The honest answer to "how much does a maid visa cost in the UAE in 2026" is: it depends, and most of the figures floating around online aren't from MOHRE. There's exactly one fee MOHRE publishes officially for domestic-worker hires — the AED 100 work permit. Everything else (Tadbeer recruitment package, medical, Emirates ID, mandatory health insurance) is set by individual service centres or has no published tariff at all.
This breakdown is built to be honest about that gap. We separate what's officially published from what's commonly reported, anchor the salary line to live Rufy marketplace data, and walk through three first-year worked examples you can drop into your own spreadsheet.
What's officially published by MOHRE
Two anchors, that's it:
The MOHRE work permit fee is AED 100 per issuance, reduced from AED 200 in the 2019 fee revision and still in force in 2026.
UAE Federal Decree-Law 9/2022 governs the contract — including the worker's right to end-of-service gratuity (14 days' wages per year of service, capped at 6 months total), one return ticket per contract end, weekly rest day, and minimum 12 hours' continuous daily rest. These are not fees, they're obligations on you as the sponsor.
Everything below is a market estimate — useful for budgeting, not authoritative. Get a written itemised quote from a licensed Tadbeer centre before committing.
The Tadbeer 2-year package: commonly-reported range
Licensed Tadbeer centres bundle the worker's recruitment, flight, visa, medical, Emirates ID and insurance into a 2-year package quoted by nationality. The range published by news outlets like Khaleej Times sits roughly at:
| Nationality | Reported package (AED) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| African (Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia) | 5,000 – 7,500 | Lower end; supply-rich pools |
| Indian / Sri Lankan | 6,500 – 9,500 | Mid range |
| Bangladeshi / Nepali | 7,500 – 10,500 | Mid range |
| Indonesian | 9,000 – 12,000 | Upper mid |
| Filipino | 11,000 – 14,000 | Top end; English fluency + DMW signal |
Two things to verify before you accept any quote:
- Ask for the itemised line breakdown. A package that covers "everything" should be able to show you the entry permit, medical, Emirates ID, residency, recruitment fee and worker's flight as separate lines. If they can't, something's hidden.
- Ask whether the AED 100 MOHRE work permit, the Dubai basic health insurance, and the 2-year Emirates ID are included. These are non-negotiable government costs; centres sometimes leave them out of the headline number.
The line items inside a Tadbeer 2-year package
A typical package bundles roughly the following items. Individual figures vary by centre and emirate; treat these as planning ranges, not regulator figures.
| Line item | Typical AED | Status |
|---|---|---|
| MOHRE work permit | 100 | Officially published |
| Entry permit | 300 – 500 | Estimate |
| Medical fitness test (DHA / DoH) | 300 – 1,000 | Tier dependent |
| Emirates ID (2-year) | 375 | Standard |
| Residency visa stamping | 375 – 600 | Estimate |
| Dubai basic health insurance (annual) | 700 – 1,200 | Mandatory in Dubai from Jan 1, 2025 |
| Domestic-worker contract registration | 100 – 200 | Estimate |
| Recruitment / sourcing fee | Varies by nationality | See nationality table above |
| Worker's flight to UAE | 1,200 – 2,500 | Origin-dependent |
| Refundable bank guarantee | 2,000 (held) | Sponsor-type dependent; refunded on exit |
| Tadbeer admin / service fee | 500 – 1,500 | Centre dependent |
The bank guarantee is held, not consumed — you get it back when the worker exits the country at contract end. Treat it as a cash-flow item, not a cost.
Monthly salary by nationality (live marketplace data)
Once the visa is issued, the recurring cost is the monthly cash salary. These figures come from approved + publicly browseable Rufy caregivers in the UAE as of June 2026 — the same data that powers the Salary Index tool.
| Nationality | Sample (n) | p25 (AED) | Median (AED) | p75 (AED) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filipino | 1,062 | 3,000 | 3,500 | 4,000 |
| Sri Lankan | 41 | 3,000 | 3,500 | 3,800 |
| Cameroonian | 31 | 2,900 | 3,500 | 4,000 |
| Indonesian | 12 | 3,150 | 3,500 | 3,625 |
| Ugandan | 325 | 2,500 | 3,000 | 3,500 |
| Kenyan | 236 | 2,500 | 3,000 | 3,500 |
| Ethiopian | 37 | 2,500 | 3,000 | 3,500 |
| Zimbabwean | 25 | 2,500 | 3,000 | 3,500 |
| Indian | 11 | 2,750 | 3,000 | 3,650 |
| Ghanaian | 40 | 2,500 | 2,900 | 3,500 |
Two patterns matter for budgeting. First, Filipino availability is huge in the UAE (n=1,062 — by far the largest pool), which translates to faster matching but a stickier AED 3,500 median. Second, the African medians sit a consistent AED 500/month below Filipino — that's a real AED 6,000 saving over a 12-month period if your role doesn't specifically need DMW-accredited training.
For your exact city + experience + nationality, use the UAE salary index — it returns live p25 / median / p75 from the same data.
The hidden costs that show up in year two
Three line items most families discover late, after the first package has been quoted.
End-of-service gratuity
Under Federal Decree-Law 9/2022 your domestic worker is entitled to 14 days' wages per year of service as end-of-service gratuity, capped at 6 months' total wages. For a maid earning AED 3,000/month, that's roughly AED 1,400 per year of service — set aside about AED 120 per month so the bill at the end of the contract isn't a surprise.
Return ticket home
You're legally required to cover the worker's return ticket at contract end (and traditionally one round-trip during longer contracts). Budget AED 1,500 – 3,000 round-trip depending on origin and season. Manila tickets in December run higher; Addis Ababa or Dhaka in shoulder season is cheaper.
Contract renewal or replacement
If the contract renews at 2 years, expect a renewal package roughly AED 3,500 – 6,000 (visa stamping, new Emirates ID, refreshed medical, new insurance year). If the worker exits early and you replace via a new Tadbeer hire, the full package starts again. Most families set aside 10–15% of the original Tadbeer package as a replacement contingency.
Three first-year worked examples
Plug-and-play numbers. Replace the salary line and recruitment estimate with your actual quoted figures before committing.
Example A — Filipino maid via Tadbeer (2-year package)
| Line item | AED |
|---|---|
| Tadbeer 2-year package (mid range) | 12,000 |
| Refundable bank guarantee (held, not consumed) | (2,000) |
| 12 months salary at AED 3,500 | 42,000 |
| Dubai basic health insurance, year 2 (paid year 1 inside package) | 0 |
| Gratuity reserve, year 1 | 1,400 |
| Ticket reserve (1-year share) | 1,000 |
| Year-1 all-in (excluding refundable guarantee) | ~56,400 |
Example B — Ugandan / Kenyan maid via Tadbeer
| Line item | AED |
|---|---|
| Tadbeer 2-year package (mid range) | 6,500 |
| Refundable bank guarantee (held, not consumed) | (2,000) |
| 12 months salary at AED 3,000 | 36,000 |
| Gratuity reserve, year 1 | 1,200 |
| Ticket reserve (1-year share) | 900 |
| Year-1 all-in (excluding refundable guarantee) | ~44,600 |
Example C — Direct private sponsorship via Rufy (Kenyan, transferable)
| Line item | AED |
|---|---|
| No Tadbeer recruitment fee | 0 |
| Rufy platform access | 245 |
| MOHRE work permit + entry permit | 400 |
| Medical fitness + Emirates ID + residency | 1,300 |
| Dubai basic health insurance, year 1 | 1,000 |
| Contract registration + service admin | 500 |
| 12 months salary at AED 3,000 | 36,000 |
| Gratuity reserve, year 1 | 1,200 |
| Ticket reserve (1-year share) | 900 |
| Year-1 all-in | ~41,545 |
Direct private sponsorship of a transferable candidate runs roughly AED 3,000 less than the Tadbeer African-nationality route and AED 15,000 less than the Tadbeer Filipino route. The trade-off: you handle paperwork yourself (or via Rufy) instead of paying the Tadbeer centre to do it. See our route-comparison article for when each route makes sense.
Three ways to spend less without cutting corners
- Hire a transferable candidate already in the UAE. Saves the worker's flight (AED 1,500 – 2,500), shortens processing to 2–3 weeks instead of 4–8, and avoids the source-country admin lines inside the Tadbeer recruitment fee.
- Match nationality to role, not to the agency's premium pitch. If your role doesn't specifically need DMW-accredited Filipino training, the African-nationality pools offer the same level of care competence at a consistent AED 500/month lower median.
- Get three written quotes — and ask each centre to itemise the line items above. Quotes that lump everything into one number hide the AED 100 work permit (which you pay regardless) and the bank guarantee (which you get back). Both should be visible.
To estimate your specific case, run the figures through the UAE maid cost calculator. For salary specifics by nationality and city, the UAE salary index returns live medians from the same data. And the complete Tadbeer hiring guide walks through eligibility, the 19 worker categories, the WPS rules, and the legal contract obligations.
Or skip the Tadbeer middle step before paying anything: browse vetted maids and nannies in the UAE on Rufy. Every profile is approved and publicly viewable, so you can shortlist three candidates before any centre starts charging you a recruitment fee.