Kenyan maids in Dubai

For a recruit from Kenya, Kenya's pages and the 2018 agreement, as reported, point to a licensed agency and a contract attested by a Kenyan labour officer before she travels. Khaleej Times reported on 26 April 2018, citing the WAM news agency, that the UAE and Kenya 'have signed a memorandum of understanding' on domestic employment, and that under the agreement 'only recruitment agencies that are private, registered and licensed in the country are allowed to present applications to recruit Kenyan domestic labour'.

As of September 2026, we found no Kenyan suspension of sending workers to the UAE since 2024, but confirm the current position with Kenya's labour ministry or its embassy before you recruit.

Kenya's State Department for Diaspora Affairs has an online tool that checks whether a private recruitment agency is currently licensed by Kenya's National Employment Authority (NEA). We found no official Kenyan page that says whether a family can hire directly, without an agency.

Kenya's attestation page covers the step before a worker travels. For a Kenyan helper who is already in the UAE, MOHRE, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, covers the move through its permit service; ask Kenya's labour department or the Kenyan embassy what applies on Kenya's side. Our guide to hiring a Kenyan or Ugandan helper has the detail, and our guide to which nationalities can work as maids compares other countries.

The federal rules for every domestic worker, with Dubai's own health insurance law on top. Dubai Law No. 11 of 2013 sets the insurance rule: In Dubai, employers must enrol their employees in health insurance, and sponsors must enrol the people they sponsor who have no employer cover; employers and sponsors pay the cost, may not charge it to the insured person, and must produce the policy when a residence permit is issued or renewed.

The law doesn't name domestic workers: a family falls under the duties it sets for employers and sponsors. Dubai Law No. 11 of 2013 on health insurance sets fines of AED 500 to AED 150,000 for violations. MOHRE, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, which issues her work permit, adds a statement of its own. MOHRE's renewal service says that in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, employers are required to provide adequate medical insurance to their domestic workers.

For her residence permit, the federal authority is ICP, the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security. 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. Our guide to maid health insurance compares the rules in each emirate.

We found no official Kenyan minimum salary for domestic workers in the UAE. The UAE sets no statutory minimum wage for domestic workers: the Domestic Workers Decree-Law has no such provision, and the International Labour Organization said the same in May 2024.

Where a home country does set a floor, it covers only the contracts that country verifies. Each helper lists her own salary range on her profile, so compare what the Kenyan helpers here ask before you get in touch.