Checked 29 September 2026. Fees and times from Sheryan service pages read on 29 September 2026 and DHA's licensing manual v1.3. Sheryan adds Knowledge and Innovation fees at checkout without stating the amount; DataFlow's only published doctor price we found is from a May 2023 article.
Getting a Dubai licence as a General Practitioner is six steps on DHA's own licensing manual, run through the Sheryan portal, DataFlow (primary source verification) and Prometric (the exam). Two facts save most applicants weeks: verification and the exam can run at the same time, and the last step — turning a registration into a licence — is done and paid for by the employer's facility, not by you. This guide sets out the steps, the published fees, and the verification cost that is only published in dated form.
Where other pages get this wrong
You do not have to wait for DataFlow before booking the exam: DHA says both steps can be done simultaneously.
Commonly published instead: "Complete DataFlow first, then apply for the Prometric exam" — and licence activation described as "tentative".
DHA's licensing manual (10.5) says "Both PSV and CBT steps can be done simultaneously", and the Sheryan Get Registered page says you can perform your DataFlow verification and CBT assessment in parallel. Activation is not tentative: it is a named facility service (Activate Professional License) with published fees. An earlier notice-board page on this site called it tentative; this guide replaces that line.
DHA CBT guideline (Sep 2026); Sheryan NRG and NPL service pages; assessment manual 7.2.14.
The six steps
| Step | Who | Time | Official fee | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sheryan account and self-assessment | You | Immediate | Free | Licensing manual 5.6; DHA Self Assessment Tool service |
| 2. Meet the PQR (degree, internship, 2 years' experience, licence, GSC) | You | — | — (optional review AED 200) | Licensing manual 5.6; Sheryan PQR service |
| 3. Positive primary source verification | You, with DataFlow | 15 working days from payment (DHA FAQ) | By package; AED 1,235 for doctors in DataFlow's May 2023 article | Licensing manual 6; Sheryan FAQ; DataFlow |
| 4. Pass the exam GEN5331 | You, at Prometric | Result within 2 working days (manual) or instantly (FAQ) | USD 280 | CBT guideline; assessment manual 7.2; Sheryan FAQ |
| 5. Registration certificate (Get Registered) | You | 5 working days | AED 200 + Knowledge and Innovation fees | Sheryan NRG |
| 6. Licence activation | The hiring facility | Instant (1 working day if personal records change) | AED 3,000 / 5,000 / 7,500 for 1 / 2 / 3 years | Sheryan NPL; licensing manual 11.4 |
Steps 3 and 4 overlap in practice: start verification the day your Sheryan account exists, and book the exam as soon as your Eligibility ID is issued. Get Registered cannot be processed until both are complete (licensing manual 10.6).
Step 4 in detail: getting an Eligibility ID and booking Prometric
From DHA's CBT guideline
- Check the exam mode for your title in the guideline (General Practice is a CBT, not an oral).
- Create a Sheryan account and copy your DHA Unique ID.
- Generate an Eligibility ID on DHA's Prometric eligibility page.
- Schedule at prometric.com/DHA and pay USD 280 by Amex, MasterCard or Visa.
- Make sure your name is correct before scheduling: the passport you show at the centre must match Sheryan.
DHA Online Exam Guideline – CBT (Sep 2026); assessment manual 7.2.1–7.2.4.
Step 3 in detail: DataFlow primary source verification
DHA delegates verification to a third-party agency (licensing manual 6.1); DataFlow describes itself as DHA's trusted verification partner. Its own DHA guide lays the application out as: register on Sheryan to get a DHA ID, go to dha.dfgateway.com, set up an account with exactly the same details, sign the letter of authorisation, create a case (or transfer an existing one), enter education and experience, review, pay and track. Those two pages carry no price; DataFlow's own article of 24 May 2023 gave fixed packages of AED 1,235 for doctors and AED 935 for nurses and allied staff, with 15–24 working days to receive the report. DHA's FAQ now says a new report takes 15 working days from payment and a transfer of an existing report 5 working days.
| Outcome | What it means | Appeals allowed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | Documents verified; you can proceed | — | Licensing manual 6.1 |
| Unable To Verify (UTV) | The source did not confirm the document | Re-verification of the same document twice | Licensing manual 6.2 |
| Discrepancy | The source contradicted the document | Re-verification once | Licensing manual 6.2 |
| Transferred report | A PSV done for DOH, SHA or MOHAP | Accepted; DHA may ask for more | Licensing manual 6.3 |
A pending or negative verification also stops registration outright (licensing manual 10.13). Verification depends on each issuing institution answering DataFlow, so tell your university, internship hospital and employers to expect the request.
Every fee, official and reported
| Item | Amount | Who pays | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Review Registration Eligibility (optional) | AED 200 + Knowledge and Innovation fees | You | Official (Sheryan PQR) |
| DataFlow verification, doctors package | AED 1,235 (May 2023); current price shown when you choose a package | You | Official but dated (DataFlow article, 24 May 2023); DHA's FAQ says PSV fees are in its fee list and depend on the package |
| For comparison: DOH Abu Dhabi PSV package, general physician | AED 1,260 | You | Official (DOH Circular 151/2024) |
| Exam GEN5331 | USD 280 | You | Official (CBT guideline) |
| Reschedule at Prometric | Centre-specific, not published | You | Official that it exists (assessment manual 7.2.9) |
| Get Registered | AED 200 + Knowledge and Innovation fees | You | Official (Sheryan NRG) |
| Knowledge and Innovation fees | Added at checkout; amount not stated | — | Official that they apply |
| Licence, full time, 1 / 2 / 3 years | AED 3,000 / 5,000 / 7,500 | The facility pays at activation | Official ("approximate cost", Sheryan NPL) |
| Part-time or trainee licence | AED 3,000 | The facility | Official (Sheryan NPL) |
| Renew Registration (in the 3 months before expiry, or 3 months after a licence is cancelled) | AED 200 + Knowledge and Innovation fees, plus new PSV results for experience, licence and good standing | You | Official (Sheryan RRG; DHA FAQ) |
| Subtotal of the fixed published fees to a one-year licence | USD 280 + AED 3,200 (AED 3,400 with the optional review) | Mixed | Our arithmetic: exam + Get Registered + 1-year licence. Not a full total: it leaves out verification and the Knowledge and Innovation fees, both of which you will pay |
Whether an employer reimburses your side of these, or charges its side back to you, is a matter for your contract; we found no DHA rule on it, so ask before you sign.
Add up your DHA GP costs
The published fees are filled in. Enter your DataFlow quote, the Knowledge and Innovation fees added up across every Sheryan checkout (review, Get Registered and activation each add their own), and set the review or licence to 0 if you or your employer are not paying them. We never pre-fill an exchange rate: enter today's rate from your bank to see a rupee total.
| Prometric exam GEN5331 | 280 USD |
| Review Registration Eligibility (optional) | AED |
| DataFlow verification (your quote) | AED |
| Get Registered | AED |
| Knowledge and Innovation fees, total of all Sheryan checkouts | AED |
| Licence activation (usually the facility) | AED |
Official fees from DHA's CBT guideline and Sheryan service pages, 29 September 2026. Travel, attestation and the exam-day trip to a Prometric centre are not included.
How long it takes
| Stage | Official time | Runs in parallel with |
|---|---|---|
| Review Registration Eligibility | 10 working days | Nothing — do it first if unsure |
| DataFlow verification | 15 working days from payment for a new report, 5 for a transfer (DHA FAQ); longer if a source is slow to answer | Exam preparation and the exam |
| Exam result on Sheryan | Within 2 working days (assessment manual); "instantly" (DHA FAQ) | Verification |
| Get Registered | 5 working days | Job search |
| Registration validity | 1 year: "from the date of issuance" (licensing manual 10.12) or "from the date of result" (assessment manual 4.7) | A facility must activate it within that year |
| Licence activation | Instant (1 working day if records change) | — |
The one-year registration is the clock people miss. A registration is not a permit to practise (assessment manual 4.7); it has to be activated by a DHA-licensed facility, which needs valid malpractice insurance covering you and, for non-UAE nationals, a labour card. Do not let it lapse: Renew Registration (AED 200 plus Knowledge and Innovation fees) is open in the three months before expiry, and Sheryan lists "Registration must not be expired" as a limit of the service; DHA's FAQ confirms an expired registration cannot be renewed. Renewal also needs fresh verification results for your experience, licence and good standing, so it can cost more than the AED 200. The other renewal window, three months after a licence is cancelled, is for people who were licensed.
After activation: keeping the licence
| Rule | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| CPD | 40 points a year for physicians; 120 over a three-year licence | Licensing manual 15.3; PQR 2.2 |
| Renewal | The facility applies within 3 months of expiry, for 1, 2 or 3 years | Licensing manual 15.2, 15.4 |
| Late renewal | Within 6 months of expiry with a penalty; no practice while expired | Licensing manual 15.6 |
| Not practising | Licence cancelled after 6 consecutive months without practice and without an acceptable excuse | Licensing manual 15.7 |
| Several job offers | You may accept invites from several facilities; the full-time licence activates at the one that pays first | Licensing manual 11.5 |
Practise it, don't just read it
Verification runs in the background for weeks; that is the window to prepare for the exam.
The ProSyllabus DHA GP library has eight 10-question topic quizzes: Cardiovascular and Respiratory Medicine, Endocrine, Renal and Gastrointestinal Medicine, Pediatrics and Child Health, Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Women's Health, Emergency and Acute Care, Infectious Disease and Antimicrobials, Dermatology, ENT and Common Primary-Care Presentations, and Preventive Medicine and Ethics. Each question comes with an explanation.
What are the steps to get a DHA licence as a GP?
A Sheryan account and self-assessment, meeting the PQR, a positive primary source verification, passing the exam GEN5331, the registration certificate (Get Registered), and activation of the licence by a DHA-licensed facility.
Can I take the DHA exam before DataFlow is complete?
Yes. DHA's licensing manual says PSV and the CBT can be done simultaneously, and the Get Registered page says the same.
How much does DataFlow cost for DHA?
DataFlow's own article of May 2023 gave AED 1,235 for the doctors package, and coaching sites still quote that figure. DHA's FAQ says the fee depends on the package; the portal shows the current price when you choose one. DOH Abu Dhabi's official package for a general physician is AED 1,260, for comparison.
How much is the DHA licence fee for doctors?
Sheryan lists approximate physician fees of AED 3,000 for one year, AED 5,000 for two and AED 7,500 for three, paid at activation by the facility, plus Knowledge and Innovation fees.
What is the DHA Eligibility ID?
The number you generate on DHA's Prometric eligibility page from your DHA Unique ID; you need it to schedule the exam at prometric.com/DHA.
How long is the DHA registration valid?
One year: the licensing manual counts it from the date of issuance, the assessment manual from the date of the result. It is not a permit to practise until a facility activates it, and it must be renewed before it expires.
How long does DataFlow take for DHA?
DHA's FAQ says 15 working days from payment for a new report and 5 for transferring an existing one. It can take longer when a university or employer is slow to reply.
Who pays for licence activation?
Activation is a facility service and the facility pays the fee on Sheryan. Whether it recovers that from you is a contract question.
What happens if DataFlow says Unable To Verify?
You may appeal for re-verification of the same document twice. A Discrepancy result allows one appeal.
Can I use a DataFlow report I did for DOH or MOHAP?
Yes. DHA accepts transferred PSV reports from DOH, SHA and MOHAP, and may ask for further verification.
How many CPD points does a DHA GP need?
40 points a year; for a two- or three-year licence the points are counted cumulatively.
What are Knowledge and Innovation fees?
A charge Sheryan adds at checkout to its services. The service pages say it applies but do not state the amount.
Is the DHA exam fee refundable?
No. DHA's assessment manual says exam fees are non-refundable, including for rescheduling, cancellation and no-show.
Sources
- official — DHA Manual for Licensing Healthcare Professionals v1.3 (effective 18/07/2025)
- official — DHA Manual for Professional Assessment v1.1 (effective 08/05/2025)
- official — DHA Online Exam Guideline – CBT (updated Sep 2026)
- official — DHA Sheryan — FAQs (read 29 Sep 2026)
- official — DHA — Self Assessment Tool service ("the automated assessment is free")
- official — DHA — Generate Prometric Eligibility ID
- official — Sheryan — Review Registration Eligibility (PQR)
- official — Sheryan — Get Registered (NRG)
- official — Sheryan — Activate Professional License (NPL, facility service)
- official — Sheryan — Renew Registration (RRG)
- official — DataFlow Group — Dubai Health Authority
- official — DataFlow Group — 2024 How to Apply, DHA (PDF)
- official — DataFlow Group — How To Apply & Pass the DHA Licensing Exam (24 May 2023)
- official — DOH Abu Dhabi Circular 151/2024 — Licensing Service Catalogue and Procedural Manual (incl. FAQ)
- reported — gulfmedexams — DHA DataFlow
- reported — examcure — DHA DataFlow process 2025
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
