Company Visa Quota in the UAE: How Many Visas a Licence Gets
There is no published formula for how many visas a UAE licence gets. The federal portal names the four things the ministry weighs, and no official page we read turns them into a number, a ratio or a table. Anyone quoting you “one visa per nine square metres” is quoting a practice, not a rule.
This guide quotes what is published about the mainland quota and the free-zone equivalent, names what is missing, and sets out what actually moves the number. Our UAE visa service handles quota and permit filings; our guide to the establishment card and the labour file covers the file the quota sits on.
What the federal portal publishes
From the recruiting on the mainland page, updated 28 September 2026, under the heading “Approval of the number of employees in the establishment (Quota)”:
“The number of employees a company can hire depends on the quota approved by the ministry.”
“The ministry determines the quota according to the company’s legal status, the size of the work facilities, the projects undertaken by the establishment, and business requirements, with supporting evidence submitted by the employer. The approved quota may be amended upon the employer’s request and subject to ministry approval.”
That is the whole of the published basis. Four factors, named:
| Factor, as published | What it does not say |
|---|---|
| The company’s legal status | No starting allowance is published per legal form — not for an LLC, a sole establishment or a branch. |
| The size of the work facilities | No square-metre-per-visa ratio appears on any official page we read. |
| The projects undertaken by the establishment | No definition of what counts as a project, or what evidence proves one. |
| Business requirements | Not defined at all. This is the discretionary term. |
The page also names the instrument behind the system: Cabinet Resolution No. 203 of 2022 Regarding the Regulation of Issuing E-Quotas of Work Permits for Establishments.
The quota can arrive without you applying for it
MOHRE’s own work permit quotas for establishments service page describes it as:
“A Subsidiary Procedures associated to the services of opening and updating of the establishment file, which allows the customer to obtain electronic quotas. And it is a proactive service.”
And on documents: “A proactive service quota is awarded without submitting an application or any documentation to the Ministry.”
So for some establishments the electronic quota is granted off the file itself. Where it is not, the page lists what evidence is wanted: “evidence of work volume, trade license, a list of vehicles according to the establishment’s activities, as well as a Taq’eem report in case of electronic quotas.”
The conditions MOHRE publishes
- “A valid trade license”
- “Establishments must maintain a private status, without any restrictions”
- “Submission of a valid Taq’eem report”
- “The profession must be compatible with the establishment’s business activities”
Two of those four are the ones that stop files in practice. A restriction on the establishment — an unpaid fine, a suspended file — takes the quota off the table before the size of your office matters at all. And profession compatibility means the quota is not a pool of interchangeable visas: a licence for one activity does not produce permits for roles that belong to another.
The published fees
| Item | Published amount |
|---|---|
| The quota service itself | “The service is provided free of charge through MOHRE website and App.” |
| Taq’eem fees | “Ta’qeem fees : 406 dirhams” |
| Business centre commission | “Business centers charge a maximum commission of Dhs.72” |
| Bank guarantee per employee | “The ministry requires a bank guarantee of AED 3,000 for each registered employee”, refundable once service ends and the labour card is cancelled |
The quota is free. The report that supports it, and the guarantee behind each permit, are not. The AED 3,000 figure is published on the recruiting page, not on the quota page.
The sixty-day clock on each permit
The quota is permission to apply, not a visa. The recruiting page sets the window:
“The work permit shall be valid for a period of 60 days.” And: “The employer must pay the approval fees and bank guarantee within the 60-day validity period of the work permit. If payment is not made within the specified period, the permit is automatically cancelled, and the establishment must submit a new application if it wishes to proceed with the transaction.”
A quota used but not paid for inside sixty days is a cancelled permit and a fresh application.
What has to exist before a quota does
The same page sets out the order, and it matters because people try to buy visas before the file that carries them exists:
- Register the establishment with MOHRE — open a file and obtain “an establishment card and number linked to the business licence”.
- Apply for the establishment’s electronic signature card.
- “The ministry schedules a visit to inspect the establishment’s facilities, and after confirming there are no violations, issues the electronic signature card.”
- Only then: “The electronic signature card is a prerequisite for the employer to apply for work permits for employees.”
That inspection visit is where “the size of the work facilities” stops being an abstraction. It is a visit to a real address.
Free zones: the package decides, not the ministry
The federal portal’s recruiting in free zones page is direct about it:
“The number of visas that a business can get depends on various factors such as the package they have signed up for. Check with the respective free zone authority for the eligibility and scope for increasing the quota.”
So in a free zone the quota is a commercial term of the licence package, and the authority — not MOHRE — sets it and increases it. If you are choosing between zones on visa count, the number is in the package, and the only reliable source for it is the authority’s own page or quotation. Our guide to free zone licence renewal covers how those packages behave at renewal.
Changing the number later
One sentence on the federal portal carries the whole answer: “The approved quota may be amended upon the employer’s request and subject to ministry approval.”
Amendable, on request, subject to approval. No published criteria for an increase, no published limit, no published processing time. The MOHRE service page leaves its own timing field blank.
What is not published anywhere official
- Any formula, ratio or table. No official page we read converts office size, legal form or activity into a number of visas.
- A starting quota per legal form. “Legal status” is named as a factor with no values attached.
- A square-metre-per-visa rule. Widely quoted in the market; not on any official page we read.
- What counts as a “project”, or what evidence proves one.
- What “business requirements” means. Undefined.
- How long a quota request or increase takes. The MOHRE service page shows no service time.
- Whether a quota expires if unused, and after how long.
- How Emiratisation targets interact with the quota. Both are MOHRE systems; no page we read states a link between them.
Our advice — practical guidance, not a rule
Marked as advice because no official page prescribes it.
- Do not plan headcount on a ratio somebody told you. The published basis is four factors and a ministry decision. Build the plan so it survives a smaller first quota than you hoped for.
- Clear every restriction on the establishment first. “Private status, without any restrictions” is a published condition. An outstanding fine outranks a bigger office.
- Match professions to the licence before you count visas. Profession compatibility is a published condition, so the licensed activities determine which roles are even available to you.
- Treat the inspection visit as the real test of “facilities”. It happens before the e-signature card, and nothing can be applied for without that card.
- Diary sixty days from each permit. Fees and the guarantee inside the window, or the permit cancels itself.
- In a free zone, get the visa count in writing in the package. The federal portal sends you to the authority for exactly this, and a package allocation is a contractual number, not a published one.
- Ask for a quota increase with evidence attached, not a request alone. The portal says the ministry decides on supporting evidence submitted by the employer.
If you would rather have the file, the quota and the permits handled together, our UAE visa desk runs them as one job and tells you plainly which requirements are published and which are a department’s practice. Fees are quoted on request.
Frequently asked questions
How many visas can a UAE company get?
No number is published. The federal portal says the number depends on the quota approved by the ministry, determined according to the company’s legal status, the size of the work facilities, the projects undertaken, and business requirements.
Is there a square-metre rule for visa quota in Dubai?
Not on any official page we read. “The size of the work facilities” is named as one of four factors, with no ratio published.
What is visa quota approval in the UAE?
It is the ministry’s approval of the number of employees an establishment may hire. MOHRE describes the quota service as a subsidiary procedure attached to opening and updating the establishment file, and as a proactive service.
How do I check my company’s visa quota?
Through MOHRE’s website or app, where the service page states the service is provided free of charge. The quota is attached to the establishment file.
Do I have to apply for a quota?
Not always. MOHRE’s page states that “A proactive service quota is awarded without submitting an application or any documentation to the Ministry.” Where evidence is required, the page lists work volume, the trade licence, a vehicle list by activity, and a Taq’eem report.
How much does visa quota cost?
The quota service itself is free through MOHRE’s website and app. The page publishes Taq’eem fees of 406 dirhams and a maximum business-centre commission of AED 72. Separately, the recruiting page publishes a bank guarantee of AED 3,000 for each registered employee.
Can the quota be increased?
The federal portal says the approved quota “may be amended upon the employer’s request and subject to ministry approval”. No criteria, limit or timeframe for an increase is published.
Is the free zone quota the same thing?
No. The federal portal says the number of visas a free-zone business can get depends on factors such as the package it signed up for, and directs you to the relevant free zone authority for eligibility and for increasing the quota.
How long is a work permit valid once the quota is used?
Sixty days. The federal portal states that approval fees and the bank guarantee must be paid inside that window, or the permit is automatically cancelled and a new application is required.