An offer letter from a Gulf employer is only a starting document. It is not a work visa, not an Iqama or QID, and not proof that you should send money to anyone. Pakistani and South Asian applicants often receive polished PDFs that look official until you check the sender, the company name and the payment request. Our Gulf job offer red flags guide covers warning signs across the whole recruitment conversation; this checklist is narrower and walks through the letter itself, line by line, so you can decide whether to continue.
Treat the offer letter as a claim that still needs verification. Confirm the employer’s legal name and domain, read the salary components and visa wording, refuse any personal payment for the job or visa, and check official government portals before you resign or travel.
Who sent the letter and how it reached you
Start with the channel. A real offer usually follows an application you made on a known portal, a company careers page or a licensed agency, and it arrives from a company email domain that matches the employer’s website. A PDF that appears only on WhatsApp, Telegram or a free Gmail address is not automatically fake, but it is incomplete until you can also reach a named person on a company landline or official email.
Ask for the full legal name of the company, its trade licence or commercial registration number, and the office address. Search that name on the official business-licence lookup of the emirate, free zone or country where the company says it operates, and on the company’s own site. If the logo is famous but the domain or registration does not match, stop.
- Company email domain matches the website you can open yourself
- Named signatory with a title and a reachable company number
- Legal name and registration number you can look up
- No pressure to accept or pay within hours
Job title, location and the actual work
The title on the letter should match what you discussed. A vague “multi-purpose staff” or “assistant” that later becomes heavy labour or night shifts is a common complaint. Note the city, the work site (hotel, warehouse, construction, office) and whether the role is based there or involves travel. The letter should name the department and the person you report to, even if the full job description comes later in the contract.
If the letter mentions a specific project or hotel, check that the project is still active and that the company is listed as the employer, not a subcontractor you have never heard of. Keep the original job advert or interview notes so you can compare wording later. Our guides to warehouse and storekeeper jobs in Doha and sales executive jobs in Dubai describe what those roles usually involve day to day, which helps you spot a letter that does not match the work.
Salary structure: basic, allowances and what is missing
Gulf packages are usually split. Look for a clear basic salary in the local currency (AED, SAR, QAR, KWD, BHD or OMR) plus separate housing, transport or other fixed allowances. In the UAE, for example, end-of-service gratuity is worked out from the basic wage, not the total cash. A single “gross package” number with no breakdown is harder to verify and easier to reduce later.
The letter should state the payment frequency (normally monthly) and the currency. It does not need to invent overtime rates if those are covered by the later contract and local law, but it should not claim a salary that the company refuses to put in writing. Do not accept a verbal “it will be higher once you arrive” without the written figure.
- Basic salary stated separately in local currency
- Housing and transport allowances itemised if they are part of the package
- Monthly payment mentioned
- No “salary will be confirmed after you pay the agent” language
Visa and sponsorship wording
The offer should say that the employer will sponsor the work visa or residence process. In the UAE this is normally an employment entry permit followed by medical and Emirates ID steps. In Saudi Arabia it leads toward an Iqama after the employer’s sponsorship. The letter should not promise a specific timeline or a “ready visa already issued.” It should not ask you to enter on a visit visa and convert it later.
Any sentence that places the cost of the work permit, visa or residence card on you is a warning. UAE labour law bars employers from charging workers recruitment and employment costs, and Saudi labour law places recruitment, work-permit and Iqama fees on the employer; check the rule for your destination on its official labour portal. If the letter is silent on sponsorship, ask for the wording in writing before you proceed. Read our earlier notes on Saudi Iqama basics and UAE residence and Emirates ID for the sequence that normally follows a real offer.
Probation, contract type and other standard clauses
Most private-sector offers mention a probation period. UAE labour law caps probation at six months, and Saudi labour law caps the total at 180 days and requires it to be written into the contract. The letter should not claim an open-ended probation. Notice period, annual leave and medical insurance coverage are usually listed, even if the full detail sits in the later contract.
Fixed-term contracts are the norm in the UAE private sector, and Saudi law requires a written fixed-term contract for non-Saudi workers. The offer should not contradict the contract that will be registered on the official system (MOHRE in the UAE, Qiwa in Saudi Arabia). If the numbers or title differ between the PDF you received and the official form, use the official form.
Fees and payments to refuse
Never send money to a personal account, mobile wallet or cash collector for a “processing fee,” “visa reservation,” “medical booking through us,” “security deposit” or “agent commission” that is not a receipted official government or licensed-agency charge. In Pakistan, overseas employment promoters are licensed through the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment, which publishes its list of licensed promoters on beoe.gov.pk; unofficial middlemen are not a safe route.
A genuine employer does not ask you to pay for the job itself. If an agent in Lahore, Karachi, Dhaka or Kerala says the offer is free only after you transfer funds, treat the letter as unverified. Keep screenshots and stop. Our guide on medical fitness checks explains which medical fees are normal and which are not.
- Personal WhatsApp or bank transfer for “visa fee” or “offer letter fee”
- Request for original passport before the employer is verified
- Instruction to enter on a visit visa
- Salary or title that changes after you pay
- Refusal to give a company email or registration number
How to verify before you resign or book a ticket
Call or email the company using the contact details on its official website, not the number in the PDF. Ask HR whether they have issued an offer to your name and passport number. In the UAE, the MOHRE website, app and call centre are the official places to check a work permit or contract once the employer has started the process; in Saudi Arabia, the employment contract is documented on the Qiwa platform. Do not resign from a current job until you have independent confirmation.
If anything is unclear, ask for the offer to be re-issued on company letterhead from a company domain, with the legal name, registration and a named signatory. Compare it with the later official contract. A slower check is safer than a fast payment that never produces a real sponsorship.
The Bottom Line
An offer letter is useful only after you have confirmed the employer, read the salary breakdown and visa wording, and refused any unofficial payment. Verify the company through its own domain and the relevant government registry, keep every document, and do not travel or resign on a WhatsApp PDF alone. Official sources for visas and contracts remain the only reliable next step.