Domestic worker visa process in Dubai reduced from 11 steps to 6

Hiring and managing a domestic worker in Dubai has become faster and simpler after the General Directorate of Identity and Foreign Affairs (GDRFA Dubai) introduced a fully integrated digital service that combines multiple government procedures into a single customer journey. The initiative, titled 'Domestic Workers Management', has now been recognized as the Best Digital City Experience under the Hamdan bin Mohammed Program for Government Services, with GDRFA Dubai celebrating the achievement at a ceremony on Thursday. The award reflects Dubai's continued push to streamline government services by reducing bureaucracy and making essential services more convenient for residents. Previously, sponsoring a domestic worker required customers to move between several government entities and complete multiple separate procedures. Under the new system, nine essential services are now brought together into a single integrated digital journey. These include employment contracts, health insurance, work permit issuance and cancellation, visa issuance, status adjustment, medical fitness testing, residence permit issuance, and Emirates ID services. The new experience has reduced the number of service steps from 11 to 6, consolidated 6 separate payment channels into 1, and cut the number of required customer visits from 6 to a maximum of 2. The initiative has already processed 10,813 transactions, eliminated the need for 25,676 paper documents, generated Dh4.3 million in direct savings for customers and reduced carbon emissions