Pharmacist to Dubai: the DHA license, Sheryan, DataFlow and the Prometric exam, step by step

The path, step by step

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) licenses health professionals through its Sheryan portal. Primary source verification and the exam run in parallel, then you register, and your employer activates the license. In order:

1. Check the requirements for the Pharmacist title

   The Unified Qualification Requirements (PQR, 3rd version, April 2025, issued jointly by MOHAP, DOH, DHA and SHA) ask for a BSc in Pharmacy or a Pharm.D plus 2 years of post-qualification experience in a related field. Experience with pharmaceutical companies or as a sales representative is not accepted. The experience must be hands-on and salaried, and your Good Standing Certificate must be less than 6 months old (PQR). Egypt is not on the exam-exemption country list, so an Egyptian-licensed pharmacist sits the exam. DOH Circular 2025/239 of 27 November 2025 announced this updated version, and we checked these points in it on 30 October 2026.

2. Create your Sheryan account and run the self-assessment

   Open Sheryan, choose Register With Us (one email, one account), then open the Health Licensing Service. The account menu shows your DHA Unique ID, which you need for DataFlow and Prometric. Run the free Self-Assessment Tool: it gives an instant preliminary result without uploading documents. If it says you are not eligible, use Review Registration Eligibility (AED 200 plus a Knowledge and Innovation fee, per the service page) (DHA Manual2025859775.pdf)).

3. Start the DataFlow primary source verification

   Start from the DHA page on DataFlow (Apply Now), using your Unique ID. DataFlow verifies your degree, experience and licenses and issues a Positive, Unable to Verify or Discrepancy result. Upload your qualifications, experience certificates, home licenses and your Good Standing Certificate. The DHA FAQ says a new report takes 15 working days from payment. DHA also accepts reports transferred from MOHAP, DOH or SHA.

4. Generate your Eligibility ID

   Open the Sheryan CBT eligibility page, enter your DHA Unique ID with the correct category and title, and save the Assessment Eligibility ID it gives you. Choose Pharmacist (code PHO5481). Clinical Pharmacy is a different exam with a different pass mark. Use the same passport details in the exam and the DHA application.

5. Book the exam on Prometric

   Go to prometric.com/DHA, enter your Eligibility ID, choose a centre and date and pay by credit card. The fee is USD 240. Check that your name matches your passport before you schedule: if it differs from Sheryan, contact DHA at least 5 days before. Reschedule or cancel at least 5 calendar days ahead; fees are not refunded on cancellation or no-show. We could not confirm from Prometric whether Cairo offers DHA exams, so check the centre locator.

6. Sit the exam and read your result in Sheryan

   Arrive 30 minutes early with your valid passport. The exam is 150 multiple-choice questions in 3 hours (the time includes registration), pass mark 60% for the Pharmacist title. The result is Pass or Fail only, posted in Sheryan: the assessment manual says within 2 working days, while the FAQ says results are instant. A missed or cancelled exam is not a failed attempt.

7. Apply for registration (Get Registered)

   In Sheryan choose Get Registered, complete the form, link your verified DataFlow documents, upload a recent passport photo and a passport copy, pay and keep the reference number. DHA can approve, reject or return the application for more documents. DHA lists an average processing time of 5 working days. It cannot be processed until the DataFlow report is complete and the exam is passed. The registration certificate is valid for one year, and you are listed on the Dubai Medical Registry.

8. Get a facility to activate your license

   Registration is not permission to work. A DHA-licensed pharmacy or facility with the pharmacy specialty activates your license from its own Sheryan account. You approve the request in Sheryan, and the facility pays. Valid malpractice insurance covering you is required, and non-UAE nationals need a valid labour card. The license can run for 1, 2 or 3 years, and your first DHA license is full-time.

9. Maintain the license: CPD and renewal

   Pharmacists need 20 CPD points a year (40 for a 2-year license, 60 for 3 years), at least 70% in the specialty, and up to 100% can be online. Upload them in Sheryan under Update CPD Points. The facility applies for renewal within 3 months of expiry. An expired license can be renewed within 6 months with a penalty, and it is cancelled after 6 consecutive months without practice unless DHA accepts your reason.

Who this guide is for

Pharmacists with a pharmacy degree from outside the UAE who want to work in Dubai. Abu Dhabi has its own authority (see the DOH guide), and MOHAP and the Sharjah Health Authority (SHA) are the other UAE licensing authorities, so choose the authority of the emirate where you will work.

An existing UAE registration or licence can shorten the path: DHA exempts from the exam holders of an active DHA registration, and anyone with a DHA, DOH or MOHAP license cancelled within the last 5 years with no practice gap (DHA Manual, chapter 72025859775.pdf)). An exemption does not waive credentialing, experience or verification.

Documents checklist

• Passport copy and a recent passport-size photo (uploaded to Get Registered).
• Qualification certificate and transcript. If your degree is lower than a BSc you also need the high school certificate.
• Experience certificates showing hands-on, salaried clinical practice with exact dates.
• Home-country license or registration, and a Good Standing Certificate from the regulator of your last country of work, issued less than 6 months before you apply.
• Originals are required. Documents not in English or Arabic need a certified legal translation uploaded with the original. DHA says documents generally do not need stamps unless its credentialing team asks (Sheryan FAQ).
• A medical fitness certificate only if you have a condition that impairs practice or are 65 or over at activation or renewal. All health professionals must maintain BLS or CPR certification; whether it is requested at registration for pharmacists is not confirmed.
• A declaration of any previous exam attempts in other UAE authorities.

DataFlow primary source verification

DHA delegates verification to DataFlow. The outcome must be positive: a negative result leads to refusal and blacklisting.

• Time: 15 working days from payment for a new report (Sheryan FAQ). Transferring an existing report takes 5 working days.
• Re-verification: an Unable to Verify result can be appealed twice per document, and a Discrepancy once (DHA Manual2025859775.pdf)).
• Transfer from another UAE authority costs AED 300. DHA reports issued after 2017 transfer free.
• Draft Get Registered applications in Sheryan that are inactive for more than 6 months are deleted.

The DHA exam for pharmacists

Source: the DHA licensing assessment guideline (CBT), September 2026, hosted on Sheryan. It lists 14 content areas without weights: toxicology, medicinal chemistry, compounding, pharmaceutics and biopharmaceutics, pharmacognosy and supplements, pharmacy calculations, pharmacogenomics, infection control, pharmacokinetics, disease-state management, medication safety, over-the-counter medicines, pharmacy law and ethics, and clinical pharmacology.

Attempts: 3 across all UAE authorities combined. Failing the third blocks a new DHA application for 2 years, though a fourth and last attempt may be allowed with permission, at DHA or another UAE authority. There is no waiting period between attempts, and each needs a new booking and fee (DHA Manual, chapter 72025859775.pdf)).

The guideline lists nine references, including the APhA Complete Review for Pharmacy, Comprehensive Pharmacy Review, Goodman and Gilman, Shargel, Ansel, Aulton and Rascati. DHA may change content, format or pass score without updating the document.

Appeals: send a letter to info@dha.gov.ae within one month of the result.

Costs

Fees seen on 30 October 2026. Anything marked not confirmed must be checked before you pay.

Timeline from start to license

DHA publishes no end-to-end figure. The components below are official, and the total is our own planning estimate.

After you are licensed

• Registration validity is one year, but the license activated by the employer can run 1, 2 or 3 years.
• Renewal is applied for by the facility, and CPD must be completed first.
• Your first DHA license is full-time. Part-time licenses need the full-time facility medical director's approval.
• A Good Standing Certificate from DHA is generated electronically in Sheryan, useful if you later move to another authority or country.
• Emirates ID and residence visa steps are not described in the DHA documents we read; your employer normally handles them.

Common pitfalls

• Choosing the wrong title when generating the Eligibility ID: Pharmacist and Clinical Pharmacy have different codes and pass marks.
• A passport name that differs from Sheryan. Contact DHA at least 5 days before the exam.
• A Good Standing Certificate older than 6 months at submission.
• Counting pharmaceutical-company or sales experience, which DHA does not accept.
• Treating registration as permission to work: you need an activated license.
• Failing three times across the UAE authorities, which blocks you for 2 years.
• Using recalled questions. DHA treats cheating as a fail and a possible blacklisting.

Your follow-up checklist

Tick these off as you go. Signed-in Egyptian accounts can track the same list in the MediHelp app and on the website.

• Experience letters show 2 years of clinical practice, with dates.
• Good Standing Certificate requested, with its date noted (valid 6 months).
• Sheryan account created; Unique ID saved; self-assessment run.
• DataFlow case paid; case number saved; report positive.
• Eligibility ID generated for Pharmacist (PHO5481).
• Prometric exam booked; passport matches the booking.
• Exam result seen as Pass in Sheryan.
• Get Registered submitted and approved.
• Employer facility has activated the license; labour card ready.
• CPD points tracked in Sheryan; renewal date in your calendar.

What we could not confirm

• The pharmacist DataFlow fee and the Knowledge and Innovation fee.
• Whether Cairo currently offers DHA exams on Prometric, and the exam fee in local currency.
• Emirates ID and visa steps.