Your employer must insure you. Whether it must also insure your spouse and children depends on the emirate that issues your visa. A family member's residence visa needs valid health insurance, so agree who pays before you apply for their visas.
Go to: Who pays · Dubai · Abu Dhabi · The other five emirates · Pregnancy and newborns · What to ask HR
Who pays for whom
| Emirate | You | Your family |
|---|---|---|
| Dubai | Your employer | You, as their sponsor, unless your employer chooses to add them |
| Abu Dhabi | Your employer | Your employer, for one wife and up to three children under 18. You, for anyone else you sponsor, such as a fourth child or a parent |
| Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah | Your employer, through the AED 320 basic package | They can join the same package at the same price. Agree with your employer who pays |
Sources: DHA's health insurance FAQ, Article 5 of Abu Dhabi's Law No. 23 of 2005 and the MoHRE basic health insurance scheme.
Your own cover costs you nothing. Dubai's health authority says insurance costs "must not be deducted from employee salaries under any circumstances". An employer who passes any of the cost to the insured person can be fined AED 10,000 for each person, plus a refund, under Dubai's schedule of fines and Abu Dhabi's.
The family salary guide leaves dependants' premiums out of its monthly plans, so add them if your employer does not pay.
Dubai: your family is your responsibility unless HR adds them
Employers in Dubai are "encouraged" to insure spouses and children. If they do not, the sponsor must, according to DHA's FAQ.
- Gaps are fined at the next visa. Dubai checks the insurance record when a visa is issued or renewed. The fine for each uninsured person, employee or dependant, is AED 500 a month, and part of a month counts as a full month. DHA's own example: two uninsured months between renewals means AED 1,000 at the renewal (GC 08/2016).
- The minimum plan. Every Dubai policy must meet at least the Essential Benefits Plan, according to DHA. Ask for the policy's table of benefits: it shows the annual limit, your share of each bill and the maternity cover.
- Buying it yourself. Prices depend on the insurer and on each person's age. Ask insurers on DHA's list of permitted companies for a written price per person for the same benefits.
Abu Dhabi: the employer covers one wife and three children
Article 5 of the health insurance law makes the employer insure each employee, one wife and up to three children under 18. The sponsor insures anyone else he or she sponsors. A residence permit is not issued or renewed until the person is enrolled. The same document sets a fine of AED 300 a month for each person left uninsured.
For a family member your employer does not cover, such as a fourth child, a child over 18 or a parent, ask about the Department of Health's flexible health insurance policy. Any licensed insurer in Abu Dhabi can sell it:
- AED 750 a year, with cover of up to AED 150,000 a year and full cover in emergencies.
- Your share: 20% of outpatient care and 30% of medicines.
- Who can buy it: families of private-sector residents earning more than AED 5,000 a month, who have no employer cover.
- Medical review: the insurer reviews each person's medical history first. If it refuses, it must tell you in writing.
If your employer is registered in ADGM, section 49 of the ADGM Employment Regulations 2024 requires cover for employees and, where applicable, their dependants, in line with the Department of Health's rules.
Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah: the AED 320 package
Since 1 January 2025, the employer pays for health insurance when a private-sector employee's or a domestic worker's residence permit is issued or renewed, according to the MoHRE scheme page. Work permits dated before 1 January 2025 join at the next residence renewal.
- Price: AED 320 per person a year, on a two-year policy. If the visa is cancelled, the second year's premium can be refunded.
- Family: dependants can have the same benefits at the same price. A family of four on this package costs AED 1,280 a year, and the employer must pay the employee's AED 320.
- Not covered: pregnancy, childbirth and dental care. Chronic and pre-existing conditions are covered with no waiting period.
- Your share: 20% of inpatient care, up to AED 500 a visit and AED 1,000 a year; 25% of outpatient care, up to AED 100 a visit, with no charge for a follow-up within seven days; 30% of medicines, with an annual cap of AED 1,500.
- Network: 15 hospitals, 100 clinics and medical centres, and 250 pharmacies.
If you plan a baby, this package will not pay for the pregnancy or the birth, so look at other cover for your wife.
Pregnancy and newborns
- A wife who does not work, in Dubai. The insurer may make her wait 9 months before maternity cover starts. Emergencies during that wait are still covered up to the annual limit. If she is already pregnant when you enrol her, the pregnancy must be covered, but the insurer can charge her an extra premium (DHA maternity and newborn policy). Insure her as soon as she arrives.
- A newborn, in Dubai. The baby is covered under the mother's policy for 30 days, or up to her annual limit, with no waiting period. Adding the baby to a policy can be backdated by up to 7 days, so the cover starts from the day of birth.
- A newborn, anywhere in the UAE. You have four months from the birth to get the baby's passport and residence, and a daily fine applies after that (Article 12, Federal Decree-Law No. 29 of 2021). The residence needs valid insurance, so add the baby to a policy first.
Ask HR for five answers in writing
- Names. You only, or also your spouse and which children, and up to what age?
- Who pays. The employer, or you as sponsor, for each person, and from which date?
- Network. Dubai's 2022 bylaw defines the network as the providers named in the policy. Ask for the list and check clinics near your home and work.
- Your share of a bill. The co-payment, the annual limit and the medicine limit.
- Waiting periods. For pre-existing conditions and for maternity, above all for a wife who does not work.
Put the written answer next to the rest of the offer in what to check before you sign. If you are still choosing the role, start with TalenDir jobs.
Official sources checked on 16 October 2026. Cover generated with AI for illustration.
