If you are a nurse planning to work in the United Arab Emirates, the licensing system can feel confusing at first: three different regulators, three different exams, and plenty of conflicting advice online. This guide explains which license you actually need, what the exam looks like, and how to prepare for it — step by step.

The three regulators: which license do you need?

The UAE does not have one single nursing license. Your license depends on where you plan to work:

DHA (Dubai Health Authority) — required to work in Dubai (private and public facilities under DHA).
DOH (Department of Health, Abu Dhabi) — required for Abu Dhabi. You may still see the older name HAAD used for this exam.
MOH / MOHAP (Ministry of Health and Prevention) — covers the Northern Emirates: Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah.

The good news: the three exams test very similar nursing knowledge, and since the regulators moved to a unified framework, switching your license between authorities later is far easier than it used to be. The practical advice is simple — decide which emirate you are targeting first, then apply to that regulator.

Exam format: what to expect on test day

All three exams are computer-based multiple-choice tests delivered through Prometric test centres (available in the UAE, India, the Philippines and many other countries), so you can usually sit the exam in your home country before you travel.

For registered nurses, the pattern is broadly consistent across the three authorities:

Around 150 multiple-choice questions, single best answer
Roughly 2.5 to 3 hours of testing time
No negative marking — never leave a question blank
Questions are clinical and scenario-based, not simple recall

The syllabus concentrates on four areas. Based on published exam blueprints for the DHA registered-nurse exam, the approximate weighting is: Fundamentals of Nursing (~28%), Adult / Medical-Surgical Nursing (~43%), Maternal and Child Health (~16%) and Unit Management, Leadership and Ethics (~13%). Adult nursing alone is nearly half the paper — plan your revision time accordingly.

Passing criteria and attempts

The regulators do not always publish official cut-offs, so treat the numbers below as reported figures from candidates and preparation providers, not guarantees:

DHA is reported to require around 50% for registered nurses (lower for assistant nurses).
MOH and DOH cut-offs are not officially published; most preparation providers advise aiming for 65-70%+ in practice to pass comfortably.
Results are typically released within a few working days, as a pass/fail outcome.
You generally get up to three attempts; after that, regulators usually require additional study hours or qualifications before you can book again.

The safest strategy is to ignore the minimum and train to a consistent 70%+ on full-length timed mocks before booking your seat.

Eligibility: before you can even book the exam

Requirements differ slightly by authority and change over time, so always confirm on the regulator's official portal — but for registered nurses the common checklist is:

A nursing degree or diploma (a BSc from a program of at least 3 years is the smoothest path; diploma holders may face extra requirements).
A valid nursing license or registration in your home country.
Clinical experience — commonly two years post-qualification; fresh graduates should check the current experience rules for their category before applying.
A current Basic Life Support (BLS) certificate.
DataFlow verification — a Primary Source Verification (PSV) of your certificates, license and experience letters. Start this early: DataFlow commonly takes several weeks and the exam authorities require it.

Budget-wise, expect costs in several parts: the DataFlow verification, the Prometric exam fee, and then registration and license-activation fees with the authority once you pass. Fees change and vary by category, so verify the current schedule on the official portal before paying anything.

A preparation plan that actually works

Most candidates who fail do so for two reasons: they revise notes passively instead of practising questions, and they never train under exam timing. Here is a plan that fixes both:

Weeks 1-2 — Diagnose. Take one full-length mock cold. Do not worry about the score; you are mapping your weak areas. If maternal-child questions keep going wrong, that is where your hours should go.

Weeks 3-6 — Drill by topic. Work through the syllabus area by area, in your weakest-first order. Practise MCQs daily and — this is the part most people skip — read the explanation for every answer, including the ones you got right. The exam rewards clinical reasoning, and reasoning is built by understanding why option B beats option C.

Weeks 7-8 — Simulate. Two to three full 150-question timed mocks per week. Train your pacing: roughly one minute per question with time left over to review flagged items. After each mock, spend as long reviewing it as you spent taking it.

Exam week. Light revision only, one final mock three days out, and sleep properly. A tired nurse misreads stems; the exam punishes that.

Common mistakes to avoid

Booking the exam before DataFlow is underway. Verification delays are the #1 cause of postponed plans.
Studying from your home country's protocols only. The exams generally follow international, evidence-based guidelines — where your local practice differs, the international standard answer wins.
Memorising question dumps. Question banks circulating online are often outdated or wrong, and the exams rotate item pools. Understanding beats memorising.
Ignoring management and ethics questions. At ~13% of the paper, leadership, delegation, documentation and ethics questions are the easiest marks many candidates throw away.

Quick answers

Can I take the exam outside the UAE? Yes — Prometric runs the exams in test centres worldwide, including India and the Philippines.

Is one exam easier than the others? They are broadly similar in difficulty and content. Choose by target emirate, not perceived difficulty.

How long is the license valid? Licenses are typically renewed on a 1-2 year cycle with continuing education requirements — check your authority's current CME/CPD rules.

What if I want to move from Sharjah to Dubai later? Under the unified framework, transferring between authorities is a defined process and much simpler than re-doing everything — you will generally not need to repeat the exam if your license is active and in good standing.

More in this series

This guide is informational and reflects commonly reported requirements as of July 2026. Regulations, fees and cut-offs change — always confirm the current rules on the official DHA, DOH or MOHAP portals before applying.

UAE Nursing License Exam Guide 2026 - DHA, DOH and MOH Explained