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That's why a regular MOHRE fine check belongs on every owner's calendar. Most company fines land on the establishment file, not on the employee, and you usually find out only when a renewal bounces. Below is how to check, followed by the 12 fines we see most often, each traced to the paperwork mistake behind it.
MOHRE keeps a labour file for your establishment, separate from your immigration file. Fines for permits, contracts and wages sit there. You can check it three ways:
For a Dubai company, the establishment card and your staff's residence files sit with GDRFA Dubai. In the other six emirates, they sit with ICP.
GDRFA's Fines Inquiry service checks fines "on your file or those under your sponsorship". You search by File Number, UDB Number, Emirates ID or Passport Number, then pick the file type and emirate of issue. The form has no establishment-number field, so you check each sponsored employee.
Outside Dubai, check through ICP's smart services platform (smartservices.icp.gov.ae). A clean GDRFA result doesn't clear your MOHRE labour file, so you need both checks.
| # | Authority | Violation | Fine (AED) | The PRO mistake |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MOHRE | Work permit not renewed within 60 days of expiry | 200/month, max 2,000 | Expiry dates kept in someone's head |
| 2 | MOHRE | Employment contract not submitted within 60 days of entry or status change | 100/month, max 2,000 | Contract step forgotten after the visa was issued |
| 3 | MOHRE | Wages not paid through WPS | 1,000 per worker, max 20,000 | Cash or off-system salaries |
| 4 | MOHRE | Fictitious wage receipts or incorrect WPS data | 5,000 per worker, max 50,000 | Payroll not reconciled with contracts |
| 5 | MOHRE | Malicious or false absence-from-work report | 5,000 per worker | Report filed against someone who resigned |
| 6 | MOHRE / courts | Employing a worker without a work permit (criminal fine under the Labour Law) | 100,000–1,000,000 per worker | Start date set before the permit was issued |
| 7 | ICP / GDRFA | Establishment card renewed more than 30 days late | 100/month, max 1,000 | Card expiry missing from the calendar |
| 8 | ICP | Entry permits issued for an establishment with no activity | 20,000 | Visas issued on a dormant licence |
| 9 | ICP | Incorrect data from the service recipient | 3,000 | Typing errors nobody checked |
| 10 | ICP | Representative (PRO) card breaches, such as an expired card | 500 | The PRO's own card left to lapse |
| 11 | ICP / GDRFA | Overstay after the visa and any grace period expire | 50/day | Visa neither renewed nor cancelled |
| 12 | ICP | Emirates ID renewed more than one month after expiry | 20/day, max 1,000 | Renewal left to the employee |
Rows 1 to 5 come from Cabinet Resolution No. 21 of 2020, MOHRE's fees-and-fines resolution. The WPS amounts in rows 3 and 4 are in the same resolution's fines table. Row 6 is different: it is a court fine under Article 60 of the Labour Law as amended in 2024, not a MOHRE counter fine.
Rows 1 and 2 are slow leaks that nobody notices until a renewal is blocked. Prevention steps for each, plus Emiratisation penalties, are in our guide to common MOHRE violations and how to avoid them.
Rows 8, 9, 10 and 12 trace to Cabinet Resolution No. 89 of 2022 on ICP fines. Rows 7 and 8 appear on ICP's establishment card renewal service, and row 11 on ICP's visa service pages. In Dubai the card is renewed through GDRFA, so confirm the amount on your voucher.
Row 10 is about your PRO's own card. The representative card is what lets your PRO submit transactions for the company, and an expired card is one of six AED 500 representative breaches.
Late salaries show the chain most clearly. Under Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026, wages are due through WPS on the 1st of each month.
Miss that date, and MOHRE sends alerts on day 2 and suspends new work permits on day 5. On day 11, a repeat violator within six months gets the Cabinet Resolution 21/2020 fine and moves to the Third Category.
On day 16, establishments with 25 or more workers face an automatic labour dispute and a suspension of work permit issuance. On day 21 come precautionary attachment, a travel ban on the person in charge and possible referral to the Public Prosecution, aimed mainly at establishments with 50 or more workers but open to any size where MOHRE sees a risk to the labour market. The full ladder is in our explainer on the 2026 UAE salary rules.
Then come the knock-on effects. MOHRE may refuse to renew work permits for an establishment that isn't WPS-compliant. And if the permits and the visas behind them then expire unrenewed, rows 1, 11 and 12 start running on the same file.
MOHRE does act on this. In June 2025 it reported about 1,300 establishments with registered workers but no real activity, suspended their new permits, fined the owners more than AED 34 million and moved them to the Third Category.
People still search "absconding", but the regulation now calls it unexpected work abandonment. Under Ministerial Resolution No. 47 of 2022, you can register it only after more than seven consecutive days of absence without lawful reason, when you can't locate or reach the worker.
On MOHRE the service is called "Filing a Labour Complaint - Absence From Work", and any late work-permit fines on the file must be paid before you can file it. Filing one against someone who resigned or is reachable can count as a false report under row 5, at AED 5,000 per worker. If a report was filed in error, see our absconding report removal service.
In July 2026, MOHRE added Tabby as a payment option. Workers and employers can spread eligible fees and fines over 4 to 12 months, up to AED 20,000 per transaction, as reported by Khaleej Times and Emirates 24|7.
GDRFA Dubai also takes requests to waive or reduce residency fines through its "Exemption from fines for violators of Residence Law" service. You submit a letter explaining the violation and why you can't pay, and the Fines Committee can ask for more documents, so don't plan around it.
Look at the table again. Nearly every row is a missed date, a skipped step or a typing error.
You can hand that work to Sarmat's PRO services team in Dubai, with 12+ years of UAE government work and 5,000+ clients served from our office in Deira. Or you can train someone you already employ. Our comparison of outsourcing versus an in-house PRO and our guide to corporate PRO training set out both routes.
Your employee can learn this on the job over two years and make expensive mistakes, or get certified in three days and walk in prepared. The KHDA-certified Certified PRO Officer Program is taught by a mentor with 8+ years of PRO work and 500+ visas processed. It costs AED 2,890, payable through Tabby or Tamara.
Got a fine on your file you can't explain? Message us on WhatsApp with what the voucher says, and we'll tell you where it came from and what to file next. You can also reach us through our contact page.
Use MOHRE's inquiry portal (inquiry.mohre.gov.ae), or ask a MOHRE-accredited business service centre to check your establishment file.
Use GDRFA's Fines Inquiry service and search each employee by File Number, UDB Number, Emirates ID or Passport Number. Outside Dubai, use ICP's smart services.
AED 200 per month once a work permit goes unrenewed for 60 days after expiry, up to AED 2,000, under Cabinet Resolution No. 21 of 2020.
ICP lists AED 100 per month once the card is more than 30 days past expiry, up to AED 1,000. In Dubai, confirm the amount on your GDRFA voucher.
MOHRE sends alerts on day 2 and suspends new work permits on day 5. On day 11, a repeat violator within six months gets the Cabinet Resolution 21/2020 fine and moves to the Third Category.
Often, yes. Since July 2026, eligible MOHRE fees and fines can be paid through Tabby over 4 to 12 months, up to AED 20,000 per transaction, as reported by Khaleej Times.
AED 5,000 per worker for a malicious or false absence-from-work report, under Cabinet Resolution No. 21 of 2020.
Only after the card has been expired for more than one month. From then it's AED 20 per day, capped at AED 1,000. For renewal steps, see our Emirates ID renewal guide.
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