Hiring an Ethiopian helper in the UAE: rules, costs and languages

Under UAE law, an Ethiopian helper needs a MOHRE work permit before she starts, as any domestic worker does, and a contract in Arabic with a translation into a language she understands. If you recruit her from Ethiopia, Ethiopia's Overseas Employment Proclamation No. 1389/2025 splits the costs and requires her contract to be approved there before she travels.

MOHRE is the UAE's Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, which issues domestic workers' work permits. ICP, the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security, handles residence: its general residence page says that for domestic workers its service is provided through the Domestic Workers Package. The government's Work Bundle portal sends Dubai employers to the DubaiNow app for domestic-worker services, and links the other emirates to ICP's smart services. The UAE law for the job is Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 on domestic workers.

On the Ethiopian side, the law names the Ministry of Labor and Skills (MoLS) as the ministry in charge of overseas employment. Ethiopia's labour market information system is the digital system that holds its overseas employment records, including employment contracts.

Can you hire an Ethiopian maid in the UAE?

Yes, as far as the official pages we found show. Ethiopia and the UAE signed a memorandum of understanding on the employment of Ethiopian workers in the UAE on 17 December 2018, and Ethiopia's Ministry of Justice lists the proclamation ratifying it, No. 1122/2019, as in force. The record is on the ministry's law database (opens in a new tab).

On the UAE side, MOHRE's permit conditions, as its service card lists them, don't mention the worker's nationality, and we found no official UAE page that sets different rules for Ethiopian workers.

As of September 2026, we also found no official notice suspending the recruitment of Ethiopian workers for the UAE. Deployment rules can change, though, so if you plan to recruit from Ethiopia, confirm the current position with MoLS or the Ethiopian embassy first. Our guide to which nationalities can work as maids compares the rules country by country.

What are the UAE rules for hiring an Ethiopian helper?

The UAE's general rules for domestic workers: she needs a MOHRE work permit for the job before she starts, and you must meet MOHRE's conditions as her sponsor. As of 29 September 2026, MOHRE's service card (opens in a new tab) lists these, among others:

• To sponsor a domestic worker, an expatriate resident needs a recent salary certificate showing a family income of at least AED 25,000.
• An expatriate sponsor must submit a marriage contract, the spouse's UAE residence visa and proof of housing (a tenancy contract or title deed).
• A domestic worker must be at least 18, and MOHRE applies an upper age limit of 60 for a new work permit. MOHRE can exempt a domestic worker who is already in the UAE from its upper age limit if their domestic-worker residence was cancelled no more than three months earlier.
• For a new domestic worker work permit, MOHRE requires that the worker does not already hold a valid work permit and has a passport valid for at least three months.
• MOHRE's service card for a new domestic worker work permit lists a copy of the worker's passport and a colour photograph of the worker among the required documents.

MOHRE's list for expatriate sponsors includes a marriage contract and the spouse's residence visa, and it doesn't say whether a single, divorced or widowed resident can sponsor. If that is your situation, check with MOHRE on 600 590000 before you start. Our guide to who can sponsor a maid has more.

MOHRE issues a domestic worker's permit for one year when the sponsor is an expatriate resident without a Golden Visa. Employing a domestic worker without a work permit for that job is punishable by a fine of AED 50,000 to AED 200,000, and she may not start work on a visit or tourist visa.

A domestic worker's contract must be on MOHRE's standard form and state, among other terms, the nature and place of the work and the worker's total pay and how it is paid, and she gets a copy. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, a domestic worker's contract must be in Arabic with a translation into a language the worker understands, and if the two versions conflict, the Arabic prevails. Our maid visa process guide covers each stage of the permit and her residence.

If she is already in the UAE

She can move to your sponsorship from inside the country: MOHRE's permit service covers workers already here, and ICP changes her status. When the worker is already inside the UAE, MOHRE asks for the worker's tourist visa, if they are on one, or for the cancellation of their previous visa.

If another family employs her, check whether her contract with them is still running, and what the International Labour Organization (ILO) says about moving during a contract. The ILO's May 2024 brief on UAE rules, citing Ministerial Resolution No. 674 of 2022, says a domestic worker's move to a new employer during the contract term needs the current employer's written consent.

Agree the dates with them before anything is cancelled: ICP's cancellation page sets grace periods by category but doesn't say which covers a domestic worker. ICP's fee for a status adjustment (changing status inside the UAE) is AED 500. Our guide to hiring a helper who is already in the UAE covers every step, in order. The Ethiopian rules in the next section concern recruiting a worker from Ethiopia.

What does Ethiopia's law require if you recruit from Ethiopia?

Her contract must be approved in Ethiopia before she leaves, and she needs an occupational competency certificate and a medical examination. Ethiopia's Overseas Employment Proclamation No. 1389/2025 took effect on its publication in the Federal Negarit Gazette on 14 August 2025, repealing the previous law, Proclamation No. 923/2016, and its 2021 amendment. As of September 2026, the law (opens in a new tab) says, among other things:

• Her certificate, medical examination and age. Ethiopia's overseas employment law, Proclamation No. 1389/2025, requires a worker going abroad for work to hold an occupational competency certificate and to have a medical examination at designated health institutions, and an agency that deploys a worker under 18 has its licence revoked.
• Her contract. Ethiopia's overseas employment law, Proclamation No. 1389/2025, says a worker's employment contract must follow the model contract prepared by Ethiopia's Ministry of Labor and Skills and be approved by the Ministry, or through Ethiopia's labour market information system, before the worker departs.
• Her costs. The law splits the costs of recruitment between the employer and the worker: see the costs section below.

Can you recruit her from Ethiopia without an agency?

Check with Ethiopia before you try. MOHRE's permit service lets you recruit without an office: you can apply for the permit yourself. But Ethiopia's law also governs how its citizens are recruited for jobs abroad, including when an employer may recruit one directly. Ask MoLS or the Ethiopian embassy which route applies to you before you commit or pay anyone.

Our guide to agencies, Tadbeer centres and direct hiring compares the routes on the UAE side.

What does it cost to hire an Ethiopian helper?

It depends on where she is now, and we found no official page that gives a total for either case. On both routes you pay the UAE charges and her salary. If you recruit her from Ethiopia, Ethiopia's law also says who pays which recruitment costs, among them these:

The law doesn't give amounts, and it lets some routes settle the service fee by agreement between the employer and the worker, with the Ministry's approval. We found no official page that publishes Ethiopia's fee for approving the contract.

Under Ethiopia's overseas employment law, Proclamation No. 1389/2025, an agency that takes a fee from a worker for overseas employment services, or demands payments beyond the costs the law puts on the worker, has its licence revoked. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, a recruitment agency may not take any commission or expenses from a domestic worker.

The UAE charges

As of September 2026, the official pages publish these charges, among others:

• ICP charges foreign-resident sponsors AED 5,000 for each year of residence issued to a domestic worker, listed as a guarantee for the recruitment of domestic workers. ICP doesn't say whether it is refundable.
• Before a work permit is issued, the employer must buy a domestic worker insurance policy that covers the worker's unpaid dues up to AED 20,000. Its premium isn't published on the official pages we checked.
• ICP's fee for a status adjustment (changing status inside the UAE) is AED 500, if she is already in the UAE.

We found no official page that gives MOHRE's own fee for a new domestic worker permit, and health insurance rules differ by emirate: our health insurance guide covers each one. Ask whoever handles your application, a domestic worker service centre or our visa partner, for an itemised quote, and see our maid visa cost guide for the government fees in detail.

Is there a minimum salary for an Ethiopian maid in the UAE?

We found no official figure. The UAE sets no statutory minimum wage for domestic workers, the ILO's May 2024 summary of UAE rules says, so any floor comes from her home country and applies only to contracts verified through that country's system.

Ethiopia's overseas employment law, Proclamation No. 1389/2025, says the model employment contract prepared by its Ministry of Labor and Skills must include wages that are not lower than the appropriate minimum wage set by the bilateral agreement between Ethiopia and the receiving country, or in the international agreements ratified by both countries, but we found no official page that publishes a salary figure from Ethiopia's agreement with the UAE.

So her salary is for the two of you to agree, at or above any floor that applies, and it is written into her contract. A domestic worker's contract must be on MOHRE's standard form and state, among other terms, the nature and place of the work and the worker's total pay and how it is paid.

Each helper lists her own salary range on her profile. We don't give a MaidMatch figure for Ethiopian helpers: on 29 September 2026, too few had available profiles for a reliable one. Our salary guide shows what helpers on MaidMatch ask for, and our guide to minimum salaries by nationality covers other countries.

Which languages does an Ethiopian helper need?

We found no official page that requires a domestic worker in the UAE to speak a particular language. The language rules we found are about her contract:

• The UAE's rule. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, a domestic worker's contract must be in Arabic with a translation into a language the worker understands, and if the two versions conflict, the Arabic prevails.
• Ethiopia's rule, if you recruit her from Ethiopia. Ethiopia's overseas employment law, Proclamation No. 1389/2025, says a worker going abroad for work must at least be able to read and comprehend the contract prepared in the language the worker understands.

Everyday language is for the two of you to work out. Languages differ from one person to the next, so ask each helper which languages she speaks and reads, and talk on a WhatsApp video call before you decide.

Our interview questions include ones for a video call, and our guide to choosing a helper explains why her skills and experience matter more than her nationality.

How can MaidMatch help?

By helping you find a helper and get in touch with her. MaidMatch is a free platform for families: they can browse every profile at no cost, with no registration or subscription required. Families contact helpers directly on WhatsApp, through the Hire button on each profile. You can browse Ethiopian helpers or all available helpers.

Sponsorship is the employer's responsibility; families can manage the visa themselves or ask MaidMatch to connect them with its visa partners. MaidMatch's visa partner offers a two-year employment visa, with the visa, medical test, Emirates ID and insurance handled end to end. Ask the partner who sponsors her on that visa, and what that period covers. Our partners page has the details and the current price.

Before any paperwork starts, ask each helper what visa she holds now, whether her current employer knows she wants to move, and which languages she speaks and reads.