MOHAP License for Healthcare Professionals in the UAE

How MOHAP licensing works

You apply for a MOHAP license on the MOHAP portal, through the licensing or re-licensing of health professional service.

1. Apply on the MOHAP portal. You submit your application for your professional title.
2. Assessment against the PQR. MOHAP checks your qualifications and experience against the Unified Healthcare Professional Qualification Requirements.
3. Primary source verification. DataFlow confirms your degrees, experience, licenses and good standing with the institutions that issued them.
4. Prometric exam. If your title requires it, you sit the MOHAP licensing exam with Prometric.
5. Eligibility. MOHAP confirms you are eligible for the title.
6. Activation. A MOHAP-licensed facility employs you and activates your license.

Minimum experience for common titles

• General Practitioner: the internship year, then two years in clinical practice
• General Dentist: the internship, then two years of practice
• Registered Nurse: a bachelor's degree in nursing; no minimum experience
• Pharmacist: two years after qualifying, not counting work for pharmaceutical companies or in sales

Specialist and Consultant requirements depend on the PQR tier of the country where you trained. Physicians trained in Tier 3 countries cannot hold the Consultant title.

About the exam

Prometric delivers the MOHAP licensing exam. The format depends on your title and may be written, oral or an OSCE, in English. The PQR gives you three attempts in total across the UAE authorities, then one last attempt with another authority.

Exam exemptions

You may not need the exam if you are a UAE national, if you hold a qualification or registration on the PQR's lists, such as US or UK board certification, PLAB, USMLE or NCLEX, or if you already hold a valid DHA, DOH or SHA license for the same title with a good standing certificate and a full DataFlow report. No exemption applies after more than two years out of practice.

Moving from DHA or DOH

Apply to MOHAP for a transfer while your current license is still valid. Your DataFlow report is transferred to MOHAP, which may ask for more verification. Your new employer then activates the license. Most transfers take 3 to 5 weeks. See license transfers between authorities.

Good standing and time out of practice

Your good standing certificate must come from the regulator where you last practised and be no more than six months old when you apply. After more than three years out of practice, the PQR requires CME credits and a training period in an approved setting. Non-UAE nationals cannot apply after more than five years away.

Timeline and costs

Most MOHAP applications take 5 to 8 weeks, depending on DataFlow, exam availability and your documents. MOHAP, DataFlow and Prometric fees are paid to them separately. Your first consultation with us is free; our licensing service is paid.

Continuing education

Licensed professionals need CME credits in their specialty each year: 40 for physicians and dentists, 20 for nurses and pharmacists, and 10 for allied health. Surgical specialists also submit a logbook every two years for renewal.