Own visa, visit visa or part-time: what is legal when you hire help?

As of September 2026, Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 (opens in a new tab) lets you employ a domestic worker only with a MOHRE work permit for the job with you, even if she has her own visa. She may not start work on a visit or tourist visa, and MOHRE recognises part-time and hourly help through a licensed recruitment office's Flexible package.

MOHRE, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, issues domestic workers' work permits. That law, the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, covers the occupations listed in its Executive Regulations (Cabinet Resolution No. 106 of 2022), and MOHRE's employer guide names them as housemaid, nanny, cook, housekeeper and personal driver, among others. A licensed recruitment office, or agency, holds a MOHRE licence to recruit domestic workers or place them with families temporarily; many of the service centres on MOHRE's approved list are branded Tadbeer.

Which arrangements are legal?

Sponsoring her yourself, or using a licensed recruitment office. If you sponsor her, she needs a MOHRE work permit for the job with you; in the office packages that keep her on the office's file (explained below), she is registered with the office instead. A helper may not start work on a visit or tourist visa, and another employer's helper may not work for you unless the Decree-Law's Executive Regulations or MOHRE decisions allow it. As the official pages stood in September 2026:

Our guide to hiring a maid in the UAE covers sponsoring her yourself, and our guide to agencies, Tadbeer and direct hire compares the routes.

Can you hire a maid on her own visa?

Only with a MOHRE work permit for the job with you. That is the Decree-Law's rule whoever sponsors her residence, and employing her without one is punishable (see the fines below). "Own visa" can mean different things, and each has its own answer.

If another family sponsors her

Her work permit is for her job with them, so to employ her yourself, she first moves to your sponsorship. The Decree-Law sets the general rule, and a summary by the International Labour Organization (ILO) covers her current employer's consent. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, a domestic worker may move to a new employer if the contract's conditions are met and the original employer's rights are respected, following MOHRE's procedures. 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.

Our guide to hiring a helper who is already in the UAE covers the steps. Until the move is done, she may not work for you on the side (see below).

If her husband or a relative sponsors her residence

We found no official page that says whether MOHRE will issue you a domestic worker permit for a helper whose residence visa her husband or a relative sponsors, or whether her residence would first have to move to your sponsorship. Here is what MOHRE's new permit page does say. 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. 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.

So ask MOHRE on 600 590000 before she starts, and don't let her work for you until a MOHRE work permit covers the job. If she says she holds a freelance permit, ask MOHRE the same question: we found no official page that says such a permit covers domestic work in a family home.

Can a maid work for you on a visit visa?

No. She may not start work on a visit or tourist visa: the Decree-Law lets a family employ a domestic worker only with a MOHRE work permit. Employing a domestic worker without a work permit for that job is punishable by a fine of AED 50,000 to AED 200,000.

You can still apply to employ her while she is here, because MOHRE's new work permit service (opens in a new tab) covers recruiting a worker from inside the country. If she is in the UAE on a tourist visa, the main steps are:

1. Check you can sponsor her. Our guide to who can sponsor a maid covers MOHRE's conditions for families.
2. Apply for her work permit. Log in with UAE PASS, submit the request with the required documents and pay the fees. 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.
3. Wait for the permit. MOHRE's service card for a new domestic worker work permit states a processing time of 2 working days. MOHRE tells you if anything else is needed. She still may not start work while she waits.
4. Change her status and complete her residence. Our maid visa process guide covers each stage.

A trial day is no way round this: if she works for you on it, the same rules apply. To get to know her first, interview her, on a video call if you like, and check her references. Once she is employed, the Decree-Law allows a probation period. A domestic worker's probation may not last more than six months from the start of employment. Our guides to interview questions and probation and replacement go further.

Is it legal to hire a part-time or hourly maid?

Yes, through a licensed recruitment office. As of September 2026, MOHRE recognises three packages from licensed recruitment offices: Traditional, where the worker is on the family's own file and lives with the family; Temporary, where a worker registered with the office works for the family; and Flexible, where a worker registered with the office works for the family by the hour, day, week, month, six months or year.

Part-time and hourly help comes under the Flexible package. Under MOHRE's operations manual for recruitment agencies, a worker on the Flexible package may not work more than 8 hours a day, and the agency provides housing and transport to and from the family, compensates the family for damage the worker causes, and refunds unused hours if the arrangement ends early.

In the Temporary package, the Decree-Law makes the recruitment office her employer and calls your family the "beneficiary", which directs her daily work. The manual also has the office replace her when needed, and if she is returned, you are refunded for the time she did not work. The ILO's May 2024 summary of UAE rules adds that she lives where your family specifies unless you and the office agree otherwise, and that the office is jointly responsible with your family for applying the law.

Under MOHRE's operations manual for recruitment agencies, the agency sponsors the worker in the Temporary package and holds the worker's visa in the Flexible package, and in both it pays the worker's salary, legal entitlements and medical costs.

Before you pay, check the office on MOHRE's list of approved domestic worker service centres (opens in a new tab). Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, recruiting domestic workers or placing them temporarily requires a MOHRE licence, and doing either without one is punishable by up to one year in prison, a fine of AED 200,000 to AED 1,000,000, or both.

MOHRE's employer guide says its approved recruitment offices offer recruitment prices determined by the Ministry, but we found no official page that publishes them, so ask for the price in writing. Our guide to Tadbeer centres has more.

We found no official page that explains how cleaning companies that send their own staff fit these rules. If you use one, ask who employs and sponsors the person who comes to your home, and check with MOHRE on 600 590000 if you're unsure.

Can another family's maid work for you part-time?

Not unless the rules allow it. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, a domestic worker may not work for anyone other than their employer, except as its Executive Regulations or MOHRE decisions allow. We found no official page that lists those exceptions, so ask MOHRE on 600 590000 before another household's helper works for you.

Paying her by the hour doesn't change this: her work permit covers her job with her own employer (see the fines below). If you need a few hours a week, a licensed office's Flexible package is a route MOHRE sets out. If you want to employ her yourself, she first moves to your sponsorship, as described above.

What is the fine for employing a maid illegally?

Employing a domestic worker without a work permit for that job is punishable by a fine of AED 50,000 to AED 200,000. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, fines are multiplied by the number of workers involved, up to AED 10 million, and doubled for a repeat offence within a year.

As of September 2026, the Decree-Law also fines anyone who helps a worker abandon her employer, or shelters her to employ her illegally, in the same range as for employing a worker without a permit. Recruiting without a licence carries its own penalties (see the part-time section above).

MOHRE's employer guide also warns that families who hire from unauthorised sources can be held liable for employing and illegally sheltering a worker who is in breach of the rules. Our guide to avoiding maid-hiring scams has more.

How can MaidMatch help?

By helping you find a helper, live-in or live-out, and by connecting you with a visa partner if you'd like help with her visa. 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.

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.

Most helpers listed on MaidMatch are already in the UAE and ready to work. Live-out is about where a helper would live, not what visa she holds, so ask each helper what visa she holds now, and don't let her start until a MOHRE work permit covers the job. Our guide to live-in and live-out helpers compares the two.