DoH licence: a clear guide for Abu Dhabi healthcare employers in 2026

A DoH licence is the authorisation that doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, allied health professionals and traditional and complementary medicine practitioners need to work in Abu Dhabi’s healthcare facilities, and for employers it sets the earliest date a new hire can start. The Department of Health Abu Dhabi runs professional and facility licensing through TAMM, the Abu Dhabi government services platform, with documents verified at source, a review by DoH and, for applicants who are not exempt, an examination.

This guide sets out each stage, the qualification rules, what DoH publishes on fees and timelines, the facility licence and how the Abu Dhabi route compares with Dubai and the federal ministry, as of November 2026. It is written for HR, credentialing and medical director teams. It is not legal advice. It draws on DoH’s public pages and standards, the unified qualification rules DoH applies and the published pages of the other UAE regulators. Where a figure is not published, the guide says so.

What a DoH licence is and who issues it

The Department of Health Abu Dhabi (DoH) describes itself in its facility licensure standard as the regulative body of the healthcare sector in the emirate, established under Law No. (10) of 2018. Its e-services page lists its professional and facility services under the line “The following services are available through Abu Dhabi Government Services Platform -TAMM”. The professional services include registering a new licence for a healthcare professional, managing an existing licence, managing part-time permits and secondments, and requesting a current professional status certificate.

The entry point is a TAMM account. DoH’s FAQ page tells applicants to register on TAMM using an ID number or UAE PASS and then apply for a medical professional licence, uploading documents for verification by Dataflow.

Qualification standards come from the Unified Healthcare Professionals Qualification Requirements (PQR). DoH’s PQR page presents the third version, issued by the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP), DoH, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and the Sharjah Health Authority. Under Cabinet Resolution No. (20) of 2017, dated 28 June 2017, “all authorities concerned with health affairs in the State shall observe the provisions of the PQR”, and the Minister of Health and Prevention may amend it in coordination with those authorities.

Eligibility for a DoH licence is therefore largely shared with Dubai and the federal system, while the platform, the examination provider and the internal procedure are Abu Dhabi’s own. The PQR says as much: internal licensing processes and privileges are subject to the policies and procedures of each authority.

Who needs a DoH licence

DoH puts the obligation on employers. Its Standard for Healthcare Facility Licensure tells facilities to “ensure all healthcare staff are licensed by DoH and operate within the privileges granted by the Healthcare facility”. The PQR, which sets eligibility, has chapters for physicians, dentists, nurses and midwives, allied healthcare professionals (pharmacy among them) and traditional and complementary medicine practitioners, each with its own titles.

The facility licence and the staff licences are linked. Under the same standard, a new facility can register its medical professionals once DoH has issued its preliminary approval, so staff registration for a new site waits for that stage. The e-services page also lists TAMM services for facilities to manage staff rotations and the annual leave of a pharmacist in charge.

Breaches carry consequences. THD has reported on DoH disciplinary action in Abu Dhabi revokes doctor's licence and suspends another over controlled medicines, and follows Abu Dhabi operators in its Providers section.

Qualification requirements for a DoH licence under the PQR

The third version of the PQR, dated 2022 and hosted on DHA’s website, describes itself as invalidating previous versions. It has since been amended: MOHAP lists Ministerial Decree No. (70) of 2024 amending provisions of the unified licensing standards, and DHA’s legislation page lists Ministerial Decision (51) of 2025 amending certain provisions of the PQR. THD has not reviewed a consolidated text, so licensing teams should confirm the current requirement for any title.

Under the third version, the core requirements include:

• Education: programmes must be nationally accredited, and qualifications obtained through honorary awards, correspondence or distance learning do not count.
• General practitioner: an MBBS, MBChB or equivalent, a completed internship of 12 months and two years of clinical experience.
• Consultant in a main specialty: two years of experience after a Tier 1 qualification or five years after a Tier 2 qualification. Tier 3 holders cannot attain the title.
• Registered nurse: a bachelor’s degree of at least three years of full-time study.
• Experience: it must be hands-on clinical experience gained in salaried or contractual employment, and teaching experience does not count.
• Good standing certificate: valid, not older than six months when the application is made, and issued by the regulator in the country of last employment.

Gaps in practice carry fixed conditions. A professional whose clinical practice was interrupted for more than two years must complete CME or CPD credits and an accredited clinical training programme, then pass the licensure exam. A physician with a gap of two to under three years needs 40 credits and four months of training; three to under four years, 80 credits and six months; four to under five years, 120 credits and eight months. Non-UAE nationals generally cannot apply after a gap of more than five years.

How to get a DoH licence in 7 steps

DoH’s FAQ and Pearson’s DoH page together describe the route on TAMM. It runs in seven steps.

1. Create a TAMM account. The professional registers on TAMM using an ID number or UAE PASS, as DoH’s FAQ instructs.
2. Apply for the licence. The application is made through the TAMM service listed by DoH as “Register a New License for a Healthcare Professional”, and the supporting documents are uploaded.
3. Primary source verification. Dataflow verifies the documents at source. The PQR says this covers educational qualifications, experience certificates and professional licences, among others.
4. DoH review. DoH’s FAQ says that once verification is complete, the application is transferred to its health licensing department, where the remaining documents are attached for review.
5. Approval for the exam. Applicants who meet DoH’s conditions are approved to enter the examination phase. UAE nationals, Children of Emirati Women and other exempt groups under the PQR do not sit it.
6. Pay and book. Once the Health Professionals Licensing Department approves the application for an exam, the candidate pays the DoH pre-booking fees in TAMM. A link to Pearson then appears in the TAMM account, and the candidate chooses a date, time and location.
7. Sit the exam and track the result. DoH’s FAQ says results appear in TAMM under “Licenses for Health Professionals”, inside the application whose number begins HPREG or HPACT.

DoH’s public pages do not publish an end-to-end processing time, and they describe the final issuance stage only through the TAMM services that follow it. Once a licence is live, changes, part-time permits, secondments and status certificates are handled as separate services listed on the e-services page.

Verification and the DoH exams

Verification comes first. The PQR requires the documents used for licensing to be verified directly from the original or primary source, and DoH’s FAQ names Dataflow as the agency. A verified report can travel: DHA’s licensing manual says Dubai accepts PSV reports transferred from DoH, the Sharjah Health Authority and MOHAP.

Exams are run with Pearson Professional Assessments, formerly Pearson VUE. Pearson’s booking guide shows that after payment the candidate selects “Book Pearson Vue Exam” in TAMM and is taken to Pearson’s website, and Pearson’s DoH page links to a test centre search. The rules on the exam itself come from the PQR:

• the mode depends on the title and may include written, oral and objective structured clinical examinations;
• all examinations are conducted in English, and no translator may attend an oral examination;
• an oral examination has at least five scenarios or questions;
• applicants get three attempts across the UAE authorities, and may be granted one last attempt with a different authority after failing three times with another;
• applicants must declare the number of attempts they have made, and the authorities may re-examine professionals when they consider it necessary.

Three groups can avoid the exam under the PQR. UAE nationals and Children of Emirati Women are exempt. Holders of certain international qualifications are exempt under its exam equivalency criteria: a consultant physician with a recognised Tier 1 specialty certificate from one of 20 listed countries, including the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and Germany, for example. And under its licence recognition rules, a professional with a valid licence from any UAE health authority is eligible for exemption in the same title, if they have not used up their attempts and present a valid good standing certificate and a full PSV report.

Exemptions are narrow. The PQR limits them to the exam requirement, so credentialing, experience and verification still apply, and equivalency exemptions do not cover professionals with a gap in practice of more than two years. Under the recognition rules, an expired or cancelled licence must be no more than six months past expiry.

DoH licence fees, renewal and CME: what is published

The Department of Health Abu Dhabi does not publish professional licence fee amounts on the public pages THD reviewed: its e-services page, its FAQ and its PQR page. Pearson’s page says candidates pay DoH pre-booking fees in TAMM before booking an exam, and DoH’s FAQ describes paying for a test booking from within the TAMM application. Employers budgeting for a hire should check the fee for the specific title in TAMM.

The validity period of a professional licence is not stated on those pages either. The renewal conditions that are published come from the PQR, which applies to DoH as to the other authorities.

Item	What is published	Source
Professional licence fee	Not found on DoH public pages	DoH e-services, FAQ and PQR pages
Exam pre-booking fee	Paid in TAMM; amount not stated	Pearson
Minimum annual CME or CPD	40 physicians and dentists; 20 nurses; 20 pharmacists; 10 allied health; 10 T&CM	PQR
Surgical logbook	Required to renew for surgical specialties	PQR
Good standing certificate	Not issued until three months of practice after licensing	PQR
Temporary licence or permit	Three months, renewable once	PQR
Facility preliminary approval	Within 20 working days	DoH facility standard
Facility permanent licence	Within 25 working days	DoH facility standard
Facility late renewal fine	25% of the licence fees a month, up to 6 months	DoH facility standard

The PQR requires CME credits to be relevant to the professional’s specialty. Where a surgeon cannot provide a logbook, the gap in surgical practice is counted from the date of the last operation under the gap of practice rules, and the authority can restrict the professional’s practice or direct further training.

Two other PQR rules matter to employers. The authorities will not issue a good standing certificate until the professional has completed three months of clinical experience from the date the licence was issued. And the authorities may issue a professional licence or temporary permit to practise for three months, renewable once, a provision relevant to short-term cover.

The DoH facility licence in brief

Facilities need their own DoH licence, and staff registration depends on it. DoH’s Standard for Healthcare Facility Licensure (reference DOH/SD/HFL/HCFL/V6), published in June 2025 and effective from September 2025, applies to facility services provided through the TAMM website, and a new facility must create its account using UAE Pass through TAMM.

The route has two stages. Preliminary approval, requested through TAMM, is processed within 20 working days and lasts six months “irrespective of the facility type”. During that period the facility may not receive or treat patients or promote its services. Extensions depend on the project: a new-construction hospital can extend for a maximum of five years, and a clinic in a dedicated building for up to 18 months.

The permanent licence follows within 25 working days. The facility requests a 90% inspection and then a 100% inspection, submits a medical malpractice insurance contract, a pest control contract and a valid DED trade licence, with contracts valid for 13 months, and obtains approvals from the Monitor and Control Center (MCC) and Malaffi. It then pays the final licensing fees and prints the licence.

Renewal is strict. Applications open two months before expiry, and a facility can renew for one or two years subject to DoH approval; a two-year renewal requires passing a Health Quality team inspection visit. Failing to renew within 30 days of expiry triggers a monthly fine of 25% of the licence fees for up to six months, and an insurance renewal delay fine of AED 10,000 a month, for up to six months, where the facility participates in health insurance, and the licence is marked cancelled six months after expiry. THD tracks new Abu Dhabi facilities in the Tracker.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

• A revised facility standard. Version 6 of DoH’s Standard for Healthcare Facility Licensure was published in June 2025 and took effect in September 2025.
• PQR amendments. Ministerial Decree No. (70) of 2024 and Ministerial Decision (51) of 2025 amended parts of the unified standards that DoH applies.
• A national platform. MOHAP announced on 1 February 2025 that it had launched a National Licensing Platform in collaboration with all health authorities, to issue a standardised professional practice licence valid across the UAE. Gulf News reported in August 2025, citing a statement on the ministry’s website, that the design phase was complete and the platform was expected to go live in the second quarter of 2026.

As of November 2026, THD could not find an official DoH or MOHAP notice confirming that the national platform has replaced TAMM for Abu Dhabi professional licensing. DoH’s e-services page still lists professional licensing among its TAMM services, so employers should continue to apply there until DoH says otherwise.

How a DoH licence differs from DHA and MOHAP

All three regulators apply the same PQR, but they run separate systems. A MOHAP licensing official told Khaleej Times in January 2025 that each entity licenses health professionals on its own requirements, the gap the national platform is meant to close. The table compares the published features of each route.

Feature	DoH (Abu Dhabi)	DHA (Dubai)	MOHAP (federal)
Online channel	TAMM, with an ID number or UAE PASS	Sheryan	MOHAP website or smart app, with UAE PASS
Verification	Dataflow	Dataflow; about 15 working days for a new report	DataFlow report must be positive or not verified
Exam delivery	Pearson Professional Assessments	Prometric for computer-based tests; oral assessments on a DHA platform	Valid assessment certificate required, valid for five years
Licence validity	Not stated on DoH public pages	1, 2 or 3 years	Not stated on the page cited
Physician licence fee	Not found on DoH public pages	AED 3,000 (1 year) to AED 7,500 (3 years) to issue or renew	AED 100 application fee plus AED 1,000 licence fee
Holders of another UAE licence	Exam exemption in the same title under the PQR	Transferred PSV reports accepted for an AED 300 fee	Evaluation service: AED 3,000 for doctors at private facilities, 2 working days

The Dubai figures come from Executive Council Resolution No. (49) of 2024, whose second schedule sets the fee for issuing or renewing a physician licence, from DHA’s licensing manual and from the Sheryan FAQ. The federal figures come from MOHAP’s licence service for nursing and medical professionals, which also requires at least two years of experience and a work gap of no more than two years.

The practical difference for employers lies in the routes between regulators. MOHAP’s evaluation service lets a facility license a professional who already holds an active DHA or DoH licence, at AED 1,000 for nurses and technicians and AED 3,000 for doctors at private facilities, with a published service time of two working days. Dubai accepts verification reports transferred from Abu Dhabi. And the PQR’s recognition rules mean a professional licensed in Dubai or by MOHAP can be considered for a DoH licence in the same title without repeating the exam.

What it means for employers and investors

For Abu Dhabi hospital and clinic operators, the DoH licence sets the pace of hiring. Verification and the exam stage are the variables, and because DoH does not publish an end-to-end time, recruitment plans need a margin. Professionals who already hold a valid licence from another UAE authority in the same title are eligible for exam exemption under the PQR, which can shorten the route.

The penalties DoH publishes in its facility standard fall on the facility. A facility licence renewed late attracts a monthly fine of 25% of the licence fees, and CME shortfalls, missing surgical logbooks and the three-month rule on good standing certificates all belong on a compliance calendar.

For investors, the facility standard sets the timetable for a new Abu Dhabi site: preliminary approval within 20 working days, a six-month approval period with extensions by project type, two inspections and the permanent licence within 25 working days, with staff registration possible only after preliminary approval. THD covers regulatory changes in its Policy and payers section.

What to watch next

• The national platform. Whether MOHAP’s unified licence replaces separate applications to the Department of Health Abu Dhabi, DHA and MOHAP, and when TAMM services move across.
• PQR changes. Further ministerial decisions on the unified PQR will flow through to DoH eligibility.
• Published fees. Whether DoH publishes professional licence fees on its public pages, as Dubai and MOHAP do.
• Enforcement. DoH disciplinary decisions on licensed professionals and facilities, which THD reports as they are announced.

Licensing teams with a specific case should check TAMM and the current PQR, and contact the Department of Health Abu Dhabi, the authority that issues the licence.