You get a UAE work visa from Pakistan through an employer, not by buying a visa in a market. The company obtains a work permit and an entry permit. You complete the Pakistan-side steps for people going abroad to work, then finish the medical, biometrics and Emirates ID after you arrive. A visit visa is not a shortcut. Working on a visit visa is a risk, and work permission goes through the employer and MOHRE, or through the free-zone system that employer actually uses.
Steps that should happen, in order
- A named company offers you a job. Check the legal name before you celebrate. The checks are in genuine Dubai jobs from Pakistan and fake offer letters.
- The employer files the work permission. For most private-sector jobs outside free zones you should be able to see an offer or contract in the MOHRE channel, not only a PDF from an agent. A free-zone company uses that zone's system. Ask which one, and ask to see it.
- In Pakistan, employment cases go through the Bureau of Emigration and the Protector stamp. See the Protector guide. The Bureau publishes the fee on beoe.gov.pk. This page does not invent a Protector fee, and it does not add an urgent cash extra.
- If an agent is involved, check that they are a licensed Overseas Employment Promoter. See how to check an OEP. Direct employment, with no agent, still has a Bureau process. Read that instruction on the Bureau site rather than skipping the Protector because nobody took a commission.
- A pre-departure medical is required only when your papers say so. If those papers say Wafid, book it on the official portal and read the Wafid page. The UAE also does a medical after arrival for residence. A fit slip from home is not the Emirates ID.
- You enter on the permit, do the in-country medical and biometrics, and receive the residence and Emirates ID. Keep copies. Check the entry permit yourself before you buy a non-refundable ticket.
The contract, the wage and gratuity
Ask which figure is the basic salary and which figures are allowances. Gratuity later depends on the wage in that contract, not on a voice note about overtime. Estimate it with the gratuity calculator and read the UAE gratuity rules. Put the basic salary into the salary converter and use AED to PKR only as a mid-market reference for the family. Do not plan on an average you saw in a video.
- If the Arabic and English copies do not match, stop and ask the employer to show the offer in the official system.
- Do not transfer a security deposit to a personal account. Who pays government visa fees is a MOHRE question. Get that answer from MOHRE, not from the person requesting the transfer.
- A typing centre can charge a service fee. That fee belongs on its own receipt. It is not the government fee, and it is not a job.
- Your passport stays with you. If the company wants to hold it, ask MOHRE before you agree.
- Anyone who guarantees the visa date in exchange for an extra fee is selling certainty they do not have. Medical appointments and security checks slip.
- Resign in Pakistan after the entry permit is in your name and you have checked it. An offer in a chat is earlier than that.
Sponsoring family after you have residence
A work residence does not automatically bring your family. Checked on 9 October 2026, the u.ae family residence page says a sponsor needs AED 4,000 a month, or AED 3,000 plus accommodation, for a spouse, unmarried daughters, sons under 25, and children with special needs. Read family sponsorship and compare that test with the basic salary and accommodation line in your own contract. Parent sponsorship in Dubai is a separate, higher emirate rule. This guide states no dirham or rupee figure for parents. Read GDRFA Dubai for a parent file.
Checked on 9 October 2026: the spouse and child salary line above is from the u.ae family residence page. No work-visa fee and no Protector fee is copied here. Those amounts are on MOHRE, ICP, GDRFA or the Bureau of Emigration when you open the relevant service.
After you are employed, renewal is a later job for the sponsor. The steps and the reason not to guess the late fine are in UAE visa renewal. If the company will not show you the labour contract inside the official system, you do not yet have the paper that gratuity and complaints depend on.