Who licenses what
Each emirate has one health authority for licensing. Sharjah Health Authority licenses practitioners and facilities in Sharjah. The Ministry of Health and Prevention covers Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah. Dubai and Abu Dhabi have their own authorities. If you hold a licence from another authority, tell us which one and we will confirm what Sharjah Health Authority needs for your file.
Requirements are set by the authority. We check the current ones for your file, and tell you honestly whether it will clear, before you spend anything.
If you are a practitioner
A Sharjah practitioner licence is applied for by the facility hiring you, from its own account on the authority portal, so a confirmed offer from a Sharjah facility is the real starting point. Among other things, the authority asks for the offer letter and medical malpractice insurance, a pledge letter from the hiring facility for temporary and visiting roles, a no-objection certificate from your current full-time employer if you are applying part-time, and a physical and mental health report if you are over 60. Once a complete application is in, the authority works to 8 working days, and issues your licence certificate and eCard.
Holding a licence from another UAE authority usually shortens the file, because much of your verification already exists. Tell us which authority you hold and we will tell you what carries across and what has to be done again - and we can prepare the file and your DataFlow verification before an offer arrives, so you are not waiting when it does.
Once you hold a Sharjah licence, renewal asks for a CME completion certificate and a BLS or ACLS certificate. Neither can be produced in the last week, so keep track of them from the start.
If you run a facility
A new facility in Sharjah is licensed in two stages. Initial approval is granted on the owner, the trade name, the location and the floor plan, and lets you start fitting out. The operating licence comes after an inspection and depends on approvals from bodies the health authority does not control: waste management registration, an approved emergency plan, building completion and, where radiation is used, a FANR licence. Those are the items that delay an opening, so they are the ones to start first. If your facility is already licensed by another authority, talk to us and we will confirm with the authority what applies to it.
Every practitioner on your team who works in Sharjah needs their own Sharjah licence, applied for by the facility. If several of your staff are moving at once, we handle their licences alongside the facility’s file, so both files move in step.