The UAE has no personal income tax and no general minimum wage, but a handful of salary thresholds decide a lot. You need AED 4,000 a month (or AED 3,000 plus accommodation) to sponsor your spouse and children, AED 10,000 to sponsor your parents in Dubai, AED 15,000 for a five-year green visa as a skilled employee and AED 30,000 for a ten-year golden visa. Emiratis in the private sector must be paid at least AED 6,000 from 1 January 2026. Wages are due on the 1st of each month, and end-of-service gratuity is 21 days’ basic pay a year for the first five years, then 30 days.
Every figure below is from a UAE government page, checked on 2 November 2026: the federal portal (u.ae), Dubai’s residency directorate (GDRFA), Abu Dhabi’s Added, the Dubai Land Department and the Federal Tax Authority.
The key figures
| What | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsor your spouse and children | AED 4,000 a month, or AED 3,000 plus accommodation | u.ae (ICP), updated 28 Sep 2026 |
| Sponsor your parents (Dubai) | AED 10,000 a month, plus an AED 5,000 guarantee per person | GDRFA Dubai |
| Green visa, skilled employee (5 years) | AED 15,000 a month, bachelor’s degree, MOHRE skill level 1 to 3 | GDRFA Dubai; Added (Abu Dhabi) |
| Green visa, freelancer (5 years) | AED 360,000 a year of self-employment income for the past two years | GDRFA Dubai; Added |
| Golden visa, skilled professional (10 years) | AED 30,000 a month, bachelor’s degree, MOHRE skill level 1 or 2 | GDRFA Dubai; Added |
| Golden visa, property investor | Property worth AED 2 million | GDRFA, Dubai Land Department, Added |
| Remote work visa (1 year) | USD 3,500 a month | u.ae, updated 7 Aug 2026 |
| General minimum wage | None | u.ae, updated 14 Oct 2026 |
| Minimum wage for Emiratis in the private sector | AED 6,000 a month from 1 Jan 2026 | u.ae (text from MOHRE), updated 15 Oct 2026 |
| Wages due | 1st of each month, at least 85% paid on time | u.ae, Ministerial Resolution 340 of 2026 |
| Overtime | Basic hourly pay plus 25%; plus 50% between 10pm and 4am | u.ae, updated 12 Aug 2026 |
| Annual leave | 30 days after one year | u.ae, updated 14 Oct 2026 |
| Gratuity | 21 days’ basic pay a year (years 1 to 5), then 30 days; capped at two years’ pay | u.ae, updated 15 Oct 2026 |
| Income tax on salaries | None (VAT 5%; corporate tax 9% above AED 375,000 of business profit) | u.ae; Federal Tax Authority |
The salary you need for each visa
Family (spouse and children). Any resident can sponsor their family “regardless of their job titles” if they earn AED 4,000 a month, or AED 3,000 plus accommodation (u.ae, source ICP). That covers a spouse, unmarried daughters, sons under 25 and children with special needs. Family members aged 18 and over need a medical fitness test, and dependants get a six-month grace period if their visa expires or is cancelled.
Parents (Dubai). Dubai’s residency directorate asks for a salary certificate or contract showing at least AED 10,000 a month, an attested tenancy contract big enough for the family and three months of bank statements. Each request goes to a committee, and an approved one needs a financial guarantee of AED 5,000 per person, up to AED 15,000 (GDRFA). Many guides still quote AED 20,000 for parents; that figure is no longer on any official page we could find. Abu Dhabi and the other emirates don’t publish a separate figure.
Green visa (five years, no employer sponsor).
- Skilled employees need AED 15,000 a month, a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, and a job at skill level 1, 2 or 3 in MOHRE’s classification (Added, Abu Dhabi; GDRFA gives the same figure).
- Freelancers and the self-employed need a MOHRE freelance permit, a bachelor’s degree or specialised diploma, and AED 360,000 a year of self-employment income for each of the past two years. Abu Dhabi accepts that income or proof of financial solvency; Dubai’s wording asks for financial stability as well as the income.
Golden visa (ten years).
- Skilled professionals need a monthly salary of no less than AED 30,000, six months of bank statements showing it, a bachelor’s degree, and a job at MOHRE skill level 1 or 2 (GDRFA; Added). Dubai cancels the visa if the salary falls below AED 30,000 or the contract ends. No official page says whether the AED 30,000 is basic salary or the total package, so check with the authority before you apply.
- Property investors need property worth AED 2 million. Dubai accepts a mortgaged property with AED 2 million paid (Dubai Land Department); Abu Dhabi wants AED 2 million of equity, outside the mortgage. A deposit or company stake of AED 2 million, or AED 250,000 a year of tax paid, also qualifies. (The federal portal lists the real-estate golden visa as five years; Dubai and Abu Dhabi both say ten.)
Other routes. The remote work visa needs a salary of USD 3,500 a month from an employer abroad (u.ae). The retirement visa (age 55 and over, 15 years of work) needs AED 1 million in property and AED 1 million in savings, or an income of AED 180,000 a year, or AED 240,000 a year in Dubai (u.ae).
Is there a minimum wage in the UAE?
Not a general one. “There is no minimum salary stipulated in the UAE Labour Law”, though wages must be enough to meet employees’ basic needs (u.ae).
There is one for Emiratis: MOHRE set the minimum monthly wage for Emiratis in the private sector at AED 6,000 from 1 January 2026 (u.ae). Private companies with 50 or more employees must raise the share of Emiratis in skilled jobs by 2% a year, to 10% by 2026; a company that falls short pays a contribution of AED 6,000 a month for each missing Emirati from 2023, rising by AED 1,000 a year until 2026.
When your salary must be paid
Every company registered with MOHRE pays wages through the Wage Protection System (WPS). Under Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026, last month’s salary is due on the 1st of each month, and employers must transfer at least 85% of the wages due on time (u.ae). If pay is late, MOHRE sends alerts from the 2nd day, stops new work permits from the 5th, fines and downgrades repeat offenders from the 11th, opens a labour dispute automatically from the 16th (for 25 or more workers) and starts enforcement from the 21st. Pay can be in dirhams, or another currency if the contract says so.
Working hours, overtime and leave
| Rule | Figure |
|---|---|
| Normal hours | 8 a day, 48 a week; 2 hours less a day in Ramadan |
| Overtime | Up to 2 hours a day, paid at basic hourly pay plus 25% |
| Night overtime (10pm to 4am) | Plus 50% (not for shift workers) |
| Work on your rest day or a public holiday | Another day off, or pay plus 50% |
| Annual leave | 30 days after one year; 2 days a month after six months |
| Sick leave | Up to 90 days a year: 15 on full pay, 30 on half pay, 45 unpaid |
| Maternity leave | 60 days: 45 on full pay, 15 on half pay |
| Parental leave | 5 working days, for mothers and fathers |
Sources: u.ae, working hours (updated 12 Aug 2026) and types of leave (updated 14 Oct 2026).
Overtime and holiday pay are worked out on basic salary, not the package with housing and transport allowances. That is why the basic figure in your contract matters as much as the total.
Probation, notice and gratuity
- Probation: up to six months. During it, an employer must give 14 days’ written notice; an employee moving to another UAE employer must give at least one month (u.ae).
- Notice: 30 to 90 days, on full pay (u.ae).
- Gratuity: nothing for under a year; 21 days’ basic pay for each of the first five years, then 30 days a year, capped at two years’ pay, paid within 14 days of the job ending (u.ae). Allowances don’t count. Work out yours with our UAE gratuity calculator. Employers can instead pay into an approved savings scheme: 5.83% of basic pay a month for the first five years, 8.33% after.
Tax on UAE salaries
There is no income tax on individuals; VAT is 5% (u.ae). Corporate tax is 0% on taxable business income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above (u.ae). A person pays it only on business income above AED 1 million of turnover in a calendar year, and wages, personal investment income and property rental income don’t count as business (Federal Tax Authority). So a salary is not taxed, and most freelancers won’t pay corporate tax either.
Job loss insurance (ILOE) costs AED 5 or AED 10 a month and pays 60% of basic salary for up to three months; not subscribing is an AED 400 fine. Our ILOE guide has the details.
What does the average person earn in the UAE?
The UAE government doesn’t publish a current average or median salary. The federal and Dubai statistics offices’ most recent wage tables we could trace date from Dubai labour force surveys of 2011 and 2017. Treat any “average salary in Dubai” figure online as a survey or an estimate, not an official number. Our UAE salary pages give modelled pay by job, labelled as estimates.
Limits of this guide
This guide sums up official pages; it is not legal advice. Free zones such as DIFC and ADGM have their own employment laws, and visa rules can change with little notice, so confirm with ICP, GDRFA or MOHRE before you apply or sign. Where official pages disagree, we say so above.
Sources
All checked 2 November 2026.
- UAE Government portal (u.ae): residence visa for family members (28 Sep 2026), remote work visa and retirement visa (7 Aug and 28 Jul 2026), payment of wages and WPS (14 Oct 2026), Emiratis in the private sector (15 Oct 2026), working hours (12 Aug 2026), types of leave (14 Oct 2026), employment contracts and termination (12 Aug 2026), end-of-service benefits (15 Oct 2026), taxation and corporate tax (28 Oct 2026).
- General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs, Dubai (GDRFA): sponsoring parents; golden residence for skilled professionals; green residence.
- Abu Dhabi Residents Office (Added): golden and green visas for skilled employees, freelancers and investors.
- Dubai Land Department: golden visa for real estate investors.
- Federal Tax Authority: corporate tax for natural persons (6 May 2024).