DHA Licensing Process in Dubai
DHA licensing follows the standard PQR framework (see full process overview), with these DHA-specific details:
Looking for profession-specific detail? See our dedicated guides for physician licensing, dentist licensing, nursing licensing, and allied health licensing in the UAE.
Licensing Exam
The DHA exam is a Computer-Based Test (CBT) administered by Prometric. It consists of 100–150 questions over 120–180 minutes, depending on exam type. You may sit for the exam concurrently with PSV — you don't have to wait for PSV to finish first. Fees range from AED 500–900 depending on profession.
After You Pass
Once PSV and the exam are complete, you apply for jobs and receive an acceptance letter from an authorized healthcare facility willing to employ you. You present this acceptance letter to DHA, which then issues your Eligibility Letter — valid for one year. Your employer then activates your license. If you don't activate within that one-year window, you may need to repeat parts of the process.
Applying as a Trainee
You'll need supervised training at an approved facility before applying for a full DHA license if you don't yet have the prerequisite 2 years of clinical experience, or you've had a practice gap of 3 years or more.
Complete the PSV and the licensing exam, then contact an authorized healthcare training facility and receive an acceptance letter from them. Afterwards, apply for an eligibility letter from DHA, and present this letter to the training facility — the facility uses it to activate your trainee license.
Find approved training facilities via the DHA medical facility directory, filtering by Add-Ons: Clinical Training Service.
Frequently Asked Questions: DHA Dubai
Sheryan is the official electronic licensing system of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA). It is used for initial eligibility evaluation, document submissions, licensing exam scheduling, receiving your DHA Eligibility Letter, and linking with your employer for license activation.
A DHA Eligibility Letter is valid for one year from the date of issuance. During this period, you can present it to prospective healthcare employers in Dubai to activate your official practice license.
Yes. Under DHA regulations, you may sit for the Prometric CBT licensing exam concurrently with DataFlow Primary Source Verification without waiting for PSV to complete first.
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