Why Everyone Still Says “HAAD Exam” — and What Abu Dhabi’s DOH Licence Requires Now

Although HAAD no longer exists as a separate licensing authority, the exam referred to as HAAD still does exist; it is now referred to as the licensing exam issued by the Abu Dhabi Department of Health. Everyone who practises within a healthcare facility based in Abu Dhabi must pass the exam unless they meet the criteria for exemption. The Abu Dhabi licensing examination enables you to be licensed in the Abu Dhabi Emirate only; therefore, if you wish to work in Dubai, Sharjah or any northern emirate, the licensing requirements will be different. Many candidates do not realise how much time and effort goes into verifying all your documents prior to taking the licensing examination, and after successfully completing the examination, you will need to have your licence tied to a specific facility.

The information provided is current as of September 2026, as published by DOH, Pearson VUE and TAMM Portal. This information is general information regarding the licensing process and does not constitute legal, immigration or career advice regarding your specific situation. Many of the HAAD-era guides that continue to provide good results are for an older version of the licensing process; therefore, before you schedule your examination, you should determine what has changed and what has remained unchanged due to the name change.

Is the “HAAD Exam” Still a Thing? What the Renaming Actually Changed

Most exam provider booking pages are still currently showing the old name for the test centres, as well as how you can find them in Abu Dhabi. The old name (HAAD) is still evident on the search criteria for the exam list, as it is the email address used for candidate support (HAADcustomerservices). The title of the page indicates that this is still the Department of Health Abu Dhabi (DOH) Examinations, showing that the old name hasn’t completely disappeared from the exam provider’s systems, the language and terminology used by recruiters, as well as the search function on their website. To this day, there are still nurses that are still using the old name (HAAD EXAM-DOH/UAE) when posting to Reddit regarding the exams, such as the Reddit question.

Legally, the situation could not be more straightforward. The Department of Health was created under Abu Dhabi Law No. 10 of 2018 and legally replaces the Health Authority – Abu Dhabi (HAAD) created under Abu Dhabi Law No. 1 of 2007. DOH’s Healthcare Professionals Manual identifies DOH as “the body previously known as HAAD.” Ultimately, this means that DOH is now the same regulatory authority for the same emirate, but under a new legal structure of authority.

As important as the name change is to the overall process of nursing applications, it is much more important to understand what will happen after the applications are submitted. Currently, applications submitted by nurses to DOH are required to be submitted via the TAMM government portal. To be eligible for the nursing exams, nurses must adhere to the Unified Healthcare Professional Qualification Requirements (PQR). In addition to this, DOH has an entire PQR page outlining the PQR requirements as a third version issued jointly by MOHAP, DOH, DHA, and SHA, this page also notes that this version supersedes all previous versions and that the document will be available for download to nurses in April 2025. The process for applying to take the nursing exams is very similar to the method for booking an exam through Pearson VUE.

Two aspects remain constant. As indicated by DOH regulations, a DOH license is still required for practice as a regulated healthcare professional within Abu Dhabi, with most applicants needing to take the authority’s examination in order to obtain that license (as validated in September 2026). Therefore searches for “HAAD Examination”, “DOH Examination” and “Doh Prometric Exam” are all inquiries about the same licensing requirement. Of these three search terms, only “HAAD” applies to an organization that is no longer in operation, while “Prometric” identifies a vendor that does not align with DOH’s existing process of reservation and scheduling.

Which Emirate It Covers — and Where an Abu Dhabi Licence Won’t Let You Practise

If you’ve got a Department of Health (DOH) license, that means you can work at any of the DOH-licensed healthcare facilities located in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Those facilities are located throughout Abu Dhabi City, Al Ain, and Al Dhafra. DOH does not license healthcare workers beyond the boundaries of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

For healthcare worker licensure in Dubai, Dubai has its own licensing authority. A presentation produced by the law firm Al Tamimi & Company detailing the laws governing healthcare in Dubai during 2021 states that the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) is now the single body that regulates healthcare throughout Dubai, including free zones such as Dubai Healthcare City, and will issue a healthcare professional license through the DHA Sheryan System. Therefore, to activate a professional license with the DHA, the licensee must work at a DHA-licensed facility. An Abu Dhabi license will not satisfy this requirement.

For positions north of Dubai, it will be determined by the licensing authority of the healthcare facility. The Sharjah Health Authority (SHA) issues licenses for practitioners who work at SHA licensed facilities. The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) operates a licensure service for health facilities and has listed representative offices located in Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain. As a job offer may be made by a Sharjah facility, it is advisable to ask the employer to identify the licensing authority of the organization providing the offer before you make any assumptions about the license requirement.

One further distinction that must be made concerning the DOH license is that the DOH license provides the practitioner with the legal authority to practice in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi; therefore, the DOH license should not be confused with a job offer, work permit or residence visa. Each does follow its own application process through a separate authority, which is not within the scope of this article. The purpose of this article is only to provide information about the DOH licensure in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The Current Abu Dhabi Licensing Sequence, Step by Step — and Who Runs Each Step

According to the Department of Health (DOH) FAQ regarding medical professional licensing, the scheduling page of Pearson VUE and the TAMM service pages combine to explain the complete flow of the application process in six steps. As each step relies on the previous step, it is important to understand who is responsible for completing each step along the way. The map provides information on both the location of your application and the next step in the process.

DOH has specifically outlined the first three steps in the order in which they should occur. First, you will register through TAMM. Next, you will select from the services provided by DOH. Finally, you will complete an application for a medical professional license. You will also upload any supporting documents for verification by Data Flow Company. Once your application has been verified, your application will be passed to the licensing department, and only after that will you receive an approval to schedule your examination after meeting all of the conditions outlined by the DOH. By using the TAMM – Issue a Healthcare Professional License page, you can see your part of the process in three steps, which are to log into the UAE PASS, submit the completed application and uploaded copies of your supporting documents; and pay the licensing fee. (Checked on September 2026).

If you qualify for an Examination Waiver, Steps 4 and 5 will not apply to you. The following sections will take one step in the process, including who needs to take an exam, how to book an exam, what verification needs to take place, and what happens when someone passes the exam.

Who Has to Sit the DOH Exam — and What an Exam Exemption Doesn’t Cover

Under the terms of the PQR, effective September 2026 in Abu Dhabi under the Authority of Health, to be able to practice as a healthcare professional in the UAE, an individual must first successfully complete the Authority of Health’s examination. UAE nationals and children of Emirati women are exempt from taking the examination. Children of Emirati women must provide a birth certificate and their mother’s family book as evidence of their status. All other applicants are presumed to need to take the examination and must show proof of an exemption in order to not do so.

Generally, the documentation provided by the applicant as proof of exemption is provided via the examination equivalency route found at subsection 1.6.1 of the PQR. Therefore, the examination equivalency route at subsection 1.6.1 will provide the route for those applicants that have previously completed specific international examinations or currently hold an active registration through specific regulatory authorities. The list of qualifying examinations and qualifying regulatory authorities for the examination equivalency route can be found in the chapter of the PQR entitled Examination Equivalency Criteria. Therefore, if you are interested in using the examination equivalency route as evidence to obtain an exemption from the examination, you will need to find the title of the examination and the name of the regulatory authority in the Examination Equivalency Criteria chapter. Recruiters’ summaries of the Examination Equivalency Criteria chapter are not the official source of that information. You should not rely on any lists of countries you may have found online.

The error that many applicants make when interpreting the PQR is found in subsection 1.6.2. This subsection states that while an applicant who qualifies for an examination equivalency exemption will be exempt from taking the licensure examination, that applicant will still be required to fulfil all of the other requirements for licensure that are referenced in the PQR. Thus, in order to qualify for licensure, an exempt applicant must still complete verification, must still pass the eligibility review, and must still be in good standing with the regulatory authority. Finally, in accordance with subsection 1.7.5, an applicant who has been out of the field for a significant amount of time will need to pass the licensure examination regardless of whether or not their equivalency has been recognised.

Before booking your examination, you should familiarise yourself with all of the relevant rules regarding attempts. Section 1.5.4 of the rules stipulates that you are allowed to make a total of three attempts combined across all UAE authorities combined (not three attempts per individual authority). Furthermore, Section 1.5.5 states that if you do not pass any of those first three attempts with one authority, you will then be able to seek a final chance to pass with another authority. You must advise any authorities you approach for a final attempt of how many times you attempted with the first authority as well as your result(s). The examination is conducted in English. Therefore, you will not be allowed to use a translator during oral examinations; they will also require a minimum of five scenarios for your title. It is also important to note that attempting to complete an oral exam in Abu Dhabi before completing an oral exam for a Dubai application will count as one attempt for both jurisdictions.

How the Exam Is Booked: Approval First, Payment in TAMM, Then a Test Centre Slot

According to the recently released ordering guide from Pearson VUE (August 2026), the process for booking an examination is as stated below. This sequence of events can be confusing to a person who is ready to book their exam on the first day of availability. After the application has been approved by the DOH (Department of Health), the next step is the payment of the DOH fee in TAMM (the system used to schedule exams). After completing this transaction, a link to Pearson will appear in the dropdown menu on your account in TAMM so that you may select a day, time, and location to take your exam. You cannot select your seat until the DOH has approved your application since the link you will use to book your test will only be available to you after your approval from the DOH.

According to Pearson’s booking instructions, you will need to follow the steps to book your exam as follows: access the “Health Professional Licenses” dashboard, click on your name, go to the alerts section and find your application, select “pay” using the action menu, then navigate to “My Requests” and select “Book Pearson Vue Exam”. The DOH FAQ has provided additional instructions for the oral examinations. These include using TAMM ‘Future Exam Bookings’ or the ‘Exam Booking’ button, and then proceeding with the same payment process. According to TAMM, the cost to take a written exam for Physicians, Dentists, or Pharmacists is AED 100 in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. All other occupations will have a fee of AED 50. Pearson does not provide a separate fee for reserving a seat for a DOH exam.

You should check in with Pearson on the day of your exam. On the check-in page, you will be asked to provide two forms of identification and your personal belongings will be stored in a secure locker. A standard calculator will be provided for you electronically on the computer. After completing the exam, you will be provided with a printed report indicating whether you have passed or failed, and your score will be sent directly to the DOH automatically.

Payment errors lead to problems for everyone involved, including both sides of the transaction. An intern on r/EMREE dedicated to Emergency Management Response Systems recently reported a Technical Assistance Management Module (TAMM) payment issue, however, the intern was unable to submit a new request due to “an ongoing request” which prevented a new submission. Another user provided an alternate method for submitting a new application using DOH’s website navigation menu, which helped that user successfully complete his application. This is just one user’s experience, and it doesn’t represent a full procedure for others experiencing similar issues. The DOH provides technical help via email at dohtechnicalhelp@doh.gov.ae, by calling their 800555 number, or if there are questions regarding a test, via email at exam@doh.gov.ae. Pearson, the assessment/testing service used by the DOH, provides Pearson’s operational schedule along with their test email.

What DataFlow Verification and the Good Standing Certificate Have To Confirm First

The process of verification is separate from taking the exam because of the DOH’s requirement for original documents to be verified by the PQR in Sept 2026. Document verification will be done through the DataFlow (the Verification service provider), who does not take scanned copies of your documents at face value. According to DataFlow’s verification FAQ, they will contact the university, regulatory body, or employer that issued the document, and they will also verify that the issuer is accredited.

Even if your document is verified, it may still not meet the PQR’s definition (unless it is an official certified copy from the issuing authority), and some documents may not provide the required evidence of experience to qualify you. The PQR only recognizes hands-on clinical experience gained while working under your professional license and receiving a salary, and significant volunteer work and clinical observerships are excluded. Section 1.2.2.3 of the PQR specifically excludes experience that is considered non-clinical, such as teaching. To qualify under section 1.3 of the PQR as an engineer, or rep, you are required to have a valid license or registration from the country where you worked or the last country of home residence, and your license must reflect the experience necessary to qualify for your profession’s license.

The Good Standing Certificate is a specific document necessary to apply for an engineering license under section 1.3.3 of the PQR, and it must be “not more than six (6) months” before you submit your application. The Good Standing Certificate is issued by your last employer or the health regulator in the country or countries where you worked last to confirm your practice is not restricted. It is important that you request this document within six (6) months of the date that you intend to submit your application.

The average turnaround time for DataFlow is between 15 and 25 business days after they receive payment and a full set of documents. You may have a longer turnaround time if you are missing documents, your issuing authority is slow to issue your documents, or if any other disruptions occur. Any documents you submit after your first complete submission will cost you extra and will delay your report. By submitting all of your documents in your first application, you can save a considerable amount of time. You may track each of your documents at the following website: dataflowstatus.com. If DataFlow returns your report to you with a “Discrepancy” or “Unable to Verify,” you have one free opportunity to appeal for re-verification of your report within 180 calendar days of receiving it, although some cases may incur additional fees.

When a Break in Clinical Practice Changes What You Must Submit

Before considering anything else in the document, look at the duration of your career break, as there are conflicting opinions from official sources regarding the timeframe in question.

According to the PQR v3.0, the threshold is set at over three years (the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and other co-licensing agencies issued this in September 2026). In order to meet this requirement if you have greater than three years but less than four years of a career break, you will be required to have six months of additional clinical training in a recognised practice environment and have obtained at least 80 continuing medical education (CME) or continuing professional development (CPD) credits for physicians and dentists; 40 CME/CPD credits for nurses; and 20 CME/CPD credits for allied health professionals and pharmacists. If you have had a career break of four years or more but less than five years, you must complete eight months of clinical training and obtain 120/60 or 30 continuing medical education/CPD credits. This provision also applies to professionals who provide telehealth. In addition to the CME/CPD credits and training, non-UAE nationals must pass the licensure examination after a career break. Section 1.7.6 provides that if your career break has exceeded five years, non-UAE nationals are generally ineligible to apply.

While the Department of Health (DOH) has a Return Back to Practice page, it has not defined its requirements concerning career interruptions exceeding two (2) years as of September 2026. Similar to PQR v3.0, the DOH’s Return Back to Practice Page includes a table indicating the number of credits required and the duration of the training period for career breaks of two to under three years, which includes 40 credit hours for physicians, 20 credit hours for nurses, 10 credit hours for allied health and pharmacists, and a four-month duration of training. Other licensing bodies provide different guidance; the licensing services of the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) have included a two-year career break, while the licensing services of the Sharjah Health Authority (SHA) have included a three-year career break.

There is no definitive guideline for how a DOH evaluator should assess a gap of between two and three years. The PQR appears to replace earlier versions (so implies a three-year gap), but when checked, there was still a current link to the two-Year gap on the DOH Program webpage. Those who fall into this bracket should contact DOH directly, via the FAQ, for specific confirmation before paying for any training. The PQR counts the gap from when a clinician completed their required training and received their professional licence. Therefore, in determining your gap, you should be counting back from the last time you did any clinical work rather than the day your home licence expired.

Eligibility Letter, Licence, Activation — Why Passing Isn’t the Finish Line

The check-in page for Pearson VUE clearly states that a candidate’s exam results “are a component of the DOH application.” Therefore, even if a candidate has successfully passed an exam, they cannot be licensed to practice unless they also satisfy all the other eligibility criteria. Passing an exam simply indicates that the candidate has passed one of the admission requirements but does not grant them any authority to provide patient care.

Oftentimes recruiters refer to the eligibility letter sent out after an applicant sits for their exam as an eligibility letter. The information found on the DOH and TAMM websites related to this issue does not indicate how to define the eligibility letter nor does it provide any information regarding how long the eligibility letter is valid. Candidates should consider any reference made to the time period for which the letter is valid to be unsupported by any source. The DOH and TAMM sites both indicate that when a candidate is issued a DOH licence that licence is assigned to a specific facility. According to TAMM, the re-issue service allows current and former licensees who want to have their licence reissued at a different facility.

The role of the facility in issuing a DOH licence is more complicated than merely providing a location for the licence. The DOH has a document called the Healthcare Professionals Manual in which they outline their responsibilities as a provider to ensure that they employ only personnel with current DOH licence(s) and that employees practice within their scope and privileges. According to the FAQ section of the DOH website, DOH has granted clinical privileging to each facility to establish a process for granting, limiting and/or withdrawing privileges of clinical procedures from healthcare professionals based upon their training and competence. Personal identification information is listed on each provider’s DOH licence indicating their profession, specialty and seniority. The facility’s committee determines which of the procedures contained in the individual provider’s DOH licence may be performed by the provider within the particular facility.

An example of the gap is a statement, made in January 2026, by a nurse on r/AbuDhabiJobs, who completed her own DOH exam, but had “heard nothing for 20 days” from the larger hospitals. In subsequent updates, she indicated that she returned to Europe. While one account does not indicate a pattern, it does provide an example of how the regulatory agency processes an application. The application process ends with the issuance of a letter of eligibility, which must then be processed by an employer into a working license. In addition to a working license, the employment contract and visa are not relevant to the licensing process and are not addressed in this guide.

Keeping the Licence: Renewal, Validity and the CME Hours You Owe

The renewal date of a licence issued through DOH is displayed directly on the licence. The Healthcare Professionals Manual requires every licence to have the renewal date published in addition to other information. You can trust the printed date on a licence more than any validity period mentioned in a reference guide. Different agencies publish different records, and if you check the TAMM renewal page (as of September 2026) you’ll discover it lists one-year validity periods for just some of the categories listed.

The timing discussed in the official documents is very different. The manual published in 2017 states that applications for renewal must be submitted between 90 days prior to the renewal date and no more than six months after expiration. If a licence is not renewed before this date, the licence may be suspended until all renewal requirements are met along with payment of delay fees. On the other hand, the current TAMM renewal process is completed by third parties representing your facility. To apply for TAGG renewal, the application must be submitted “within 60 days after the 6-month due date”. Therefore, based on the two documents’ timing recommendations, one could easily devise a strategy for ensuring compliance with both: submit your request for renewal early enough to meet the printed renewal date, and continue to work on ensuring compliance with TAGG’s requirements without relying on a grace period after that point.

The renewal process requires that you submit copies of your continuing education certificates. Section 2.2 of the PQR establishes the annual minimum hours required by each profession. Physicians and Dentists: 40 CME/CPD hours in a year. Nurses and Pharmacists: 20 CME/CPD hours in a year. Allied Health, Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine Practitioners: 10 CME/CPD hours in a year. The DOH website states that these minimum hours are part of “the revalidation of your licence”, and there is an additional requirement that no more than 50% of your Category 2 hours can come from self-directed learning; for example a nurse can use 10 Category 1 CME hours but will need to have at least 10 in Category 1 out of the total required 20. Along with the CME/CPD certificates, surgeons are required to submit a logbook every two years. According to the TAMM website, the current cost of renewing your medical licence in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (as of September 2026) as a physician/dentist is AED 750 per year and for pharmacists AED 200 plus a non-refundable application fee of AED 100.

What It Costs — and Why the Published Fee Figures Don’t Agree

Search for the cost of the HAAD exam and you’ll find totals quoted to the dirham, all different. Pabau, a clinic-software company, reports consultancy totals from about AED 2,190 for a nurse to about AED 5,335 for a physician, and notes that DOH publishes no consolidated fee schedule. Those totals aren’t wrong because they differ. They differ because each one bundles charges from different parties, on different dates, for different professions.

The only figures that bind you are those displayed on the service that your charge is taken from. Here’s what the official pages showed in September 2026 for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and who sets each amount:

You can find the source of most discrepancies within the gap on that table. DataFlow provides the following information: that its total charges depends on the package you select and the number of documents you submit, and that some Universidade or Regulatory authorities charge their own additional release fees. Then you have the fees charged by your own home Regulatory Authority for the issuance of a certificate of good standing. Additionally, if you will be requiring Translations, they are billed separately. Meanwhile, as shown in the TAMM application its charge structure also conceals certain Fee Types under the “Show More” control. Furthermore, the Nurse charges were not available in the version of the TAMM application that the author provided for this Guide.

Therefore, the total you find online could be used as a rough operating range for budgeting purposes only. To develop an estimate, you will need to gather all the related information on each line item. Use the DOH fees on their TAMM service page the day you pay, use DataFlow’s fees when completing your checkout, and include the fee charged by your Regulatory Authority for good standing.

Taking an Abu Dhabi Licence to Dubai or the Northern Emirates

If you want to move your practice to another emirate, then you will need to get the appropriate licence from the relevant authority at that location. It is common practice for all four co-issuing Authorisation Authority Partners (or AAPs) to recognise each other’s licences as long as they all have a written agreement in place. In addition, the PQR through the AAPs as published in September 2026 outlines the process for a licence to be issued in one emirate based on the licensing requirements set out by all four AAPs. If you have met the requirements to gain a licence and you have not exhausted your allowed exam attempts for the title that you currently have, then you can be exempted from having to take an examination. You will be required to hold a valid licence issued by one of the AAPs, have a valid Good Standing Certificate, and provide a complete and up-to-date verification report if requested by the receiving authority.

There are some other factors that restrict an applicant’s ability to apply for an exemption based on Section 3 of the PQR. For example, if you hold a licence for a specific title and you wish to also hold that same title at another authority in a different emirate, you need to apply for an equivalent title with the receiving authority and demonstrate that you have met all of the PQR preconditions for that title. If your licence has expired or been cancelled more than six months ago when you apply, you will not be eligible for the exemption process. If one of the authorities suspends or revokes your licence, all other authorities will also do so. As stated in Section 1.3.6, you are required to have completed a minimum of three months of clinical experience with your current licence prior to being issued a Good Standing Certificate by any authority, or if you do not meet that requirement, Section 3.3 accepts an employee certificate from your last registered health facility instead. The DataFlow process allows for the transfer or reissuing of verification reports between the four authorities when the earlier issued verification report meets the new authority’s requirements.

Licensing processes are governed by the respective processes of each Receiving Authority. Licences will only be activated by the DHA for DHA-licensed facilities that are “active”; SHA will require all applicants to submit a copy of their Professional Assessment Certificate and an Offer Letter. The MOHAP application process includes requesting a MOHAP Professional Evaluation and providing a verified document from an approved verification company (e.g. DataFlow). Each authority will also charge an application fee. For MOHAP & SHA the application fee for both Doctors and Nurses working within a Private Facility (September 2026) is AED 3,000; for Nurses AED 1,000.

You may have heard that one licence would allow for practice all over the UAE in the future. According to WAM reported in their article published February 2025, MOHAP has launched a National Licensing Platform that “issues a standard Professional Practice Licence valid across the entire UAE”. Despite this, when we checked with MOHAP and SHA Service Pages in September 2026 neither of these Service Pages were currently issuing Licences for use in all seven Emirates. Therefore, unless you have been advised differently by the receiving Authority, you should assume that you will have to apply for Licences separately.

How To Check Any HAAD-Era Claim Against Today’s Position

Even though an old guide may still state that it is based upon HAAD, the guide was likely created before the change was made and therefore may reference different rules, different vendors or different portals than what a current guide would reference. Most claims fall into one of a few types, and each type has one official place that settles it:

Two habits can help when checking the date of a guide: First, you should check the date the guide was written against the date of the April 2025 PQR. If the date of the guide is before April 2025, and it notes either exam experience rules or gap thresholds or equivalency lists, it most likely is noting a previous version of the documents. Second, when checking who made the claim, you should also check the fee totals for that organisation and what the pass mark is for a training centre. For training centres in particular, pass marks and question counts are stated differently on various training centres and did not reflect the same information on any of the DOH or Pearson pages reviewed for this article.

You may run into situations that the table cannot solve for you, where there are conflicting answers given by two different official pages. The career-break threshold is a prime example of this. When you come across this situation, do not simply select the version that favours you. Make note of both answers and document the dates you viewed both pages. In addition to documenting the dates, you should contact the DOH regarding your specific file and ask them for a clarification on the career-break threshold.

Where Most Applicants Go Wrong

An incorrect assumption often made by prospective credential holders is that they are not concerned with anything other than passing the examination; whereas, the timing of each applicant’s respective required documents actually plays a larger role in determining how long an applicant’s file takes to process. The age of the Good Standing Certificate must not exceed six months on the date of submission, and if an applicant’s acquired work experience does not meet the definitions of experience outlined in the current PQR then they will be unable to successfully complete the certification process; additionally, if an applicant has taken a career break that was longer than the established threshold during that timeframe, this will prevent them from successfully completing the certification process. Therefore, prior to submitting an application fee, it is critical that applicants thoroughly review the requirements of the title being applied for, according to the current PQR, and to document the length of time in their career history prior to submitting their applications, and, in addition to these document requirements, applicants should ensure that they submit the documentation for their application while it is still valid. Following successful completion of the examination, it is also important for the applicant to keep the facility at which they plan to work, in mind, because this is where the license will actually be used.

Frequently Asked Questions

I already hold a DHA licence. Do I have to sit the DOH exam?

PQR 3 (September 2026) lists requirements that entitle you to an examination exemption if you are eligible and have not already used your examination attempts; however, you must also maintain valid “good standing” status with DOH, as well as providing a complete verification report.

Can I book the DOH exam before DataFlow finishes?

No. According to DOH’s Frequently Asked Questions page, verification and review of your licensure application occur before you take any examinations. You must pay for your application, and the Pearson VUE booking link is visible in your TAMM account only after DOH approves your application.

Do UAE nationals have to sit the exam?

PQR 1.5.1 states that children of Emirati females and UAE nationals are exempt from taking examinations. In order for children of UAE nationals to be considered for exemption, they must submit both their birth certificate and their mother’s family book. All other requirements are still applicable to applicants seeking exemption (September 2026).

My DataFlow report says “Discrepancy”. What now?

DataFlow allows applicants who have received a verification report to submit one free appeal for re-verification within 180 days of receiving the report, and the appeal may be submitted at dataflowstatus.com. Additional charges may apply if the applicant did not provide sufficient details for DataFlow to conduct a verification.