How to Hire a Maid in Dubai: Full-Time, Part-Time and What It Costs
Thinking about help at home in the UAE? What is allowed, what a maid or nanny costs by the month or the hour, what she is entitled to, and the maids.cc offer for our members.
Help at home in Dubai, and anywhere in the UAE, comes in two shapes the law allows: a full-time maid or nanny on a residence visa, or part-time hours booked through a licensed company. Anything in between, including the woman in the WhatsApp group who "has her own visa", is against the law and leaves you with no protection if something goes wrong. Here's the practical bit: which route fits your family, what each costs, and what you take on as an employer.
Full-time or part-time: the first decision
A full-time maid or nanny lives with you or comes daily, and someone sponsors her visa: either you, or a licensed company that employs her and places her with you. Part-time means hourly bookings through a licensed company, with no visa in your name.
What is legal, and what is not
Under the UAE domestic workers law (Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022), a maid, nanny, cook or family driver needs a valid work permit and a contract on the ministry's template, and recruitment goes through MoHRE-licensed centres only. Her permit is tied to her employer, so someone on another household's visa, or an independent part-timer with no company behind her, is working outside it; the law also bars employers from letting a worker work for others. An unlicensed arrangement means no contract, no insurance and no route to the ministry in a dispute.
Sponsoring the visa yourself
A private 2-year package typically means an entry permit, a change of status, a medical fitness test, Emirates ID, medical insurance, the employment contract, visa stamping and a WPS salary account. Government fees sit on top of the centre's charges, and the immigration authority sets a minimum household income for private sponsors; the centre tells you the current figure before you commit.
Letting an agency sponsor
The other way is a licensed company that sponsors the worker and places her with you. maids.cc, licensed by MoHRE and known as Tadbeer until December 2024, does the whole thing over WhatsApp: a 2-year maid visa in five days at AED 8,500 plus AED 160 a month, or AED 10,960 with nothing monthly. That includes Emirates ID, medical, the salary card and end-of-service dues, with no deposit and no cancellation fee.
What a full-time maid costs per month
maids.cc's full-time maids start from AED 2,980 a month including salary, visa, transport and medicals; the exact monthly rate depends on the maid you choose, so ask maids.cc for the current figure for your shortlist. A monthly benefit for the maid comes on top, and live-out adds AED 950 a month. Money-back within 7 days and unlimited replacements if it is not a match.
What part-time help costs per hour
Hourly rates at maids.cc run from AED 45 an hour for a three-hour morning booking to AED 35 an hour for four hours or more after 1 pm. Childcare, cooking, elderly and pet care can be booked the same way, a low-risk way to try a nanny before committing to full-time.
What you owe her, whichever route
A domestic worker is entitled to her wages within 10 days of the due date, one paid rest day a week, 12 hours of rest a day with at least 8 in a row, at least 30 days of paid annual leave, a flight home every two years, up to 30 days of sick leave and her own passport. You provide accommodation, meals and clothing if she lives in, health cover, and the cost of her journey home at the end.
The mumma offer with maids.cc
We have partnered with maids.cc because it is licensed, the pricing is all-in, and the whole thing happens on WhatsApp rather than at a typing centre. Through the links below, mumma members get AED 200 off maid visa services and 50% off a first hourly cleaning or nanny booking. Both open a WhatsApp chat, and the discount is applied there.
Both are on our Deals page: maid visa and part-time help.
Something to do this week
Write down the hours you would hand over in a normal week and book one part-time session to see how it feels; if the answer is "every day", you are ready for full-time. The mums in our Community have hired, replaced and kept help through every version of this; ask before you decide. Worth reading alongside this one: what to do when your child is sick in Dubai.
Sources
- The UAE Government portal, Domestic workers: https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/jobs/Workplace-regulations/domestic-helpers
- maids.cc, maid visa: https://www.maids.cc/learn/visa
- maids.cc, full-time maids: https://www.maids.cc/learn/full-time
- maids.cc, part-time maids and nannies: https://www.maids.cc/learn/part-time
- Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 Concerning Domestic Workers and its amendments (MoHRE, PDF): https://u.ae/-/media/Mohre-2024/Federal-DecreeLaw-No-9-of-2022-Concerning-Domestic-Workers-and-Its-Amendments.pdf
- MoHRE, approved domestic workers services centres: https://www.mohre.gov.ae/en/services/approved-services-centers/domestic-workers-services-centers
- Tadbeer Housekeeping Co., the 2-year visa steps: https://www.tadbeer.me/2-year
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