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Hi there,

I am asking this on behalf of a friend. I tried to find a similar topic with this question but did not find any.

This friend has got 20-odd years work experience in the banking industry, which has lifted him to a quite senior management role. Having started his career straight after high school, he does no hold any degree/diploma/etc.

He wants to move to the UAE from New Zealand, for a couple of years, and is wondering that, given all the control around degrees, etc, if he would still be eligile for a work permit despite not having a university degree (asuming, of course, that an UAE-based company want to recruit him).

Thanks a lot

Cheers

If a company was interested in hiring your friend and providing he had been totally honest with them with regards to his lack of Degree, it can be resolved by the company applying for a work visa / permit in one of the lesser catagories which are not required to be degree holders.

as a uni drop out myself I choose to believe the emphasis on education is a bit too high here, higher education isn’t for everyone and the reality is if you start working early on you can get great experience. One thing I noticed about the UAE now that I’m in a hiring position is MBA’s are a dime a dozen but a good quality candidate with some decent experience and a good work ethic is worth his weight in gold.

Anyhow, if you check this link it appears that for ‘westerners’ you only require Grade 12 so he your kiwi friend should be fine.

http://www.dubaiforums.com/viewtopic.ph ... 60&start=6

Good luck to him.

My wife quit school at 16 in NZ to become a nanny but ended up as a senior banker in London (long story). We have just arrived and for two years at least will be a full time mum. Will she never be able to work as she has no decent education? I have no idea what grade 12 is

Grade 12 i think is equiv to "higher education" in the UK. B'tecs, HNC's, Dipolma's etc. We also have NVQ's and level 4 is equiv to a Degree.

Fayz has made an excellent point regarding qualification -v - experience.

In the UK, more weight is now given to NVQ's (national vocational qualification) as it shows a high level of achievement within the particular industry.

and some of us went to the "university of life" and didnt do too badly

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07 ... 60510.html

Senior employees in top posts exempt from degree verification

By Wafa Issa, Staff Reporter
Published: October 15, 2007, 23:03

Dubai: Senior employees, including managers, will be exempt from having to verify academic qualifications upon renewing their labour cards, according to the minister of labour's directives.

Dr Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi, Minister of Labour, said the initiative is a solution for the problem of employees in senior positions but without the right academic qualifications, who must verify their degrees upon renewing labour cards. The requirement for degree verification started in January 2006 for those applying for work permits at a cost of Dh500 which the employer has to pay and in June this year degree verification was made compulsory upon renewal of labour cards if the applicant did not verify his or her degree certificate earlier.

Labour card renewal


Nation

Employment

Senior employees in top posts exempt from degree verification

By Wafa Issa, Staff Reporter
Published: October 15, 2007, 23:03

Dubai: Senior employees, including managers, will be exempt from having to verify academic qualifications upon renewing their labour cards, according to the minister of labour's directives.

Dr Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi, Minister of Labour, said the initiative is a solution for the problem of employees in senior positions but without the right academic qualifications, who must verify their degrees upon renewing labour cards. The requirement for degree verification started in January 2006 for those applying for work permits at a cost of Dh500 which the employer has to pay and in June this year degree verification was made compulsory upon renewal of labour cards if the applicant did not verify his or her degree certificate earlier.

Labour card renewal

"Once the ministry applied the degree verification rule for renewing labour cards, we discovered that there were many workers who did not fulfil the academic requirement set by the ministry but have senior positions in their companies due to experience," said Al Ka'abi.

Therefore it is not logical to demand degree certificates from these senior employees as their experience and years of duty in companies make them eligible for their jobs, he added.

Exemptions will not be granted for jobs for which academic qualification is a prerequisite such as engineers and doctors, according to the decision.

The undersecretaries in Abu Dhabi and Dubai have already started notifying companies of the new regulations and the categories which can be exempted.

Workers who are found holding false degrees get a life ban from working in the country and companies employing them are given a month's grace period to cancel their papers, otherwise they will face strong penalties.

Exemptions will not be granted for jobs for which academic qualification is a prerequisite such as engineers and doctors.

The crux of the issue:
"academic qualifications upon renewing their labour cards"

This is definitly not open season for people who have not been employed in the UAE before