In the UAE the worker's sponsor and the company the worker works for are often different: a licensed labour-supply company sponsors and deploys to clients. The Philippine side accepts both structures but accredits them differently, and the difference is paperwork a contractor can prepare in a week or a manpower company can stumble over for months. This guide sets out both routes and what the MWO asks of each.
Your company is accredited at the MWO with jurisdiction for the emirate, in its own name: recruitment agreement with our agency, job order by position, master employment contract, undertaking of the principal, contingency and evacuation plan, trade licence; documents in two sets, filed by an authorised employee of your company or by our accredited liaison officer. Each worker's contract is then verified against the master contract before the OEC. The employment relationship is yours from the first day; the MoHRE work permit, the WPS wages and the gratuity are in your name. This is the structure most hotels, contractors, facilities companies and manufacturers use, and the one we recommend where the company holds the licence for the activity.
A manpower company licensed by MoHRE for labour supply sponsors and employs the workers and deploys them to a client under a service agreement. The MWO accredits the manpower company as the principal — MWO Dubai's checklist calls it an on-demand labour supply company — and, because the worksite and the day-to-day employer differ from the sponsor, requires in addition the service agreement between the manpower company and the client stating the total manpower requested, the contract duration and the terms, the client's manpower request to the manpower company, the client's business or trade licence, and a statement signed by both parties answering three questions: who sponsors the workers' visas, who pays the airfare, and who provides accommodation, food and transport. Staffing companies deploying cleaners and related occupations file the same set; drivers' contracts carry an addendum. The master employment contract still binds the sponsor to the package — the AED 1,500 basic and the standard provisions — whatever the client pays the manpower company. Cleaning companies deploying to client premises are treated the same way.
Where a client changes, the deployment documents change with it; a manpower company that redeploys Filipino workers to clients the MWO has not seen risks the next verification. We set up the file so that each client is documented before deployment, not after.
MWO Dubai Advisory No. 2-A, Series of 2023 restricts who may submit, follow up, collect and pay: for job orders, employees of the hiring company carrying proof of employment — visa, company ID — or an officer of the Philippine recruitment agency holding a DMW liaison-officer accreditation; for direct, name or rehire cases, employees of the hiring company or specifically qualified entities with a special power of attorney. Typing centres and unaccredited intermediaries are refused. Our liaison officers are accredited for exactly this, and your PRO is the other authorised route.
In both structures recruitment runs through our DMW-licensed agency in Manila under the employer-pays principle; our Dubai HR consultancy advises on the structure, prepares the file and coordinates with your PRO — it never becomes the sponsor and never supplies workers itself.
On the UAE side, your company is the sponsor: a signed job offer, MoHRE work-permit approval (or the free-zone equivalent), an entry permit valid sixty days, then medical, Emirates ID biometrics, contract registration and the residence visa — typically two to four weeks once documents are complete. Roles are classified by MoHRE skill level; levels 1–2 require an attested degree, levels 3–4 a diploma. Our UAE company, licensed for HR consultancy in Dubai, advises on classification, attestation and Emiratisation standing and coordinates the sequence with your PRO — it does not place or supply workers, and the employment relationship is yours.
Recruitment in the Philippines runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024). Your company is accredited as a principal at the Migrant Workers Office in Dubai or Abu Dhabi — recruitment agreement, job order, master employment contract, undertaking, contingency plan and trade licence — and the verified file is registered with the Department of Migrant Workers. Every selected worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate.
Everything here is subject to applicable UAE MoHRE or free-zone, licensing, attestation and visa requirements.
No. Our UAE entity holds an HR-consultancy licence and advises; it does not sponsor, employ or supply workers. The sponsor is your company or a licensed labour-supply company you contract.
For every client the workers will go to: the service agreement (total manpower, duration, terms), the client's manpower request, the client's business or trade licence, and the joint statement on who sponsors the visas, pays the airfare and provides accommodation, food and transport — plus the standard accreditation documents in your own name.
An employee of your company with proof of employment, or our DMW-accredited liaison officer. Advisory 2-A excludes typing centres and unaccredited agents.
No — the master employment contract binds whoever sponsors to the AED 1,500 basic and the standard provisions; a client's rate to a manpower company is a separate commercial matter.
A free-zone company is the direct sponsor under its free-zone authority; the MWO file is the same with the free-zone licence in place of the MoHRE trade licence.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.