Before you send anyone your passport, run these checks. They take ten minutes and they will save some readers of this page from losing months of savings.
We are a recruitment office ourselves. Apply every one of these checks to us too. If we ever fail one, do not work with us.
1. Ask for the licence number
Every legitimate office holds a trade licence, and a real one will give you the number without hesitating. Ours is CN-4012763.
If the answer is vague, or the subject gets changed, stop there. This single question filters out most fake operations, because a scammer does not want a number you can check.
2. Check there is a real address
An office should have a street address you could walk into. Search the address. Look at the building on a map.
An operation that exists only as a phone number and a photo is not an office. Ours are in Al Ain and Ajman.
3. Never pay a fee
This is the clearest rule of all, and it is the law in the UAE and in every country we recruit from.
The employer pays. The visa, the ticket and the medical test are the employer's cost, not yours. No genuine office charges a worker a placement fee, a processing fee, a "reservation" fee or a "priority" fee.
Anyone asking you for money to get a job abroad is either breaking the law or taking yours.
4. Be careful about who holds your passport
Send a photograph of your passport when you apply. That is normal.
Handing over your original document is different. Do not surrender your original passport to anyone before a contract is signed, and understand that it remains your property afterwards. An employer or office keeping your passport is not entitled to do so.
5. Insist on a written contract
You should see, in writing and before you sign: your role, your salary, and who your employer is.
Read it. If you do not understand a line, ask, and keep asking until the answer is clear. Do not sign a document written only in a language you cannot read.
A promise made in a voice note is not a contract.
6. Watch for pressure
Real recruitment takes time. Documents get processed, clearances get issued, families make decisions.
Anyone telling you to decide today, send money today, or travel this week is creating pressure for a reason. Urgency is the oldest tool in this business, and it is almost always a warning.
7. Refuse the visit visa shortcut
If someone offers to fly you in on a visit visa and "arrange everything after you arrive", refuse.
You will arrive with no work permit, no legal status once the visa expires, and no protection at all. Fixing that afterwards can mean fines, a ban, or worse. This route is where most serious abuse begins.
8. Complete your own country's exit process
Whatever your government requires before its citizens work abroad, do it properly.
It feels slower. It is what makes you traceable, recorded and protected once you are here — and it is what gives your embassy something to work with if you ever need help.
If something goes wrong
Contact your embassy or consulate in the UAE. They deal with these situations regularly and they are there for exactly this reason.
You can also report a recruitment office to the UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation. A worker making a complaint is not the one in trouble.
A note from us
We would rather you applied to a different office after checking it carefully than applied to us because a page looked reassuring.
If you want to ask us anything — including for our licence — message us on WhatsApp. Applying is free and it always will be.
ALQUBTAN Agency — Al Ain and Ajman, United Arab Emirates. Trade licence CN-4012763.