The UAE's Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) has expanded its mandatory Good Conduct Certificate requirement to cover ten additional nationalities, effective July 20, 2026 — the same day this article is published. HR and global mobility teams with pending visa applications for affected nationals must act immediately.
What has changed
A Good Conduct Certificate (also known as a Police Clearance Certificate) is now required for all new employment and investor visa applications from nationals of the following countries: Ghana, Lebanon, Lithuania, Morocco, Mozambique, Pakistan, Senegal, Syria, Tonga, and one additional nationality listed in the ICP directive.
The requirement applies strictly to new applications — visa renewals already in progress are not affected. However, any new employment or investor visa lodged on or after today without the required certificate will face rejection.
Why this matters for global mobility teams
The Good Conduct Certificate must be obtained from home country authorities — typically the national police, home ministry, or an equivalent government body — and the processing time varies significantly by country. For some of the newly added nationalities, obtaining the certificate can take anywhere from two to six weeks, depending on local bureaucratic timelines and whether authentication or apostille is required.
This has direct consequences for assignment planning:
- Hiring pipelines must be reviewed immediately. Any candidate from an affected nationality with a pending or planned UAE employment visa application will need time added to their onboarding or start date.
- Document procurement must start now. Do not wait until offer acceptance — initiate the Good Conduct Certificate application at the earliest point in the hiring process.
- Renewing employees are not impacted by today's directive, but HR teams should confirm renewal status before assuming compliance.
Action steps for HR teams
Review all active UAE hiring pipelines and flag candidates from the ten newly affected nationalities. Update your UAE immigration checklists and vendor briefings to include Good Conduct Certificate procurement as a standard step for affected nationalities. Build a minimum 4-to-6-week buffer into onboarding timelines for impacted candidates.
xpath.global's UAE practice
At xpath.global, our work permit and visa advisory team monitors ICP directives and UAE immigration policy updates in real time. If your organisation has affected candidates in the pipeline or is scaling UAE headcount, our specialists can manage the full document procurement and visa application process — so your HR team avoids delays and stays compliant from day one.
Our UAE mobility specialists can manage Good Conduct Certificate procurement and end-to-end visa filings for affected candidates.
Talk to our UAE teamSources: RAKEZ (Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone, UAE Government authority) — July 17, 2026; UAE ICP directive effective July 20, 2026.
xpath.global Editorial Team — July 2026
