What are the ways to hire a maid in Dubai?

What are the main ways to hire a maid in Dubai?

As of November 2026, there are four routes under the domestic workers law and its Executive Regulations (Cabinet Resolution No. 106 of 2022). The table compares them.

What is a Tadbeer centre, and is it different from a recruitment office?

A Tadbeer centre is a domestic worker service centre that operates under MOHRE as a public-private partnership. The UAE Cabinet announced them in 2017 as one-stop centres that act as mediators between families and workers, and u.ae now links to MOHRE's list of approved domestic workers services centres. Any office that recruits domestic workers, whether it uses the Tadbeer name or not, must hold a MOHRE licence under Article 4 of the domestic workers law.

How does hiring through a recruitment office work?

When a licensed office recruits a worker for you, you sign a recruitment contract with the office on MOHRE's approved form. Under Article 6 of the law, it must state the type of work and wage, the costs of bringing the worker in, the office's service fees and the time allowed for recruitment. Under Article 5, the office must tell the worker the work and wage before they travel, arrange a medical examination no more than 30 days before they enter the UAE, and never charge the worker any commission or expenses.

If the placement fails, Article 6 of the Executive Regulations requires the office to refund you, in whole or in part, when:

• the worker lacks the skills or good conduct needed during the probation period;
• the worker ends the contract or leaves work for a reason the regulations do not allow; or
• you end the contract because the agreed conditions were not met.

The refund is worked out as the total recruitment cost divided by the contract length in months, multiplied by the months remaining. It is a full refund if the problem happens in the first month, or if the worker is found physically unfit during probation. The office must pay within two weeks of the worker's return to the office or of the absence being reported.

What changes if you choose a specific worker yourself?

If you ask a licensed office to bring in a worker you have named, the law calls it direct recruitment. The office handles the process, but it is exempt from the refund rules above (Executive Regulations, Article 6). If a directly recruited worker later moves to a new employer during the first contract, the new employer pays the original employer a share of the recruitment cost and the government fees, unless the two employers agree otherwise.

What is temporary employment, and can a maid live out?

Temporary employment means a licensed office employs the worker and makes them available to you, either for a set period or for a specific task. The office stays the legal employer, and you are called the beneficiary. Under Article 9 of the Executive Regulations, the worker lives at the place you name unless you and the office agree otherwise, so a live-out arrangement is possible only by agreement with the office. You and the office sign a contract on a MOHRE form.

By contrast, if you employ a full-time worker yourself, Article 11 of the law requires you to provide suitable accommodation, meals and clothing.

Can you hire a maid who is already in the UAE?

Yes. Article 21 of the law lets a worker move to a new employer once the conditions of their current contract are met and the original employer's rights are respected, following procedures set by MOHRE. The law refers to the worker's status being adjusted in the UAE, and wages are due from that date. If a worker moves within three months of a contract renewal, the new employer pays the government fees the original employer paid for the renewal, unless they agree otherwise.

How do you check that an office is allowed to recruit?

Check that the office appears on MOHRE's list of approved domestic workers services centres, linked from the u.ae domestic workers page, or ask MOHRE directly. The refund and replacement duties in the Executive Regulations are placed on licensed offices.

How much does each route cost?

As of November 2026, no official page we could check publishes a total price for any route. The Executive Regulations require offices to keep to fee limits set by MOHRE and to government fees set by the Cabinet, but we could not reach the MOHRE pages that list them. Ask the office for an itemised written quote that separates its service fee from government fees, and check the current limits with MOHRE.