Hiring and managing a domestic worker in Dubai has become faster and simpler after the General Directorate of Identity and Foreign Affairs (GDRFA Dubai) introduced a fully integrated digital service that combines multiple government procedures into a single customer journey.
The initiative, titled ‘Domestic Workers Management’, has now been recognized as the Best Digital City Experience under the Hamdan bin Mohammed Program for Government Services, with GDRFA Dubai celebrating the achievement at a ceremony on Thursday.
The award reflects Dubai’s continued push to streamline government services by reducing bureaucracy and making essential services more convenient for residents.
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Previously, sponsoring a domestic worker required customers to move between several government entities and complete multiple separate procedures. Under the new system, nine essential services are now brought together into a single integrated digital journey.
These include employment contracts, health insurance, work permit issuance and cancellation, visa issuance, status adjustment, medical fitness testing, residence permit issuance, and Emirates ID services.
The new experience has reduced the number of service steps from 11 to 6, consolidated 6 separate payment channels into 1, and cut the number of required customer visits from 6 to a maximum of 2.
The initiative has already processed 10,813 transactions, eliminated the need for 25,676 paper documents, generated Dh4.3 million in direct savings for customers and reduced carbon emissions by the equivalent of 72.5 tonnes of CO₂.
Speaking during the ceremony, Lieutenant General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director General of GDRFA Dubai, said the achievement was the result of close collaboration between government entities working towards a common goal of improving residents’ experiences.
“What we have achieved today is the outcome of genuine collaboration that enabled us to deliver an integrated service bringing multiple government entities together within a single customer journey,” he said.
Al Marri added that GDRFA Dubai’s next objective is to continue integrating government services into a single digital window, in line with the vision of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and the directives of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence.
The project was developed through collaboration between GDRFA Dubai, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security, Digital Dubai, Dubai Health and Dubai Insurance.
Colonel Expert Khalid Ahmed Bin Madia Al Falasi, Assistant Director General of the Digital Services Affairs Sector at GDRFA Dubai, said the initiative demonstrates how digital integration can simplify services that thousands of residents use every year.
He said connecting government data and unifying service channels allows customers to complete procedures more seamlessly, while laying the foundation for even more integrated digital services in the future.
Source: Khaleej Times