Checked 25 September 2026. From the Unified PQR (3rd version, April 2025), §13–§16. The PQR does not name Indian qualifications; mappings here are our reading of its text. Confirm yours with the free Sheryan self-assessment tool before paying for anything.
Which DHA title you can hold — and so which exam you sit — is decided by the Unified Healthcare Professional Qualification Requirements (PQR), published jointly by DHA, DOH Abu Dhabi, MOHAP and the Sharjah Health Authority. Its April 2025 edition is short and precise about nurses. It is also silent about Indian qualifications by name: it never mentions GNM, Post-Basic B.Sc or the Indian Nursing Council. This guide sets out what it does say, and how Indian qualifications read against it.
Where other pages get this wrong
A B.Sc. nurse needs no experience for the DHA Registered Nurse title — and a GNM diploma reads as Assistant Nurse, not RN.
Commonly published instead: "Indian nurses with B.Sc or GNM plus at least two years' experience are eligible for DHA."
The April 2025 PQR (§14) sets Registered Nurse at a bachelor's degree in nursing with "no experience required" (subject to the gap-of-practice rule), and Assistant Nurse at a nursing diploma of at least 18 months, also with no experience required. The bachelor's must be at least three years full time (§13.1.4). The PQR does not name GNM; on its text, a diploma maps to Assistant Nurse.
Unified PQR, April 2025, §13–§15.
The titles and what they require
| Title | Qualification (PQR §14) | Experience |
|---|---|---|
| Registered Nurse | Bachelor's degree in nursing (at least 3 years full time) | None required* |
| Assistant Nurse | Diploma of Nursing of at least 18 months | None required* |
| Specialty Nurse (route 1) | RN qualification plus a clinical master's or a post-graduate clinical specialty qualification of at least one year | 1 year in the specialty after qualifying |
| Specialty Nurse (route 2) | Bachelor's in a nursing specialty (at least 3 years) | 2 years in the field |
| Nurse Practitioner | RN plus a clinical master's/doctorate covering prescribing, diagnostics and advanced assessment — or an NP licence | 2 years as a Nurse Practitioner |
| Registered Midwife | Midwifery bachelor's (3+ years), or B.Sc. Nursing plus a midwifery certificate of at least 1 year | 2 years as a midwife |
Registered Midwife is in §16 of the PQR; the others in §14. * "In compliance with the Discontinuity of Practice (Gap of Practice) criteria" — the PQR's own footnote. A long break from clinical work changes the requirement; our attempts and gap-of-practice guide covers it. Assistant Nurses and Assistant Midwives cannot work independently; they work under a Registered Nurse or Midwife (§13.1.10).
Indian qualifications, read against the PQR
| Your qualification | Reads as | Why |
|---|---|---|
| B.Sc. Nursing (4 years) | Registered Nurse | A bachelor's in nursing of more than 3 years; no experience required |
| GNM (3 or 3½-year diploma) | Assistant Nurse | The RN row needs a bachelor's; the Assistant Nurse row takes a diploma of 18+ months |
| GNM + Post-Basic B.Sc. (2 years, regular) | Unclear — ask DHA | It is a bachelor's in nursing, but §13.1.4 requires the bachelor's itself to be at least 3 years full time |
| Post-Basic B.Sc. by distance learning | Not counted | The PQR excludes distance-learning and correspondence qualifications (§1.1.1, §13.1.3) |
| M.Sc. Nursing in a clinical specialty | Specialty Nurse, possibly | Route 1 needs a clinical master's in one of the 19 specialties plus a year's specialty experience; whether an Indian M.Sc counts as "clinical" is for DHA to decide |
| ANM | Unclear — ask DHA | The Assistant Nurse row needs a nursing diploma of at least 18 months |
This table is our reading of the PQR, not a DHA decision. No official DHA source names an Indian qualification. Before paying for verification or an exam, run the free Self-Assessment Tool in Sheryan; if it says "not eligible" and you think it is wrong, the paid Review Eligibility service (AED 200 plus the knowledge and innovation fee) assesses your actual documents.
Check your likely title
Which DHA nursing title does your qualification read as?
The Assistant Nurse upgrade clause
Many Indian nurses start in the Gulf with one qualification and finish another. The PQR has a clause for exactly that: §13.1.14 — "Nurses qualified with a Bachelor's Degree in nursing but are licensed as 'Assistant Nurse' may apply for a title upgrade, provided that their experience as an assistant nurse has not exceeded five (5) years." The five-year limit is the catch: a nurse who has spent longer as an Assistant Nurse loses the route.
Other rules in the nursing chapter
PQR §13.1, in brief
- A valid licence or registration from your home country or country of last employment is required (§13.1.8) — for an Indian nurse, your State Nursing Council registration.
- Basic Life Support certification at minimum (§13.1.11).
- School-nurse experience counts for RN and Assistant Nurse if the facility ensures core competencies (§13.1.9).
- Experience must be hands-on clinical work in salaried or contractual employment, and teaching does not count (§1.2.2.3); the PQR's definitions also exclude volunteering and observership and set a minimum of 400 hours a year for part-time experience.
- India is not among the 20 listed countries — neither for the experience exemption in §13.1.15 (which matters only for titles that require experience, not RN or Assistant Nurse) nor for the exam exemption in §21.12.
Unified PQR, April 2025.
Midwifery for Indian nurses
Indian GNM and B.Sc. Nursing courses include midwifery, which leads many nurses to ask whether they can apply as a Registered Midwife. The PQR (§16) asks for either a bachelor's in midwifery of at least three years, or a B.Sc. Nursing plus a midwifery certificate of at least one year — and, in either case, two years' experience as a midwife in a maternity hospital or similar setting. Whether the midwifery component of an Indian nursing degree counts as that one-year certificate is not something the PQR addresses; it is a question for DHA's eligibility review, not for an agency.
| Question | Answer (PQR, April 2025) |
|---|---|
| Is there an Assistant Midwife title? | No. The only mention is that Assistant Nurses and Assistant Midwives cannot work independently; DHA lists the Assistant Midwife exam as inactive |
| What does a Midwife Practitioner need? | Registered Midwife requirements plus a clinical master's or doctorate in midwife practice with supervised clinical practice, and two years' experience |
Before you pay anything
- Run the free Sheryan self-assessment with your actual qualification.
- Get your transcript ready — the PQR requires it for credentialing.
- Check your nursing council registration is current, and that your good-standing certificate will be under six months old when you apply.
- Count your gap in clinical practice: over three years adds requirements, over five years (for non-UAE nationals) closes the door.
- Only then pay for verification and the exam.
From the Unified PQR, April 2025, and DHA's Sheryan services.
The 19 specialty nurse titles
Adult Health Care, Anesthesia, Cardiovascular, Clinical Informatics, Community Health, Critical Care, Diabetic Foot, Diabetic Health, Emergency, Infection Prevention, Maternal Health, Mental Health, Neonatal, Neonatology Critical Care, Oncology, Palliative Care, Pediatric, Pediatric Critical Care and Wound Care Nurse (PQR §15). A specialty title needs either a clinical master's or post-graduate specialty qualification plus a year in the specialty, or a specialty bachelor's plus two years.
Practise it, don't just read it
Whichever title you apply for, RNT0312 and ARN5061 share the same four exam areas.
The ProSyllabus DHA nursing library has topic quizzes for Fundamentals of Nursing, Medical-Surgical Nursing, Pharmacology for Nurses, Maternal and Newborn Nursing, Pediatric Nursing, Infection Prevention and Control, Mental Health Nursing and Professional Practice and UAE Health Regulations. Each question comes with an explanation.
Can a GNM nurse work in Dubai?
On the text of the April 2025 Unified PQR, a nursing diploma of at least 18 months leads to the Assistant Nurse title, not Registered Nurse, which requires a bachelor's degree. The PQR does not name GNM, so confirm with the Sheryan self-assessment tool.
How much experience is needed for the DHA nursing licence?
None for Registered Nurse or Assistant Nurse under the April 2025 PQR, subject to the gap-of-practice rule. Specialty Nurse needs one or two years in the specialty, and Registered Midwife two years as a midwife.
Is Post-Basic B.Sc. Nursing accepted by DHA?
The PQR requires the nursing bachelor's to be at least three years full time and excludes distance-learning qualifications. It does not say how a two-year regular Post-Basic B.Sc. is treated, so ask DHA through Sheryan's Review Eligibility service.
Can an Assistant Nurse upgrade to Registered Nurse in Dubai?
Yes, if they hold a bachelor's in nursing and have not worked more than five years as an Assistant Nurse (PQR §13.1.14).
Is M.Sc. Nursing useful for DHA?
It can lead to a Specialty Nurse title if DHA accepts it as a clinical master's in one of the 19 recognised specialties and you have a year's experience in that specialty.
Do Indian nurses get any DHA exam exemption?
Not on the basis of an Indian licence: India is not among the 20 countries whose licence holders are exempt. An NCLEX pass is listed as an exam-exemption route (§21.12), but not if you have a gap in practice of more than three years (§21.4), and only for the matching title (§21.5).
Can a GNM nurse with a Post-Basic B.Sc. become a Registered Nurse in Dubai?
Possibly, but the PQR requires the bachelor's itself to be at least three years full time and does not say how a two-year Post-Basic B.Sc. is treated. A distance-learning Post-Basic is excluded. Ask DHA through Sheryan.
Can Indian nurses apply as a Registered Midwife in Dubai?
Only with a midwifery bachelor's, or a B.Sc. Nursing plus a midwifery certificate of at least one year, and two years' experience as a midwife. Whether Indian nursing courses' midwifery component satisfies the certificate is for DHA to decide.
Is there an age limit for DHA nurses?
The PQR sets none for nurses; DHA's licence-activation rules ask for a medical fitness report from professionals aged 65 and over.
More in this series
- The DHA nursing exam: codes, format, pass mark, references
- From Sheryan to licence: the DHA process and every fee
- Attempts, gaps in practice and exemptions
- DHA vs Kuwait vs Abu Dhabi and the Northern Emirates
- A 10-week study plan for the DHA nursing exam
- DHA nursing notice board — official updates
- Gulf nursing licences compared
Sources
- official — Unified Healthcare Professional Qualification Requirements (PQR), April 2025
- official — Sheryan — Review Registration Eligibility service
- official — DHA Manual for Licensing Healthcare Professionals v1.1 (Nov 2024)
- official — DHA computer-based test guideline (updated Sep 2026)
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.
