DHA License from Nigeria 2026: Council Verification, DataFlow & Exam Guide

Nigerian nurses, midwives, doctors, pharmacists and medical laboratory scientists apply for a Dubai Health Authority (DHA) licence through the same system as every other nationality: the Unified Professional Qualification Requirements (PQR), primary source verification by DataFlow, a Prometric exam for most titles, and an application on DHA's Sheryan portal. What is different for Nigerians is the home-country side. Your council letters, your school's response to DataFlow and your council's own verification fees decide how fast you move.

This guide covers the Nigerian side step by step, using DHA's own documents: the DHA Manual for Licensing Healthcare Professionals (v1.3, July 2025), the Unified PQR (April 2025) and the DHA CBT Guideline (updated September 2026). For the general process for every nationality, see our DHA licence requirements guide.

The five stages in order

1. Check eligibility for your title against the PQR. Degree level and experience matter more than anything else.
2. Get council paperwork from NMCN, MDCN, PCN, MLSCN or your board: a current licence and a good standing certificate or letter.
3. Create a Sheryan account, complete the self-assessment and get your DHA Unique ID.
4. Run DataFlow verification and the DHA exam side by side. DHA's manual says both steps can be done at the same time.
5. Submit "Get Registered", receive your registration certificate and have a Dubai employer activate it into a licence.

Who this guide is for

• Registered nurses and midwives licensed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN)
• Doctors and dentists registered with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN)
• Pharmacists registered with the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN)
• Medical laboratory scientists registered with the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN)
• Radiographers, physiotherapists and other allied health professionals registered with their Nigerian boards

Eligibility is set by the Unified PQR, which DHA, DOH, MOHAP and SHA all apply. The table below covers the titles Nigerians apply for most often. "No experience required" means you can apply as a fresh licensee, provided you have no gap in practice longer than the PQR allows.

Exam fees are from the DHA CBT Guideline; check the current figure for your title on our DHA exam fees page.

Nurses: why your qualification type matters

Many Nigerian nurses qualified through a hospital-based School of Nursing programme rather than a university degree, and some later added a BNSc. The PQR lists only a Bachelor's degree in nursing for Registered Nurse, and a Diploma of Nursing of at least 18 months for Assistant Nurse. On that wording, a nurse with only a School of Nursing certificate may be offered the Assistant Nurse title rather than Registered Nurse. DHA makes the final decision, so if your qualification does not clearly match, use Sheryan's paid "Review Eligibility" service before you spend on DataFlow. If you are aiming for Registered Nurse, you can start practising with the Registered Nurse question bank while you wait.

Other nursing rules in the PQR

• Qualifications gained through correspondence or distance learning do not count, so check how any BNSc upgrade was delivered.
• Nurses and midwives must hold at least a valid Basic Life Support (BLS) certificate.
• Your academic transcript is required for credentialing.

Doctors: housemanship and experience

The PQR requires a one-year internship (housemanship in Nigeria) and then two years of clinical experience for the General Practitioner title. The PQR also lists Fellowships of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria and the West African Colleges among recognised specialty qualifications; the tier your fellowship falls into decides your specialist title and experience rule, so check the physician tables in the PQR.

Gap in practice

• A break in clinical practice over 3 years triggers CPD and supervised training requirements under the PQR.
• Non-UAE nationals generally cannot apply with a gap of more than 5 years.
• Experience must be paid, hands-on clinical work. Teaching or non-clinical roles do not count.

DHA needs proof that you hold a valid licence in your home country and that you are in good standing. In Nigeria that comes from your professional council or board. Each one has its own portal, fee and turnaround.

Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN)

NMCN registers nurses and midwives and handles verification of certificates for foreign boards and letters of good standing. Its licence portal lists "Verification/Certificate of Good Standing" as an online service, alongside licence renewal.

Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN)

MDCN registers doctors and dentists and issues a Certificate of Good Standing (COGS). Its approved fee notice also lists a separate DataFlow service, which matters for your budget (see the costs section).

Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN)

Formerly the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, the body now operates as the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria under the PCN Act 2022. It runs a public "Verify Pharmacist" register search, which helps DataFlow confirm your registration.

Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN)

MLSCN registers and licenses medical laboratory scientists and runs an online practitioner registration and licensure portal. Ask MLSCN for a letter of good standing addressed to DHA and confirm the current fee with the council.

Other boards

• Radiographers: Radiographers Registration Board of Nigeria
• Physiotherapists: Medical Rehabilitation Therapists Board
• Dental therapists, optometrists and others: your own statutory board

Whichever body you belong to, keep your annual practising licence current. The PQR requires a valid licence in your home country or country of last employment, and DataFlow checks it with the issuer.

Under the PQR, your good standing certificate (GSC) must be no older than six months when you apply, and issued by the health regulator in your country of last employment. DHA's licensing manual repeats the six-month rule for the Get Registered application. Time your request so it is still valid when you submit.

NMCN: verification and letter of good standing

NMCN's verification page lists these requirements for verification of certificates of registration:

• An application letter stating the purpose and destination of the verification
• A completed verification form
• A copy of your current licence
• Copies of your certificates of registration
• A copy of your birth certificate or declaration of age
• Payment through Remita (listed at N66,875 for verification and N8,750 for a letter of good standing at the time of writing)

In February 2024 NMCN issued revised verification guidelines that, as reported by TheCable, required two years of post-qualification experience from the date of the permanent licence, an active licence with at least six months to expiry, letters of good standing sent directly to NMCN by your employer and last training institution, and a minimum processing time of six months. The guidelines were contested, and the verification portal reopened in September 2024. Check the current rules on the NMCN portal before you apply, and build at least six months into your plan if the 2024 conditions still apply to you.

MDCN: Certificate of Good Standing

1. Log in to the MDCN registration portal with your folio number.
2. Start a new Certificate of Good Standing application and update your records.
3. Pay the fee online. MDCN's fee notice lists N75,000 for a COGS, plus postage.
4. Make sure all annual fees are paid and you have no open disciplinary matter, or the certificate may be delayed.

PCN, MLSCN and other boards

• Request a letter of good standing or verification addressed to the Dubai Health Authority.
• Ask whether the board sends it directly to DHA or DataFlow, or issues it to you.
• Confirm the fee and processing time directly. We could not find a current published fee for PCN or MLSCN letters.

If you have worked outside Nigeria

The PQR asks for good standing from your country of last employment. If you have worked in Ghana, the UK or a GCC country since leaving Nigeria, you will need a GSC from that regulator too.

DHA delegates primary source verification (PSV) to the DataFlow Group, which contacts your university, council and employers directly. DataFlow's DHA FAQ says you apply at dha.dfgateway.com using the Unique ID from your Sheryan account. Our DataFlow verification guide covers the portal screen by screen.

What DataFlow verifies for Nigerian applicants

• Qualifications: your degree or diploma from the university or School of Nursing, plus transcripts
• Licences and registration: NMCN, MDCN, PCN, MLSCN or board registration and current practising licence
• Experience: certificates from each hospital or clinic you list
• Good standing certificate(s)
• Exam exemption proof, if you claim one under the PQR
• Logbook for doctors in surgical specialties

How the process runs

1. DHA's credentialing team decides which documents need PSV. DataFlow's FAQ says this takes five working days, after which you receive a DHA reference number.
2. Upload clear colour scans and pay online. DataFlow states that you can only edit documents before payment, and refund requests must be made within 48 hours.
3. DataFlow contacts each source. Its standard timeframe is about 15 working days from payment, but it warns this can run longer when institutions are slow, closed or have archived records.
4. The report is linked to your Sheryan application.

DataFlow does not require embassy attestation for PSV. Fees vary with the number of documents; estimate yours with our DataFlow cost calculator.

Common Nigerian delays

• Schools of Nursing and older universities that are slow to answer verification requests or cannot locate archived records
• Council verification fees that must be paid before the council will respond (see MDCN's DataFlow fee below)
• Experience letters from private hospitals with no letterhead, no contact details or no clear dates
• Name mismatches between your certificate, licence and passport, such as a maiden name on your nursing certificate
• Expired practising licences at the moment DataFlow checks them

If the result is negative or "Unable to Verify"

DHA's manual allows two re-verification appeals for an "Unable to Verify" result and one for a discrepancy result on the same document. Fix the cause first: chase the institution, get a corrected letter, or supply name-change evidence.

Not sure where you stand? Get a free eligibility assessment - we check your documents and route before you pay DataFlow.

Sheryan is DHA's licensing portal at services.dha.gov.ae. DHA's licensing manual sets out the sequence below.

Step 1: Create your account and do the self-assessment

• Register on Sheryan and note your DHA Unique ID. You need it for both DataFlow and Prometric.
• Complete the free self-assessment tool. No documents are uploaded at this stage.
• If the result is "not eligible", you can apply for the paid Review Eligibility service and upload supporting documents.

Step 2: Complete PSV and the exam

The manual says the Get Registered application cannot be processed until the PSV report is complete and you have passed the exam (where one is required), and that both can run at the same time. Most applicants start DataFlow first, then book Prometric once they are ready.

Step 3: Submit Get Registered

1. Fill in the online form and link your verified DataFlow report.
2. Upload a recent passport photo and a valid passport copy.
3. Pay the DHA review fee. DHA's service page lists the credentialing fee as AED 200.
4. DHA approves, rejects or returns the file asking for more documents, a different title or a trainee restriction.

Step 4: Registration and activation

On approval you receive a registration certificate and appear on the Dubai Medical Registry. The manual says registration is valid for one year and is not a licence to practise: a DHA-licensed facility must activate it into a licence. Plan your job search so an employer can activate within that year.

DHA's computer-based tests are run by Prometric through its worldwide network, according to the DHA CBT Guideline. Results appear in Sheryan as Pass or Fail only; DHA does not share your score.

Every title and pass mark is listed on our DHA exam overview.

Booking with Prometric

1. Generate your Eligibility ID in Sheryan.
2. Book on Prometric's DHA page (www.prometric.com/DHA) and pay by Visa, MasterCard or American Express, as DHA's assessment manual describes.
3. Make sure the name in Sheryan matches your passport exactly. If it does not, contact DHA at least five days before the exam.

Where Nigerians can sit the exam

Prometric's published international test centre list includes Lagos. DHA exams need fingerprint capture at check-in, so Prometric's DHA page says they run only at biometric-enabled centres. Search for DHA in the Prometric locator to confirm that the Lagos centre is offering your exam on your dates. If no seat is available, candidates also sit in other countries, including the UAE itself.

Exam day and attempts

• Arrive 30 minutes early with your valid passport.
• Expect a fingerprint scan, a metal-detector check and a request to empty your pockets.
• Reschedule or cancel on Prometric's site at least five calendar days before the exam. DHA states its exam fees are non-refundable.
• The Unified PQR allows 3 attempts in total across all UAE authorities, not three each.

Practise with our free DHA exam questions, then sit a timed paper with the Registered Nurse mock test.

The figures below come from official fee notices and DHA documents. Where no official figure is published, we say so rather than guess.

The MDCN notice dates from March 2022, and council fees change, so check the live figure on each portal before you pay.

Realistic timeline

How to shorten it

• Request council letters and DataFlow at the same time as you start exam preparation.
• Tell your school and past employers that a DataFlow request is coming and give them the right contact.
• If you want one team to handle the paperwork, compare our licensing packages.

Most delays and rejections for Nigerian files come from paperwork, not from the exam. These are the issues DHA's manual and the PQR make most likely.

Title and qualification mismatch

• Applying for Registered Nurse with a diploma when the PQR lists a bachelor's degree for that title
• Applying for Pharmacist or Physiotherapist without the two years of experience the PQR requires
• Counting non-clinical, unpaid or teaching work as experience

Document problems

• A good standing certificate older than six months on the day you submit
• Different spellings of your name across certificates, licence and passport without supporting evidence such as a marriage certificate
• Documents not in English or Arabic without a certified legal translation, which DHA's manual requires
• Experience letters that do not show your title, dates and full-time status

Verification and declaration problems

• A negative or "Unable to Verify" DataFlow result that was never appealed
• Failing to declare previous exam attempts at other UAE authorities, which the PQR requires
• Failing to declare disciplinary action, proven or in process

Take a negative PSV result seriously. DHA's licensing manual lists a negative PSV report among the conditions for adding a name to its blacklist, alongside submitting falsified documents.

All UAE authorities use the same PQR, so eligibility is the same. What changes is the portal, the exam provider and some local rules.

DOH (Abu Dhabi)

• You apply through TAMM, not Sheryan.
• Exams are booked through Pearson VUE, not Prometric, after DOH approves you and you pay the pre-booking fee in TAMM.
• Some specialties add an oral, practical or OSCE component. DOH's exam standard sets a 3-month wait before a re-sit.

MOHAP (Northern Emirates)

• You apply through MOHAP's health professional evaluation service.
• MOHAP's service card says new nursing graduates can sit the evaluation exam within two years of graduation without the old six-month training period.

What carries over

DHA's manual says DHA accepts transferred PSV reports from DOH, SHA and MOHAP. Exam attempts are pooled: a failed DHA attempt counts against your DOH or MOHAP total.

• Start with NMCN or MDCN. Council verification is usually the longest step, so request it before you pay DataFlow.
• Renew your practising licence early. NMCN's 2024 guidelines asked for at least six months' validity, and DataFlow checks your licence status.
• Match your names. If your certificates carry a maiden name, prepare a marriage certificate or sworn declaration now.
• Collect clean experience letters on letterhead with your title, dates, full-time status and an HR contact who will answer DataFlow.
• Budget for council DataFlow fees. MDCN lists a separate DataFlow charge on top of DataFlow's own fee.
• Check Lagos seats early. If Prometric Lagos has no DHA dates, look at other countries in the locator before your eligibility runs out.
• Keep copies of everything. If you later apply to DOH or MOHAP, your DataFlow report can transfer.

Applicants from India and the Philippines face similar council steps; our Philippines guide shows how another council's verification fits the same DHA process.