This week the spotlight is on legal and regulatory developments in Dubai, where the Healthcare City Authority has announced it is introducing a new license for visiting doctors which will be valid for two years. It will allow international physicians, dentists and Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practitioners to enter the UAE and work in up to three clinical facilities in the City.

The license is aimed at attracting international medical talent to Dubai and is being introduced ahead of Arab Health, the largest exhibition for healthcare and trade professionals in the Middle East. Visiting doctors can currently only practice temporarily in the free zone through a license from the clinical facilities, which is valid for a three-month-period and can be extended for three months. With the new license, physicians will be able to work for two years, after they have obtained a Letter of Acceptance which is a document confirming their eligibility to work as physicians and enter into a contract with a clinical facility. They will also be able to sponsor their families during the license’s validity period. They can apply for a license from 20 January and a special DArab Health license fee rate will be offered from then until the last day of the exhibition on 31 January.