Health insurance when emigrating to the United Arab Emirates: the points to check

This page gives you an overview of the health insurance obligation in the United Arab Emirates if you are planning a move from Germany. The details for Dubai are on the page Health insurance for expats in Dubai. Here you see the emirates compared and the differences.

Two differences are worth a look: the family and the policy. In Dubai, the sponsor insures the family members of a resident, unless the sponsor’s employer enrols them. In Abu Dhabi, the employer insures its employees and their family, including a wife and three children under 18, and the sponsor insures the people it sponsors whom the employer does not cover; without enrolment there is no residence permit and no renewal.

Which authority decides your case in which emirate is something you clarify directly there before the move, not through this overview.

Who has to provide the insurance depends on your situation. The table matches situations to the sources.

The Dubai Health Authority describes dependants as spouses and dependent children under your sponsorship; employers are encouraged to cover dependants but are not obliged to, otherwise the sponsor provides the cover.

In Dubai, employers and sponsors present a policy when the residence permit is issued or renewed; the authority coordinates with the immigration authority so that entry, visit and residence permits depend on insurance cover.

In Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah and Umm al-Quwain, private employers and employers of domestic workers have had to buy a policy since 1 January 2025 as a condition for issuing or renewing the residence permit; for older permits that are still valid, this applies only at renewal. For self-employed people, retirees and families in the Northern Emirates, you clarify the rules with the authority of the respective emirate.

Here are the routes you can check and what you clarify about each.

You check the authority pages on the day of your move against the status of this page.

Before you deregister (Abmeldung) in Germany, you clarify in writing what happens to your current insurance. The questions below apply to any destination country. They are questions, not legal advice: the answers are in your contract documents or come from the body you ask.

Two things you clarify beforehand with your Krankenkasse or private insurer: the day your cover in Germany ends, and the cover for the time until the cover begins at your destination. The Federal Foreign Office advises adequate travel health insurance for trips to the UAE. The legal position in Dubai is set out in more detail on the page Health insurance for expats in Dubai.

If you have statutory insurance: questions for your Krankenkasse

• What happens to my membership when I deregister in Germany, and on what date does it end?
• Can I suspend the membership or take it up again later, and under what conditions?
• What confirmation of my previous insurance periods do I receive, and how quickly?
• What applies to co-insured family members: who stays insured and who does not?
• Until which day does my cover apply, so that no gap arises between Germany and the destination emirate?
• Does the cover apply to trips to the emirates, and for how long?

If you have private insurance: questions for your insurer

• Does my contract end with the move, is it suspended or does it continue?
• Is there an Anwartschaft (a German option to keep certain rights in private insurance while abroad), and what is preserved under it? Ask about the difference between the small and the large Anwartschaft, and whether a new health assessment would be needed on a return.
• Does my contract apply in the destination country, and for how long at a stretch?
• Which documents do I receive in writing before I cancel?
• What happens to my contract if I get a mandatory policy in the destination emirate?
• Does the policy apply in the emirate where I will live, and for how long?

Do not cancel any contract before it is clarified in writing what applies afterwards. We explain the connections on the pages Health insurance when emigrating and PKV and Anwartschaft. For families, there is more at Health insurance for the family abroad.

1. Treating all emirates alike

   In Dubai, the employer insures its employees, and the sponsor insures the people it sponsors who have no employer. In Abu Dhabi, health insurance is mandatory for non-nationals resident in the emirate and their families. Read up on your own emirate.

2. Assuming an international policy replaces the mandatory policy

   In Dubai, the policy is issued by an insurer licensed in the UAE and authorised by the Dubai Health Authority. Only a policy from an insurer licensed in the UAE and recognised by the emirate’s health authority meets the requirement; an international policy does not replace it.

3. Forgetting the family

   In Dubai, the sponsor insures the family members of a resident, unless the sponsor’s employer enrols them. Clarify early who insures whom.

4. Clarifying the proof only after the move

   In Dubai, employers and sponsors present a policy when the residence permit is issued or renewed. Clarify beforehand when the proof is due.

5. Treating the Northern Emirates like Dubai

   In the Northern Emirates, private employers have had to buy a policy for their employees since 1 January 2025. For self-employed people, retirees and families in the Northern Emirates, you clarify the rules with the authority of the respective emirate.