A company's paperwork sits with several government bodies, and they do not share a counter. Most of the skill in this job is knowing which one a task belongs to, and what it needs from the others first.
| Authority | What goes through it | The detail |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) | Trade licence issue, renewal and amendments for mainland companies | Trade licence services |
| GDRFA Dubai | Establishment card, entry permits, change of status, residence renewals and cancellations, through its app, its website or an Amer centre | Amer and immigration services |
| MOHRE | The company's labour file and quota, work permits and employment contracts, and the labour cancellation that has to come before a residence cancellation | Tasheel and MOHRE services |
| ICP | Emirates ID, and the immigration file for companies registered outside Dubai | How the Emirates ID process runs |
| Federal Tax Authority | Corporate tax and VAT registration, which a new company owes whether or not it trades | Tax and VAT registration |
Add a medical examination for every residence applicant over 18, which GDRFA asks for with the renewal. A free zone company deals with its zone authority where a mainland company deals with DET, and the zone decides how much of the visa work runs through its own systems. The dependencies between the steps are the same either way.
The PRO card at MOHRE
At MOHRE a PRO is a person, not a firm. The ministry issues a public relations officer card that lets the holder submit its transactions for the establishment where the holder is registered. It is an optional step attached to the company's MOHRE file, and the conditions are specific:
- The holder needs an official file with the ministry, which means a valid work permit, and good conduct: the application asks for a police clearance certificate and a photograph.
- An expatriate PRO can hold one card only, and only for an owner who employs fewer than 100 workers.
- A UAE national PRO can hold cards for three owners: the first may employ 100 workers or more, the second and third fewer than 100 each.
- MOHRE lists two working days. The card is free on its website and app; at a service centre the provider fee is AED 40 and the centre's commission is capped at AED 72.
Immigration has its own version. GDRFA issues a representative's card to the person who submits immigration transactions on a company's behalf: the representative has to hold residence with the company they work for, and the application needs a letter from the authorising entity and a certificate of criminal investigation. GDRFA lists 48 hours for processing.
Both cards tie the holder to one company, which is the practical reason most small companies have no card holder of their own. MOHRE takes a work permit application from the establishment's authorised signatory, through its website, its app or an approved service centre, and those are the channels we file through on your behalf.
MOHRE's fee depends on your company's category
MOHRE places every private-sector establishment in one of three categories under Cabinet Resolution No. 18 of 2022, and the category sets the labour fee on each hire. It is why two companies can pay very different amounts to employ the same person.
| MOHRE service | Category 1 | Category 2 | Category 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work permit application | AED 50 | AED 50 | AED 50 |
| Work permit for two years: a hire from overseas, or a transfer from another employer | AED 250 | AED 1,200 | AED 3,450 |
| Fees that do not change with the category | MOHRE's figure |
|---|---|
| Work permit for a spouse or child already sponsored by family, two years (no quota needed) | AED 250, plus the AED 50 application |
| Temporary work permit, six months (no quota needed) | AED 50 |
| Ta'qeem evaluation, for MOHRE's establishment card and for the work permit quota | AED 406 |
| Service centre commission, per service | capped at AED 72 |
MOHRE's figures exclude tax and collection charges, and apart from the federal fees its services are free on its website and app. The category is recorded on the company's MOHRE file, and the ministry can move a company from one category to another as it meets or stops meeting the criteria.
The way down is set out in MOHRE's guide for new employers: a company that reaches three times its Emiratisation target with no violations of the labour law qualifies for Category 1, and for discounts of up to 80 per cent on ministry services through the Tawteen Partners Club.
A new hire, in the order the authorities need
Every hire runs through the same sequence, and most delays come from starting a step before the one it depends on is finished.
| Step | Where | What has to be true first |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Company file | GDRFA or ICP, then MOHRE | A valid trade licence and the immigration establishment card, then MOHRE's own card and an electronic quota, which needs a current Ta'qeem report |
| 2. Offer letter | MOHRE | MOHRE's own job offer form, signed by both sides, with the certificate the skill level asks for: a degree for levels 1 and 2, a diploma for 3 and 4, secondary school for 5, none for 6 to 9 |
| 3. Work permit | MOHRE | A free quota slot and the fee for the company's category. MOHRE lists two working days |
| 4. Entry permit, or change of status | GDRFA in Dubai, ICP elsewhere | Change of status when the person is already in the UAE |
| 5. Medical, Emirates ID and health insurance | Medical centre, ICP, insurer | Since 1 January 2025 a health policy is required to issue or renew a private-sector employee's residence, in every emirate |
| 6. Employment contract | MOHRE | Filed within 60 days of entry or change of status. Workers at skill levels 5 to 9 attend MOHRE's guidance workshop first |
| 7. Residence visa | GDRFA or ICP | Issued once the medical and Emirates ID are done |
Two hires from the same company can still take different lengths of time: the skill level decides which certificate MOHRE asks for, and a profession that needs its own licence, a doctor, a nurse or a teacher, needs that licence from its regulator before the work permit.
The dates that cost money when they slip
Most fines here are modest and several are capped. The expensive part is usually what a lapse blocks. These are the items we keep dated on a company's file, with what the authorities publish against each:
| What | When it lapses | Published by |
|---|---|---|
| Trade licence | Everything downstream waits. ICP will not renew an establishment card without a valid trade licence, and fines owed by the establishment have to be paid first. | ICP |
| Establishment card, Dubai | AED 100 for every month it goes unrenewed. | GDRFA |
| Establishment card, other emirates | Nothing for the first 30 days, then AED 100 a month, capped at AED 1,000. | ICP |
| Employment contract | Due within 60 days of the employee's entry or change of status. A renewal can be filed from 60 days before the permit expires. | MOHRE |
| Transfer from a previous employer | The new work permit has to be applied for within 90 days of the old one being cancelled. | MOHRE |
| Residence visa | A grace period runs after expiry or cancellation, then daily overstay fines. GDRFA's own pages give two different grace periods, which is worth knowing before you plan around one. | GDRFA |
| Emirates ID | AED 20 a day once renewal is late, capped at AED 1,000. | ICP |
| Work permit | An open permit blocks the employee's residence cancellation, because GDRFA asks for the MOHRE cancellation first. | GDRFA |
One transaction at a time, or the whole file
Both work. Which one suits you comes down mostly to headcount.
Per transaction fits an owner-run company with one to three visas. The work arrives in bursts, a new hire, a renewal, a cancellation, with quiet months in between. You come to us when something is due and pay for that job.
Handing over the file starts to pay once there are enough people that something is always coming up. The filing is then the smaller half of the value. The larger half is somebody knowing the establishment card is due in March, three residence visas in June, and that the licence has to be renewed before any of them can move.
Either way you see two figures before anything is filed: what the authority charges, and what we charge.
The authority's fee and ours
Every transaction carries both. The government fee is set by the authority and is the same whoever submits the application. Ours pays for the work.
For scale, GDRFA lists an establishment card at AED 200 to issue or renew, before VAT and a few small charges, and a private-sector residence renewal at AED 200, with a further AED 500 when the person is already inside the country. On the labour side, a Category 2 company pays MOHRE AED 1,200 plus the AED 50 application for each two-year work permit. Those are the authorities' figures, re-checked on their own pages in October 2026, and none of it reaches us.
Our own fees for a residence visa are published rather than quoted on request: from AED 1,300 a person, covering typing, portal access, unemployment insurance and health cover from AED 500. The line-by-line is on the Amer and immigration services page, and the government charges that sit on top are worked through in what an employment visa really costs. Owners on an investor or partner visa should read the investor visa guide instead, because the route is different.
What actually holds a transaction up
Rejections are seldom about the form. They come from the order things were done in:
- The licence has lapsed. Everything filed against it waits until it is renewed.
- There is no quota to issue against. MOHRE issues a new work permit only against an available electronic quota, and the quota needs a current Ta'qeem report. Family-sponsored and temporary permits are the exceptions.
- The signatory is set up at one authority and not the other. MOHRE requires the authorised signatory on its file to be authorised at ICP too, and a new establishment card needs passport copies of the signatories and, where a manager signs, an authorisation certified by a notary public.
- A cancellation went in the wrong order. GDRFA wants the MOHRE work permit cancellation before it will cancel a private-sector residence, and MOHRE wants the employee's signature confirming their dues were paid, except for people overseas and a few other listed cases, with any late-permit fines settled first.
- The medical is outstanding. A residence renewal for anyone over 18 needs the medical examination done, not booked.
Faster handling exists, and it is mostly a published fee rather than a favour: GDRFA's urgent option on the establishment card is AED 100 on top of the normal charge. Anything promised beyond what the authority itself offers is worth asking hard questions about.
How to choose a PRO company in Dubai
Plenty of firms have "PRO services" in their name, so the name tells you little. Four questions sort them quickly:
- Do they show the authority's fee apart from their own? Government fees are published and fixed. A firm that will not separate them is pricing the difference in its own favour.
- Do they ask for your MOHRE category before quoting a hire? Without it the labour fee in the quote is a guess, and between Category 1 and Category 3 it is one of the largest lines on the bill.
- Do they file through your company's own signatory? MOHRE takes work permit applications from the establishment's authorised signatory. The company should keep its own access and its own records, whoever does the filing.
- Do they promise speed the authorities do not offer? GDRFA publishes an urgent fee and MOHRE lists two working days for most of its services. A promise beyond that deserves a question about how.
When you do not need us
Plenty of companies manage this themselves, and it is fair to say when that works:
- You are the owner and the only visa on the licence. GDRFA's app and website take applications around the clock, and one renewal a year is manageable if you keep the dates.
- Your free zone runs visa applications through its own portal and you are comfortable using it.
- Somebody on your staff already holds the company's representative card and knows which step has to come first.
It stops being worth doing yourself when the dates start overlapping, or when something has already gone wrong: a lapsed card, an employee who left without a cancellation, a licence renewal stuck behind an approval. Those take longer to unwind than they would have taken to avoid.
What to have ready
- Trade licence, and the memorandum of association or partner appendix naming the owners
- Passport copies of the authorised signatories, plus the notarised authorisation where a manager signs
- The establishment card number, if the company already holds one, and a valid tenancy contract for MOHRE's file
- For each person involved: passport copy valid for at least six months, a colour photograph on a white background, and current visa or Emirates ID details
- For a new hire: MOHRE's job offer form signed by both sides, and the certificate the skill level requires
- For a PRO card: a police clearance certificate and a photograph
PRO services in Dubai: questions
Questions we get asked about PRO work
Public relations officer, although the job has nothing to do with press or marketing. Here it means the person who handles a company's government transactions: cards, permits, visas and renewals. The same role turns up as GRO, for government relations officer.
The holder of MOHRE's public relations officer card, which lets that person submit the ministry's transactions for the establishment where they are registered. The holder needs a valid work permit and a police clearance certificate. An expatriate can hold one card, for an owner with fewer than 100 workers; a UAE national can hold cards for three owners. It takes two working days and is free on MOHRE's website and app, or AED 40 at a service centre plus its commission.
In two parts. The government fees are fixed: at MOHRE a two-year work permit is AED 50 to apply plus AED 250, AED 1,200 or AED 3,450 by category, and at GDRFA an establishment card is AED 200. Our fee for a residence visa starts from AED 1,300 a person, covering typing, portal access, unemployment insurance and health cover. Holding a whole company file is quoted for that company, in writing, before anything is filed.
One of three, set under Cabinet Resolution No. 18 of 2022 and recorded on the company's MOHRE file. It decides the labour fee: a two-year work permit costs AED 250 in Category 1 and AED 3,450 in Category 3. MOHRE can move a company between categories, and a company that reaches three times its Emiratisation target with a clean record qualifies for Category 1.
Yes, on MOHRE's permit for a dependent sponsored by a family member: AED 50 to apply and AED 250 to issue, for two years. The person needs a valid residence through their relative, and the company does not need a free quota slot for it.
MOHRE lists two working days for a new work permit once the application is complete, and the same for transfers, contracts and cancellations. A whole hire takes longer, because the entry permit or change of status, the medical and the Emirates ID follow, and the contract has to be filed within 60 days of entry.
They need the same transactions done: a licence renewal, an establishment card, visas and Emirates IDs. What changes is who processes them, since the zone authority takes DET's place and decides how much of the visa work runs through its own systems. Whether outside help is worth paying for depends far more on how many people you sponsor than on where the company is licensed.
Yes. GDRFA's digital channels accept applications directly and run 24 hours a day, with a UAE Pass or username login, and Amer centres process the same transactions in person for an added charge. What you need is access to the company's account and somebody who knows which step comes first.
In Dubai, GDRFA fines AED 100 for each month it goes unrenewed. Outside Dubai, ICP starts 30 days after expiry at AED 100 a month, capped at AED 1,000. The fine is the smaller problem: the card is what the company's immigration transactions are filed against, so visa work stalls until it is renewed.
GDRFA lists 48 hours once a complete application is in. For a company outside Dubai, ICP will not renew the card at all while the trade licence is invalid or fines are outstanding, so those have to be cleared first and that is usually what sets the real timeline.
GDRFA's own pages say both. Its residence service pages give sixty days after a permit expires or is cancelled; its guidance for employers says a cancelled employee must leave within thirty days, with proof of departure. Plan to thirty. Leaving early costs nothing, and staying past the grace period means daily overstay fines.
Not in the way we quote. The authority's fee is fixed by the authority and is the same whoever files it. Ours covers the work. You see them separately, so it is clear what each one buys.
Where the rest of the detail lives
Each part of the file has a page of its own with the full procedure: Amer and immigration services for the visa steps, Tasheel and MOHRE services for labour files, and trade licence renewals and amendments for the licence itself. New companies usually need corporate tax and VAT registration in the first months too.
Government figures checked 26 October 2026 on MOHRE's service pages for the PRO card, new, transfer, dependent and temporary work permits, the establishment card and the work permit quota, in MOHRE's guide for new employers, and on GDRFA's establishment card and residence renewal pages. The ICP and GDRFA fines were checked in September 2026. MOHRE's figures exclude tax and collection charges.