VoxxArrive · Origin country
Onboarding an employee from Nepal in the UAE (2026 employer guide)
Nepal is NOT a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so a Nepali hire's degree, marriage certificate and police-clearance document cannot be apostilled - they follow the full legalisation chain: local notarisation, attestation by Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then the UAE Embassy in Kathmandu, and finally UAE MOFAIC after arrival. Since late 2025 the UAE additionally requires a Nepal Police clearance report for every Nepali visit and work visa applicant, and Nepal imposes its own mandatory exit-side clearance (Shram Swikriti labour approval) before the worker can leave - a two-sided compliance step most origin countries don't have.
What's different
- Attestation route = legalisation, NOT apostille. Nepal is not a Hague Apostille member (confirmed absent from the HCCH status table), and neither is the UAE. Educational and personal documents must be notarised in Nepal, attested by Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then attested by the UAE Embassy in Kathmandu, before final UAE MOFAIC attestation. There is no apostille shortcut for Nepali documents.
- New 2025 UAE-side rule: since visas reopened after a temporary suspension (following the September 2025 unrest), the UAE Embassy in Kathmandu requires ALL Nepali applicants for BOTH visit and work visas to submit a police clearance report issued by Nepal Police (Kathmandu Post, 26 Nov 2025). This is a live differentiator to flag to Nepali hires now.
- Police clearance: the 'good conduct' document is the Police Clearance Certificate (PCC), also called a Police Report or Character Certificate, issued by the Nepal Police (applied for online via the Nepal Police clearance system). It still needs to run through the same Nepal MFA + UAE Embassy legalisation chain to be usable in the UAE.
- Mandatory Nepal-side EXIT clearance. Under Nepal's Foreign Employment Act 2064 (2007), a Nepali worker cannot legally take up UAE employment without a labour approval ('Shram Swikriti') from the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE, Ministry of Labour). This typically requires the employer's attested demand/offer, foreign-employment welfare-fund (FEPB) contribution and a pre-departure orientation. Onboarding can stall on the Nepal side even when the UAE-side paperwork is ready.
- Bilateral labour MoU (signed 15 June 2019) shifts recruitment costs to the employer: the UAE-based employer bears all recruitment, employment and residency costs of the Nepali worker - air ticket, insurance, visa and medical-examination fees - and the offer must specify wages, benefits, accommodation, transport and end-of-service entitlement. Budget for these; passing them to the worker breaches the agreement.
- Scale/roles: the UAE is one of Nepal's largest labour destinations - of the more than 200,000 foreign-employment labour approvals Nepal issued in the last fiscal year, around 40% were for the UAE (Kathmandu Post, 26 Nov 2025) - with Nepali workers heavily in construction, security, hospitality, facilities/cleaning and, subject to Nepal's own on-and-off restrictions, domestic work. An online labour-permit approval service now lets Nepali workers already in the UAE renew approvals without flying home.
Which onboarding steps this affects
This affects 30 of the 57 onboarding tasks, concentrated in the Pre-boarding, Day 1, Week 1, Month 1, Month 3+ phases. Work through them in the live demo to see the compliance-readiness score respond as each is ticked off.
Your task slice
30 of the 57 onboarding tasks apply here.
Verify MOHRE establishment card is active and labour quota is available for the role
Establishment card / labour quota confirmation
Issue MOHRE-standard job offer letter and obtain the employee's signed copy
MOHRE job offer letter (signed)
Apply for the MOHRE work permit (labour card) via Tasheel/MOHRE portal
Work permit approval
Apply for entry permit (e-visa) or initiate in-country status change
Entry permit (60-day validity)
Collect and attest pre-boarding documents (passport, photos, degree/qualification attestation)
Attested document pack
Prepare fixed-term employment contract aligned to the signed offer
Employment contract (draft)
Set probation period in the contract (must not exceed 6 months, FDL 33/2021)
Define working hours, overtime, and weekly rest-day terms in the contract
Register the new joiner in payroll with a WPS-compliant salary structure
Confirm the employee holds a WPS-eligible UAE bank account or salary card
Employee signs the employment contract on Day 1
Signed employment contract
Collect original passport and entry permit for residence visa processing
Issue employee handbook and code of conduct; capture acknowledgement (incl. gross-misconduct grounds)
Handbook acknowledgement
Collect employee bank/IBAN details for WPS payroll set-up
Book and complete medical fitness test at an approved centre (communicable-disease screening)
Medical fitness certificate
Complete ICP Emirates ID biometrics (fingerprints, iris scan, photo)
Emirates ID application receipt
Submit residence visa application to GDRFA/ICP after medical and EID biometrics
Complete residence visa stamping / e-visa linking to the passport
Residence visa
Register the signed employment contract with MOHRE within the statutory deadline
MOHRE-registered labour contract
Activate WPS salary registration with MOHRE and the bank/agent
Confirm health insurance activation is linked to the residency file
Collect the issued Emirates ID card once produced by ICP
Emirates ID card
Verify residence visa and Emirates ID are fully issued (post-entry chain within 60 days)
Run the first WPS payroll and confirm on-time salary transfer
WPS SIF file
Assemble audit-ready employee compliance file (contract, visa, EID, insurance)
Employee compliance file
File original Emirates ID and residence visa copies in the personnel record
Issue confirmation-of-employment letter on passing probation
Confirmation letter
Reset and communicate post-probation notice-period terms (30-90 days)
Verify ongoing WPS compliance across the first pay cycles
Confirm health insurance validity aligns with residency expiry
Some figures on this page vary by jurisdiction, zone or nationality, or could not be independently confirmed from a public source at time of writing - confirm the current figure with the regulator before relying on it.
Sources
Frequently asked
Can a Nepali degree or certificate be apostilled for use in the UAE?
No. Nepal has not joined the Hague Apostille Convention, and the UAE isn't a member either, so an apostille isn't available or accepted. Nepali documents must be notarised, attested by Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attested by the UAE Embassy in Kathmandu, and then attested by UAE MOFAIC after arrival.
What police clearance does a Nepali hire need?
A Police Clearance Certificate (also called a Police Report or Character Certificate) issued by the Nepal Police. Since late 2025 the UAE Embassy in Kathmandu requires this for every Nepali visit and work visa applicant, and it must be legalised through the same Nepal MFA and UAE Embassy chain as other documents.
Who pays the recruitment costs for a Nepali worker?
Under the 2019 Nepal-UAE labour MoU, the UAE employer bears all recruitment, employment and residency costs - air ticket, insurance, visa and medical-test fees. The offer must also state wages, benefits, accommodation, transport and end-of-service entitlement.
Is there anything the worker must complete on the Nepal side before flying out?
Yes. Nepal's Foreign Employment Act requires a labour approval ('Shram Swikriti') from the Department of Foreign Employment before departure, typically alongside a welfare-fund (FEPB) contribution and a pre-departure orientation. Onboarding can be delayed by this exit-side step even when UAE paperwork is ready.
How long does document attestation take?
It varies by document and workload across three stages (Nepal notary/MFA, UAE Embassy Kathmandu, then UAE MOFAIC), so start early. The UAE's digital attestation service, available through the Kathmandu mission, can speed the UAE-side step, but the Nepal-side attestation and police-report timelines are outside your control - build in buffer.