Salary Certificate UAE: What Employers Must Include (+ Free Template)

Let’s say your employee asks for a salary certificate on Sunday. They need it for a mortgage application by Tuesday. You send one over, only to find out the bank has rejected it because the details or format don’t meet its requirements.

In the UAE, employers may be asked to confirm an employee’s job title, joining date, salary and allowances, along with the company’s details and authorized signatory.

The exact requirements can also depend on who is requesting the document. For example, banks may request a salary certificate when processing credit card applications. Salary certificates can also help landlords assess tenants’ ability to pay rent.

A salary certificate may look like a simple HR document, but in practice, getting the details right matters.

This guide explains what UAE employers should know about salary certificates, including what to include, who should sign it, how it differs from a salary letter or payslip, and a practical format you can use.

What is a Salary Certificate in the UAE?

A salary certificate is an official document issued to confirm an employee’s job title, salary breakdown and employment status. An original salary certificate is commonly issued on company letterhead, with the signature of an authorized personnel and company stamp or seal.

Be wary of any claims that there is an official format; there is no such thing as a single federal salary certificate prescribed by MOHRE.

Information requirements can differ depending on who will receive the certificate (for example, a bank, embassy, immigration authority or other institutions).

Free-zone companies can have an additional layer: the relevant Free Zone authority may issue its own certificate, rather than the employer simply producing a company letter.

Salary Certificate vs Salary Transfer Letter vs NOC

Each document serves a different purpose.

A salary certificate confirms income details and what the employee earns; a salary transfer letter commits to routing salary to a specific bank (i.e. where or how the salary is to be transferred); and a No Objection Certificate (NOC) confirms that the employer has no objection to a specified action, where an NOC is required.

Note that banks often request both the certificate AND the transfer letter together.

What is the difference between a Salary Slip, Salary Letter and Salary Certificate?

What to include in a UAE Salary Certificate

In this checklist, we outline the typical information included in a salary certificate.

Employers and authorities often provide attested salary certificates in Arabic, English, or a combined bilingual format depending on which government department or embassy requires it.

Arabic versions are frequently used for local government authorities, police or court requests, and immigration or judicial procedures within the UAE.

Typical information includes:

• Employee name
• Position or job designation
• Start date
• Employee’s salary information and monthly income
• Allowances/benefits
• Gross/net salary where relevant
• Issue date
• Authorized signatory details
• Company information (i.e. company name, company address)
• Company seal, where required
• Company’s contact details

Recommended Fields (Company Details, Employee Details, Salary Breakdown, etc)

Many institutions request a recent salary certificate, commonly dated within the previous 30 days. Requirements vary by institution.

For DMCC specifically, the authority states that its certificate is valid for one month.

Salary Certificate Format and Template: Formal Request

Here is a worked example of what the template can look like:

Date: 17 September 2026

To Whom It May Concern,

This is to certify that Mr. Ahmed Hassan is employed by ABC Technology LLC as an Operations Manager, having joined the company on 1 March 2024.

His current monthly remuneration is:

This certificate is issued at the employee’s request for [purpose].

For further information, please contact [company contact details].

Authorized Signatory
Name: [Name]
Designation: [Designation]
Signature: __________
Company Stamp: __________

Salary Certificate Letterhead, Stamp and Signatory

A salary certificate should look like an official company document and not a casual HR letter. Issue it on the company’s official letterhead and include the company’s identifying and contact details.

Where relevant to the recipient, this can include the company’s trade license number. The certificate should also show the issue date and clearly identify who it is addressed to.

The document should be signed by an authorized company representative, with their full name and designation stated underneath.

A company stamp is also commonly used, particularly for manually issued certificates and documents submitted to banks. However, requirements can vary: some banks and employers accept digitally generated certificates without a wet-ink signature or stamp when their systems support digital verification.

Free Zone vs Mainland: Who Issues and What Differs

For many mainland employers, the salary certificate is prepared and issued by the employer. Salary certificates used outside the UAE may require attestation or legalization, depending on the destination and receiving institution.

When requesting a salary certificate, employees may be required to specify the purpose. Free-zone companies may have additional procedures set by their relevant Free-zone Authority.

For example, Meydan Free Zone‘s dependent visa checklist includes a salary certificate as a supporting document when the sponsor is an employee. This is part of the documentation required for its dependent visa application process.

Other free zones sometimes provide their own salary certification services through their portals.

For example, DMCC provides a salary certificate service through its Member Portal. The request is submitted through the company’s Member Portal account and is limited to active employees holding a DMCC employment visa.

DMCC reviews the request and generates the certificate through its system. The processing time for a salary certificate is 1 working day. A DMCC salary certificate is valid for one month.

If the certificate is being used outside the UAE, check the receiving institution’s attestation requirements rather than assuming every salary certificate needs attestation. Requirements can vary by destination and purpose.

What Employees Use it for, and What Banks check

A salary certificate in the UAE is commonly required when an employee needs formal proof of employment and income.

Common uses include:

• Opening a personal or salary bank account
• Applying for credit cards
• Personal loan or other bank loans (i.e. car or home loans)
• Visa processing and family-sponsorship applications
• Embassy, school and other official applications
• Rental agreements, financial institutions or administrative requirements

The receiving organization may specify how the certificate should be prepared. For example, some institutions require it to be addressed directly to the bank or organization rather than using “To Whom It May Concern.”

Employees may also need to submit additional documents such as the applicant’s original passport, visa, payslips or bank statements for other official purposes.

When opening a personal or salary bank account in the UAE, employees may be asked to provide a salary certificate as proof of employment and income. The document helps the bank establish where the employee works, their current designation and their stated monthly earnings.

Depending on the bank and application, some institutions may also request supporting company details, such as a trade license, or compare the stated salary against supporting payroll records and bank statements. These checks are not necessarily applied by every bank.

Employers should confirm whether the bank requires a general salary certificate or one addressed directly to the institution. Employees should also check the bank’s current document requirements before requesting the certificate.

Planning to open a corporate banking account? See our guide to corporate bank account opening in the UAE

A 30-day requirement is common among individual institutions, but it is not a universal rule. Employers should therefore check the receiving bank’s current requirements before issuing the document.

For local UAE transactions, attestation is generally not automatically required; whether additional authentication is needed depends on the institution and purpose.

Employer Obligations, WPS Alignment and Rejected Certificates

Under the UAE Labour Law, Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 does not expressly create a general right for an employee to request a salary certificate during employment.

The law sets out specific employer obligations and separately requires an experience certificate when the employment relationship ends, but it does not prescribe a general salary-certificate service or template.

However, if an employee requests a salary certificate, employers will generally issue one as part of normal HR administration, even if not expressly required under the law.

In practice, a salary certificate can run into problems when:

• Salary figures do not reflect the employer’s current payroll or employment records.
• The certificate is signed by someone without appropriate authority.
• Required company details are missing, including the trade license number
• The document’s issue date is too old for the receiving institution.
• Salary components or allowances are unclear and not itemized.
• The certificate does not follow the bank or organization’s requested format.

The key takeaway for founders is this. If the certificate contains a different salary from the company’s payroll records, the employer needs to resolve the underlying data discrepancy before issuing it.

For employees covered by the Wage Protection System (WPS), payroll records also need to be kept consistently accurate. For reference, the WPS is an electronic system for transferring wages and monitoring whether workers receive the wages registered in their employment contracts.

Conclusion: Keep Salary Certificates accurate and consistent

A salary certificate may be a routine HR request, but small errors can create unnecessary delays with loan applications or obtaining official records.

Before issuing one, check the employee’s name, designation, joining date, salary breakdown, company details, authorized signatory and issue date. Make sure the figures are consistent with your underlying payroll and employment records, and check whether the receiving institution has specific formatting or recency requirements.

Use our free salary certificate template as a practical starting point, then adapt it to the requirements of the bank, authority or organization receiving it.

If managing payroll and WPS records is becoming a recurring administrative task, Skrooge can support businesses with payroll runs, payroll accounting and WPS file preparation through its outsourced payroll services in the UAE.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Original Salary Certificate (UAE)