A growing UAE employer rarely has one permit date. It has a labour card or work permit per person, each ending in a different month, plus a residence visa and an Emirates ID that travel with it.
This page covers the work permit (labour card) record only. US employment eligibility is on work authorization tracking, passport records on passport tracking, and Emirates ID will have its own page. (General information only - not legal advice. See Sources.)
Remindax tracks permit numbers, types, end dates, linked-date pointers, owners, and status. It does not apply for or renew permits, connect to MOHRE, or decide whether a permit is valid.
1. What is labour card tracking?
It is a dated record, per employee, of the work permit your company holds for them, when it ends, who owns the next step, and which other documents depend on it. In everyday UAE usage the permit is often called a labour card. The u.ae pages describe it as a work permit issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE), so this page uses both words and treats the document in the worker's file as the source of truth.
1.1 What sits on each row
Employee and employer
Name, job title, department, the establishment that holds the permit, and the person who manages the file.
Number, type and dates
Work permit or labour card number, permit type, issue date, end date as printed, and the date you last checked it.
Linked document dates
Residence visa end date, Emirates ID end date, passport expiry and contract end date, each kept in its own field.
Renewal owner and status
Who starts the renewal, who signs for the establishment, and whether the row is current, review due, or overdue.
2. What do the u.ae pages say about permit dates?
Work permits are set by the UAE government, so your register should follow the official documents. The table summarises what the u.ae work permits page says that a register needs. Check the live page before you set a policy, because rules and fees change.
| Item | What u.ae says | Register field |
|---|---|---|
| Permit requirement | Working without a valid MOHRE work permit is illegal, and employers may not employ a worker without one | Permit number and status |
| Permit types | MOHRE has 13 types of work permit, including recruiting from abroad, transfer between establishments, part-time, freelance and golden visa holder permits | Permit type |
| Validity where stated | Two years for recruiting from outside the UAE, transfer, family sponsorship, UAE or GCC national, golden visa holder and private teacher permits; one year for juvenile; three months for student training; 12 months for a national trainee | End date as printed on the permit |
| Validity not stated | Temporary, mission, part-time and freelance permits have no validity period on the page | End date from the permit, plus an internal review date |
| Renewal | The issuance conditions must still be met, documents provided and fees paid. No notice period or earliest renewal date is stated | Renewal owner and internal review date |
| Cancellation | The company submits a request, completes data, settles outstanding late fines and confirms the worker has received entitlements | Cancellation date and checklist status |
Summary only, based on the u.ae page in Sources. Which permit type applies to a worker, and whether a renewal is due, is a question for MOHRE and your own advisers - this page does not answer it.
The page does not say how early a permit can be renewed, and it refers to fines for late issuance or non-renewal without giving an amount, so treat every end date as a deadline.
3. Why do permit types need their own date rule?
A single reminder rule such as one year after issue will be wrong for part of any mixed workforce. The u.ae page lists permits with two-year, twelve-month, one-year and three-month periods side by side, and several types with no period at all. A register that stores the permit type next to the end date lets each row follow its own clock.
Three habits keep dates honest: copy the end date exactly as printed instead of adding two years to the issue date, mark types with no stated period for manual review, and log which document the date came from and when you last confirmed it.
Remindax tracks permit numbers, types, end dates, owners and status. It does not apply for, renew or cancel permits, connect to MOHRE, or decide which permit type a worker needs.
4. What does a labour card register look like?
One row per employee, with the permit type, end date, a review date, the linked-date pointers, an owner and a status. The example below is illustrative - the names, numbers and dates are made up, and the review dates are internal policy, not government periods.
| Employee | Permit type | Permit end date | Review date | Visa end | Emirates ID end | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Khan, driver | Recruited from abroad | Jan 20, 2027 | Oct 22, 2026 | Jan 25, 2027 | Jan 25, 2027 | HR officer | Review due |
| B. Silva, accountant | Transfer | Aug 3, 2027 | May 5, 2027 | Aug 10, 2027 | Aug 10, 2027 | HR officer | Current |
| C. Ahmed, trainee | National trainee | Dec 1, 2026 | Oct 15, 2026 | n/a | Check | Operations | Review due |
| D. Rossi, designer | Part-time | See permit | Check monthly | See visa | See card | Finance | Manual review |
| E. Nair, intern | Student training | Nov 30, 2026 | Oct 30, 2026 | n/a | Check | HR officer | Review due |
Illustrative register only. Names and dates are placeholders, and review dates are examples your team sets. They are not renewal periods from MOHRE.
To see a starter layout, try the employee visa, passport and work permit tracker template.
5. Which linked dates should be pointers, not copies?
The permit is one clock among several. Keep each linked date in its own field with its own owner, and use the permit row to point to them. This page tracks the permit only.
Residence visa
u.ae says the standard work visa is valid for two years and that the employer applies for it. Record the end date printed on the visa, separately from the permit.
Emirates ID
Issued by the ICP. u.ae says it can be renewed as early as six months before expiry. Log the card end date in its own field; a separate Remindax page will cover it.
Passport
Passport expiry drives travel and visa steps. See passport tracking for passport validity records.
Employer licence
A valid trade licence is among the conditions on the u.ae page, so keep its date visible. See trade license tracking.
Pointers are for dates only. Whether a visa or ID is valid or due is a question for the issuing authorities and your advisers.
6. Who owns the renewal, and when should review start?
Split the work by stage, then give one person a view across every employee, with a named backup for leave periods.
HR officer or PRO
Checks the permit end date, gathers documents, confirms the establishment's licence is current.
Authorised signatory
Approves renewals, fees and cancellations.
HR or operations manager
Reviews review-due and overdue rows and decides next steps under your own policy.
6.1 An example internal review ladder
Because the u.ae page states no renewal notice period, the offsets below are internal examples your team sets, not government periods.
- ✓90 days before the end date: review reminder to the renewal owner, who confirms the type, the date and the documents needed.
- ✓45 days before: second reminder, with the manager copied if no renewal or cancellation has been started.
- ✓14 days before: escalation to the signatory by Email, SMS or WhatsApp.
- ✓After the end date: the row turns overdue and stays open until the new permit or the cancellation is logged.
When the new permit arrives, enter the new end date from the document, close the old row, and restart the ladder.
7. How do transfers, cancellations and bans fit on a register?
A permit row does not only end by expiring. People leave or move between establishments, and each event is a dated task. The u.ae page lists what an employer completes to cancel a permit: a formal request, complete data and attachments, settlement of outstanding fines for late issuance or non-renewal, and confirmation that the worker has received all due entitlements.
Track those as checklist fields on the row, and keep the contract side on the employment agreement page. The u.ae site also has a page on a one-year ban on new work permits after certain violations. Treat it as a note field: record the date you checked and who checked it, and leave the decision to your advisers.
8. How Remindax tracks labour card records
Remindax is date-and-reminder tracking, not a MOHRE service:
Every employee on one register
Permit number, type, end date and linked-date pointers per person, grouped by department or establishment.
Review and end-date reminders
Reminders before each date, by Email, SMS and WhatsApp.
Owners and escalations
Named renewal owners, backups and managers copied when a row goes overdue.
Exports by status
Permits ending next quarter, or rows still waiting for a decision.
Remindax does not apply for or renew permits, read documents, connect to MOHRE, ICP or GDRFA systems, or decide which permit applies. It holds the numbers, dates and owners you enter on AWS hosting with encryption. GDPR-ready. For related employer permits, see permit tracking software.
9. Why spreadsheets fail for labour card tracking
A spreadsheet holds a date. It cannot warn a renewal owner that a review date has arrived.
- xOne date column for permit, visa and ID
- xNo alert before an end date
- xPermit type and source of the date not recorded
- xRenewals depend on one PRO's memory
- ✓Permit date plus separate pointer fields
- ✓Reminders by Email, SMS or WhatsApp
- ✓Type, source and check date on each row
- ✓Named owner and backup per employee
10. Key takeaways
- ✓One row per employee, with permit type, end date as printed, review date, linked-date pointers, owner and status.
- ✓State only what is stated: the u.ae page gives two years for several permit types, one year for juvenile, three months for student training, and no period for temporary, mission, part-time or freelance permits.
- ✓Remindax tracks dates and reminders by Email, SMS and WhatsApp. It does not renew permits, connect to MOHRE or give legal advice. Free to start.
11. Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the permit type, and the u.ae work permits page gives a period for some types only. It says a permit to recruit from outside the UAE is valid for two years, a juvenile permit one year, and a student training and employment permit three months. For temporary, mission, part-time and freelance permits the page states no period. Record the end date printed on the permit.
The u.ae work permits page says renewal requires that the issuance conditions are still met, the documents are provided, and the fees are paid, but it states no notice period or earliest renewal date. Set an internal review date, for example 90 days before the end date, as your own policy.
The u.ae work permits page and its private sector employment index do not use the phrase labour card. They describe work permits issued by MOHRE. A register can carry both labels, with dates taken from the document itself.
Keep the residence visa, Emirates ID, passport, employment contract and health insurance as their own fields or rows. They are separate documents with separate end dates, so the permit row works as a pointer to each.
Log the cancellation request date, the owner, any outstanding fines and the confirmation that the worker received all due entitlements, because u.ae lists these as steps in cancelling a permit. For a transfer, open a new row for the new permit and close the old one with the date.
This page covers UAE work permit (labour card) records. US employment eligibility and Form I-9 reverification are covered on work authorization tracking, and passport expiry and travel validity rules on passport tracking. Emirates ID will have its own page, so this one only points to it.
No. Remindax tracks the dates, numbers and owners you log and sends reminders by Email, SMS and WhatsApp. It does not connect to MOHRE, ICP or GDRFA systems, apply for or renew permits, or give legal advice.
Yes - a forever-free plan, no credit card required.
Sources & References
General information - not legal advice. Permit rules, fees and periods can change; confirm the current position with MOHRE and the other issuing authorities before setting a date. The MOHRE website could not be read when this page was prepared, so statements here rest on the u.ae pages listed.
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