# UAE Degree Requirement? and is it required for a visa?



## pix1829 (16 d ago)

Hi Everyone,

I'm 25-year-old male from the UK. I work in the banking sector and thought I would have a look and see what is on offer in the UAE region. 

Bit of context first. I decided not to go to university the traditional way and have been going to Open University evening classes and slowly doing my Bsc degree and hoping to graduate summer of 2025. I spent my time working in my industry and am currently on £70k base + bonus + pension. 

I've recently been invited to two interviews with two banks in Dubai and they both mention a university degree in their job descriptions. One of the jobs is through an agency and the other I was contacted by a talent recruiter from the bank. The pay for both is in the region of 45-55k aed.

I want to understand if a degree is actually required as part of the visa application? which would make the interview pointless in my case? or is it like in the UK where an employer would prefer a candidate with a degree?


Thanks in advance🙂


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## psychopomp1 (Aug 5, 2021)

pix1829 said:


> I want to understand if a degree is actually required as part of the visa application? which would make the interview pointless in my case? or is it like in the UK where an employer would prefer a candidate with a degree?


No, its not a UAE visa requirement, its your prospective employer preferring degree qualified candidates. Oh and distance learning degrees such as OU degrees are worthless in some Gulf countries such as Qatar, mainly because of the huge number of people (incl senior managers) who have been caught with fake distance learning based degrees. So the likes of Qatar have applied a blanket ban on such courses. Not sure about UAE though.


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## pix1829 (16 d ago)

psychopomp1 said:


> No, its not a UAE visa requirement, its your prospective employer preferring degree qualified candidates. Oh and distance learning degrees such as OU degrees are worthless in some Gulf countries such as Qatar, mainly because of the huge number of people (incl senior managers) who have been caught with fake distance learning based degrees. So the likes of Qatar have applied a blanket ban on such courses. Not sure about UAE though.


Thank you for your input! I really appreciate it mate!


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## 255 (Sep 8, 2018)

@pix1829 -- I really like Dubai, but 50K AED = about 11.2K GBP, doesn't look very good concerning your current remuneration, even considering the tax savings! As far as your degree; once you receive it, you might top it up with a 1 year MBA at a name school. My son, dropped out of HS, but took his GED -- subsequently he did his Bachelors' and Masters' and received tons of offers in his field, because of his Masters' (his BSc was in a totally unrelated field.) Cheers, 255


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