DHA Licence for Pakistani Doctors: The Sheryan Process Step by Step

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) licenses healthcare professionals working in the Emirate of Dubai through its Sheryan portal. For Pakistani doctors the route is well trodden but easy to get wrong in sequence: documents are verified, qualifications are matched against the UAE's Professional Qualification Requirements, an assessment is passed, an eligibility letter is issued, and the licence is activated by an employer. This article walks through the stages in order. Fees, exact document lists and exam specifics change; the DHA portal is the authority for those, and this guide deliberately does not quote figures.

Stage 1: check the Professional Qualification Requirements

The UAE's unified Professional Qualification Requirements (PQR) set the qualification, experience and title a doctor can be licensed under: general practitioner, specialist or consultant, by specialty. A Pakistani MBBS with house job and PM&DC registration generally maps to the general-practitioner tier; FCPS or an equivalent recognised postgraduate qualification with the required years of experience maps to specialist. Read the current PQR before applying, because the title you apply for determines the assessment you face and the posts you can take.

Stage 2: Sheryan application and primary-source verification

• Create a Sheryan account and open a licensing application under the correct title and specialty.
• Upload the documents the application asks for: degree, PM&DC registration and good-standing certificate, house-job and experience certificates, identity documents, and any postgraduate qualification.
• Primary-source verification is carried out through the DHA's verification partner (the DataFlow process used across the Gulf). Delays here are almost always mismatched names, dates or certificates the issuing institution is slow to confirm.

Stage 3: the assessment

Most applicants in the general-practitioner and specialist tiers sit a computer-based assessment arranged through the DHA's testing partner (Prometric for DHA at the time of writing), with eligibility to book issued through Sheryan once the file is accepted. The content is clinical medicine at the level of the title applied for; third-party descriptions of question counts, duration and subject weightings conflict, so rely on the DHA's candidate information once eligibility is issued. Certain qualifications are exempt under the PQR's exemption lists; check whether yours is.

Stage 4: eligibility letter and activation

Passing the assessment leads to a DHA eligibility letter, which is not yet a licence. The licence is activated when a DHA-licensed facility sponsors the applicant and completes the activation steps, including the UAE's immigration and medical-fitness requirements. Eligibility letters have a validity period; an applicant without a job offer should plan the job search within it.

Common pitfalls

1. Applying under the wrong title; a downgrade or re-application costs time and fees.
2. Missing good-standing certificates or letters that do not state dates and posts clearly.
3. Preparing for the assessment from unofficial outlines rather than the DHA's own candidate guidance.
4. Treating the eligibility letter as the end of the process.

What this means for you

Start with the PQR, apply under the right title, begin verification early and prepare for a broad clinical MCQ assessment while the file is processed. FAME's DHA question bank covers the clinical content for the general-practitioner and specialist assessments.

Two questions applicants ask

Is the DHA assessment the same as MOHAP's or DOH's? No. Each UAE regulator runs its own assessment, even though the unified PQR aligns the titles and eligibility. Passing one does not pass another; transfer arrangements between the authorities exist and should be checked for your case.

How long is the eligibility letter valid? It carries a validity period set by DHA, within which a licensed facility must activate the licence. The current period is shown on the letter and in Sheryan; plan the job search inside it rather than discovering the expiry afterwards.

Sources and references

• Dubai Health Authority (Sheryan licensing portal and professional licensing information)
• DataFlow Group: primary-source verification used by Gulf health regulators