The UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) on 27 July 2026 unveiled a new set of digital services allowing residents to issue, renew or cancel domestic-worker residency visas entirely online through the federal Work Bundle portal (workinuae.ae). Developed with the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security and other agencies, the upgrade forms part of the government’s “Zero Bureaucracy” drive to cut paperwork and inter-agency visits. Household employers can now upload passports and photographs, e-sign labour contracts, schedule mandatory medical exams, receive Emirates ID numbers and pay all fees in a single workflow. MoHRE says the process reduces required documents by 45 percent and slashes average processing time from 10 working days to two. Payments are consolidated through a unified gateway, and applicants receive digital receipts acceptable for audit or reimbursement purposes. Although targeted at individual sponsors, the enhancement has clear spill-overs for corporates that subsidise domestic-help visas for executives on assignment. Mobility managers will be able to delegate renewals to relocation vendors with real-time status tracking, improving compliance with UAE residency rules and reducing inadvertent overstay fines. The platform also creates an auditable trail that can be exported for shadow-payroll or tax-gross-up calculations. Immigration consultants welcome the move but caution that biometric capture is still required for first-time Emirates ID issuance, meaning applicants must visit an authorised centre once per five-year cycle. They also advise companies to train HR or vendor staff on the new interface and to verify that saved drafts are completed within 30 days to avoid system expiration. The Work Bundle initiative, first piloted for private-sector work permits last year, is gradually expanding to cover investor visas, Golden Visas and, eventually, dependent passes—signalling a future in which almost all UAE immigration transactions are handled via a single digital window.
Source: Emirates News Agency (WAM)
