Home healthcare licence in Dubai, nursing at home
Clinical care at home needs a DHA licence and a medical director, while personal care at home is a separate permit.
- Usual route
- Usually mainland
- Extra approval
- DHA facility
- Timeline
- Months
- AML
- Not a DNFBP activity
A home healthcare licence in Dubai is a Dubai Health Authority (DHA) facility licence for nursing, therapy and doctor visits in patients' homes, beside a DET trade licence. The service runs under a medical director with DHA-licensed doctors and nurses. Help with bathing, meals and companionship is social care, which the Community Development Authority (CDA) permits.
- Covers
- Nursing, therapy and doctor visits in patients' homes
- Not covered
- Non-medical personal care, residential care and domestic workers
- Premises
- A base office built to DHA facility guidelines
- Timeline
- Months, set by staff licences and the final inspection
What a home nursing licence covers
The service sends licensed clinicians to the patient. A doctor assesses each patient face to face before any home care starts.
Covered
Not covered
- Covered by a CDA social care permit
- Covered by Elderly care
- Covered by domestic worker rules under MOHRE
- Covered by Physiotherapy centre
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Many providers want to offer both clinical and personal care, so we plan the DHA licence and the CDA permit together from the start.
Where a home care company is licensed
Your patients live across the city, so the company usually holds a DET licence and DHA licenses the service.
| If most of your clients are | Likely route | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Families and patients across Dubai | Mainland (DET) | DET issues the trade licence and DHA licenses the home healthcare facility |
| A clinic adding home visits | Either route | An existing DHA facility applies to add home healthcare to its licence |
| Patients of a healthcare free zone provider | Free zone | That zone's own regulator has its own home healthcare standard |
A free zone company serving mainland homes needs a DET branch licence or permit (Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025). Care billed to individuals sits outside QFZP qualifying income.
Several free zones license this activity; we match the zone to your visas, office and banking. Compare free zones
Three questions. The closest row is marked in the table above.
Your likely route shows here.
Home healthcare licence approvals
DHA treats a home healthcare provider as a health facility, with a base that meets its design guidelines and a medical director in charge. Personal care brings a second regulator into the file.
Before the licence
- Trade name and initial approvalDET
- Facility licence applicationDubai Health Authority (DHA)
The licence
- Trade licenceDET
Alongside the licence
- Medical director, doctors, nurses licensedDHA
- Medical waste contractDubai Municipality-approved contractor
After the licence
- Final inspection and activationDHA
- Social care permit if neededCommunity Development Authority (CDA)
We start the medical director's licence before anything else.
Which licence fits your home care model?
Two questions place most home care models: what kind of care, and who employs the carer.
Companies that sell both clinical and personal care usually need both regulators, so we map your service list before filing.
| Clinical care | Personal care | |
|---|---|---|
| Your company | DHA home healthcare licence A DHA facility under a medical director, with licensed doctors and nurses making the visits. | CDA social care permit Help with daily living sold by your company falls under the Community Development Authority. |
| The family | Domestic worker rules A home nurse employed by the family is a domestic worker under MOHRE rules. | Domestic worker rules Carers employed by the household sit with MOHRE, and recruiting them is a separate licence. |
Answer both to highlight your square.
What banks see in home care
Bank viewStandard; insurer settlements, family payments and staff payroll
Banks treat a home healthcare provider as a standard healthcare business once DHA has activated the licence. Income comes from insurer settlements and families paying for care packages. Payroll is the largest cost, because nurses and therapists are on staff from the start. We put the DHA approval, the staffing plan and the first patient agreements into the account file together.
AMLNot a DNFBP activity; the bank's own customer checks still apply.
Where home care setups go wrong
Calling caregivers nurses
DHA counts only registered nurses and assistant nurses as nursing staff. Caregivers without a DHA licence cannot give clinical care, whatever the job title says.
Starting visits without a doctor's assessment
DHA's standards ask for a face-to-face assessment by a qualified doctor before any home healthcare begins. Packages sold online as nurse-only visits run into this.
Leaving personal care off the plan
A DHA licence covers clinical work. Selling bathing, meals or companionship as a service needs the CDA permit as well, and adding it later restarts part of the file.
Questions about a home healthcare licence
A question about your plan? Describe your home healthcare plan and an advisor replies on WhatsApp.
Ask on WhatsAppHow much does a home healthcare licence cost in Dubai?
Do I need a DHA licence for home care in Dubai?
Can a clinic offer home visits in Dubai?
Can a foreigner start a home healthcare business in Dubai?
Related pages
IndustryClinic and healthcare business setupA clinic license in Dubai is two licences: the DHA facility licence and one for every practitioner.
ActivityElderly care centre licence in DubaiSocial care for seniors sits with the Community Development Authority, and nursing care brings in the Dubai Health Authority.
ActivityMedical laboratory licence in DubaiDHA licenses the lab and its director, then expects international accreditation within two years of the licence.
Clinical care, personal care, or both? Sort the licences before you hire
Fifteen minutes with a senior advisor on the care you plan to sell and the team you have. You leave with the licences you need, the route and the order of the DHA steps.
On the call
- The activity wording that fits your plan
- The route, and the approvals in order
- A written quote before any work starts
