SQE in the UAE and the Gulf
The SQE in Dubai, the UAE and the Gulf
You can prepare for the SQE in the Gulf and sit most of it there: Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh are on the SRA’s list of cities for SQE1 and the SQE2 written papers. Only the SQE2 oral assessments mean a trip to England or Wales. In Dubai a foreign-qualified lawyer works as a registered legal consultant, a title that carries no right to plead in the onshore courts.
- 3
- Gulf cities on the SRA’s list for SQE1 and SQE2 written: Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Riyadh
- 1,224
- practitioners registered with the DIFC Courts in 2025, across 235 law firms (DIFC Courts)
- 3 yrs
- of continuous legal experience Dubai asks of a legal consultant who graduated outside the UAE
- 1 yr
- of post-qualification work the SRA asks of a Dubai advocate for an SQE2 exemption, and two of a legal consultant
Can I qualify as an English solicitor from the Gulf?
Facts checked against the regulators’ own pages. Last updated .
- Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh are on the SRA’s list of cities for SQE1 and the SQE2 written papers. The list is of places it aims to include, and the cities for a sitting are confirmed when booking opens.
- The SQE2 oral assessments are held only in London, Cardiff, Manchester and Birmingham, over two consecutive days in the same assessment window as the written papers.
- The SRA’s exemption finder lists Dubai advocates and Dubai legal consultants for an individual SQE2 exemption, Bahrain for an agreed one and Saudi Arabia for an individual one. Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman are not listed, which still leaves an individual application open.
- If you qualified somewhere else and work in the Gulf, the SRA looks at the qualification you hold. See our guides for Indian advocates and Pakistani advocates.
- In Dubai, a foreign-qualified lawyer registers as a legal consultant: advice, drafting and arbitration, but no pleading before the Dubai Courts. Advocates before those courts must be UAE nationals, save for a 15-year experience route.
- The DIFC Courts register lawyers from any jurisdiction, and rights of audience there need two or five years of advocacy experience after qualifying.
SQE exam centres in the Gulf: Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh
Three Gulf cities are on the SRA’s list, read on 12 November 2026. The SRA calls the list "illustrative only": a city may not run at every sitting, and you see what is available when booking opens.
| Assessment | In the Gulf | What to plan for |
|---|---|---|
| SQE1 (FLK1 and FLK2) | Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, are on the list. | Sittings in January and July, with FLK1 in one week and FLK2 in the next. |
| SQE2 written | The same three cities are on the list. Neither country is among those where SQE2 written is not offered. | Three days at a test centre, inside the same assessment window as your oral sitting. |
| SQE2 oral | Not held in the Gulf, or anywhere outside England and Wales. | Two consecutive days in London, Cardiff, Manchester or Birmingham. |
- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar have no city on the list. When a preferred location is not available, the SRA’s advice is to consider a neighbouring country or city. Within the Gulf, that is the UAE or Riyadh.
- Other listed cities within reach include Cairo, Istanbul and the six Indian cities: Bangalore, Chennai, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi.
- Pakistan has no city on the list either. The SRA gives no reason. Candidates there travel for SQE1 as well, and the UAE is one of the two nearest listed countries: see the SQE from Pakistan.
- Check the start time when you book. The SQE site says start times vary at international centres, and its booking deadlines are in UK time.
- The exam is in English, the building may not be. The SQE site warns that staff at an overseas centre may speak only the local language and that signs may be in it.
Flying to the UK for the oral assessments
Gulf candidates hold many different passports, and the UK’s entry rules follow the passport, not the country of residence. Some visitors need a Standard Visitor visa (£135 for up to six months), some an electronic travel authorisation, some neither. GOV.UK lists taking an exam among Standard Visitor activities, and Home Office guidance says a visitor can enter to sit a test or an exam. The Immigration Rules do not name the SQE. Look up your own nationality on the Standard Visitor page on GOV.UK before paying for SQE2.
Everything else about sitting abroad, from ID to booking, is on sitting the SQE from outside the UK. The city list and the oral venues come from the SQE site: written locations, locations overview and oral locations.
How the SRA treats Gulf qualifications for SQE2
From the SRA’s exemption finder, last updated 24 September 2026. For the UAE it lists Dubai only, and it sets a different experience threshold for each of the two Dubai titles.
| Qualification | SRA position | Experience and evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Dubai: Advocate | Individual SQE2 exemption | Proof of qualification, a reference showing at least one year of legal work after qualifying as a Dubai advocate, and proof of the referee’s qualification. |
| Dubai: Legal Consultant | Individual SQE2 exemption | Proof of qualification and a reference showing at least two years of work after qualifying. Because the title carries no right to appear in the Dubai courts, you also complete section 8 of the form with specific examples of each skill, redacted work samples and detailed supervisor references. |
| Bahrain: Lawyer | Agreed SQE2 exemption | The SRA has already assessed the qualification. Lawyers who qualified through the full Bahraini route apply for the agreed exemption. |
| Saudi Arabia: Lawyer | Individual SQE2 exemption | Two years of experience, which can include the mandatory pre-qualification period certified by the Saudi Bar Association or the Ministry of Justice. |
| Abu Dhabi and the other emirates | Not listed | You can still make an individual application. The SRA says a qualification that is not on its list is one it has not had an application for, or is still considering. |
| Qatar, Kuwait and Oman | Not listed | The same: an individual application, assessed on its own evidence. |
- No Gulf qualification is exempt from SQE1. The SRA says SQE1 exemptions are "very rare" and that it has granted one to any lawyer since 2021.
- An individual exemption is not automatic. The general test is practising rights in at least one listed area, at least two years of professional legal work unless your entry states another period, and experience that covers every SQE2 skill.
- £265 and up to 180 days. That is the SRA’s fee and its time limit for a decision on a complete application. It says agreed exemptions are likely to take significantly less time.
- Apply before you book SQE2, because the SRA will not exempt an assessment you have failed, or have sat and are waiting on. SQE1 can be taken while it decides.
- English is proved separately. A lawyer exempt from SQE2 shows either that the qualification relied on was assessed in English, or a Secure English Language Test no more than three years old, such as IELTS Academic UKVI at 7.5 overall.
Qualified elsewhere, working in the Gulf
Many lawyers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi were admitted in another country. The SRA assesses the qualification you rely on, and you must already be admitted in that jurisdiction. An Indian advocate is asked for an All India Bar Examination pass and two years of practice: see the SQE for Indian lawyers. A Pakistani advocate is asked for 18 months: see the SQE from Pakistan. For any other country, look up your entry in the SQE2 exemption finder by jurisdiction, then read how to apply for an SQE exemption.
Legal staff who are not qualified lawyers anywhere take the standard route: SQE1, SQE2 and two years of qualifying work experience. That experience can be gained in the Gulf and need not involve English law, but a solicitor of England and Wales or a compliance officer for legal practice has to confirm it. See QWE confirmation for overseas work. Sources: SRA, SQE exemptions by jurisdiction, SRA, applying for an SQE2 exemption and SRA, qualifying work experience.
What Dubai asks of a foreign-qualified lawyer
Dubai’s Legal Affairs Department (LAD) keeps two rolls under bylaws it approved in December 2022: one for advocates, one for legal consultants. The advocates’ roll is for UAE nationals, with a 15-year experience route for others, so a foreign-qualified lawyer looks to the second.
| Point | Advocate | Legal consultant |
|---|---|---|
| Who can register | UAE nationals. A firm may apply to register a non-national who, among other conditions, has at least 15 years of prior work as a judge, prosecutor or lawyer. | Holders of a UAE-accredited law degree, or of an academic law qualification plus valid professional membership in the jurisdiction where they are authorised to provide legal services. |
| Dubai Courts | May plead before them, and before the Court of Cassation after five years of practice in the UAE. | May not plead or represent others before them. |
| Work covered | Includes pleading before the Dubai Courts. | Advice, drafting, company work, settlements and representing others before arbitration tribunals. |
| What a non-national who graduated outside the UAE needs | An application by a firm, not by the individual, and among other conditions the 15 years above. | Three years of continuous practical legal experience (one year for UAE nationals and for non-nationals who graduated in the UAE), a valid UAE residence permit, an employment contract with a firm licensed in Dubai, and full-time work through that firm. |
Under article 6 of the consultants’ bylaw, no one may provide legal services in Dubai unless registered on the roll as a practising legal consultant. Registration lasts one year and is renewable, subject to the LAD’s professional development requirements, and the LAD may limit the practice areas of a first-time registrant who graduated outside the UAE (article 14). Source: Government of Dubai, Administrative Resolution No. 51 of 2022, in English translation. The Arabic text prevails.
Where the English qualification fits
The bylaw names no country. Our reading of article 7(a) is that admission as a solicitor of England and Wales, with a current practising certificate, is a professional membership of the kind it describes, so the English qualification is a basis for registering as a legal consultant. That is a reading and not a quoted rule, and the LAD decides each application. We found no statement from the LAD about solicitors who qualified through the SQE.
The same article explains why the qualification matters to law graduates working in Dubai as paralegals or legal officers. A law degree from outside the UAE does not meet it on its own: it has to come with a professional admission somewhere. On our reading, admission as a solicitor through the SQE is one such admission, and most of the route can be completed from the Gulf.
The DIFC Courts register, and rights of audience there
The DIFC Courts in Dubai keep their own register of practitioners. It asks about the rights you hold where you qualified and your advocacy experience, not your nationality.
| Part of the register | Who is on it | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Part I: law firms | Firms, which list the practitioners authorised to issue and conduct proceedings. Those practitioners can handle applications before a Registrar, case management conferences and Small Claims Tribunal matters. | Registration is in the firm’s name. A firm located in Dubai supplies its LAD licence, and each listed lawyer needs a current practising certificate or a letter of good standing. |
| Part II: limited rights of audience | Individuals who hold the right to conduct litigation, or a right of audience before the superior courts, in the jurisdiction where they qualified. | At least two years of advocacy experience after qualifying. |
| Part II: full rights of audience | Individuals who meet the same test. | At least five years of advocacy experience after qualifying. |
- Part II applicants need sufficient English and knowledge of common law and of DIFC Courts procedure, and attend an interview. Lawyers from civil-law backgrounds with little common-law knowledge receive limited rights only.
- The documents include a current practising certificate or a letter of good standing issued within three months, and the LAD card if you practise in Dubai.
- The guidelines specify no jurisdiction and no nationality. They accept either the right to conduct litigation or a right of audience, so the test is not written for one branch of a profession.
- A newly admitted solicitor does not walk into the DIFC Courts as an advocate. The two-year and five-year thresholds count advocacy experience gained after qualifying.
The register is growing. The DIFC Courts reported 1,224 registered practitioners for 2025, up 14% on the year, and 235 registered law firms, up 13%. They publish no breakdown by home jurisdiction. Sources: DIFC Courts, registration guidelines, DIFC Courts, registration questions, DIFC Courts Order No. 1 of 2025 and DIFC Courts, 2025 service statistics.
In Abu Dhabi, the ADGM Courts say they "have not instituted a registration system of lawyers" as a condition of a right of audience: rights of audience there follow section 219 of the ADGM Courts Regulations. We have not read ADGM’s licensing rules for law firms. Source: ADGM Courts, frequently asked questions.
What the SQE costs from the Gulf, in dirhams
Assessment fees are charged in pounds, and the SQE cost page shows one fee for each assessment whichever centre you book. A lawyer who holds an SQE2 exemption pays for SQE1 and the £265 application.
In pounds, with UAE dirhamsAEDPaid to the SRA, the same wherever you sit
- SQE1 assessment feeFLK1 and FLK2, paid to the SRA’s assessment provider when you book£2,006AED 9,770
- SQE2 assessment feeWritten and oral, paid when you book SQE2£3,086AED 15,000
- Both assessments£5,092AED 24,800
Preparing with FQPS
- FQPS SQE1 RevisionA month, no minimum term, cancel anytime£79AED 385
- FQPS SQE2 PreparationA month, includes 6 live 1:1 mocks with a solicitor£189AED 920
SRA fees are for assessments from September 2026. FQPS prices include VAT. AED figures are a guide at the European Central Bank rate of 12 November 2026: you pay in pounds, and your card provider sets the final rate.
Preparing for the SQE while working in the Gulf
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Every paid plan includes a designated mentor and a personal study plan from Cleo, the FQPS study planner, built around your exam date.
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The oral assessments are the one part you travel for. The SQE2 plans include live 1:1 mocks with a qualified solicitor, covering the oral and the written stations, with written feedback.
The SQE2 courseRevision you can listen to
Audiobooks of the revision material are part of the SQE1 Practice and Master plans and both SQE2 plans.
The SQE1 courseWork experience gained in the Gulf
If you are not a qualified lawyer, your Gulf experience can count as qualifying work experience once a solicitor of England and Wales confirms it. A solicitor outside your organisation can do so after reviewing your work and hearing from your supervisor.
Who can confirm QWESQE1 preparation from £79 a month
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A UK course with students well beyond the UK
FQPS is online from the first revision card to the last mock, so where you live changes your time zone and nothing else.
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- 44%
- of those students paid with a card issued outside the UK
Lit: the UK and 14 of the other countries, among them France, United States, Singapore, Germany, South Korea, Türkiye.
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When the SQE will not get you what you want in the Gulf
We would rather you chose the right route than our course.
- You want to plead in the onshore Dubai Courts. That is reserved to advocates, who must be UAE nationals unless a firm registers them with at least 15 years of prior work as a judge, prosecutor or lawyer.
- You expect the qualification alone to let you practise in Dubai. Registration as a legal consultant also needs three years of continuous practical experience if you graduated outside the UAE, a UAE residence permit and full-time employment with a firm licensed in Dubai.
- You expect to appear as an advocate in the DIFC Courts soon after qualifying. Limited rights of audience need two years of advocacy experience after qualifying, and full rights need five.
- You are a Dubai legal consultant counting on an SQE2 exemption. Because the title carries no court rights, the SRA asks for work samples and supervisor references for every skill, and the outcome is far from certain.
- You practise in Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Kuwait or Oman and need to know your exemption position before you start. Your qualification is not on the SRA’s list, so the answer comes only from an individual application that can take up to 180 days.
- You cannot travel to England or Wales and have no SQE2 exemption. There is no oral assessment centre in the Gulf.
The SQE in Dubai and the Gulf: common questions
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Book a free callCan I take the SQE exam in Dubai?
Dubai is on the SRA’s list of cities for SQE1 and the SQE2 written assessments, read on 12 November 2026. The SRA describes the list as illustrative and confirms the cities for each sitting when booking opens. The SQE2 oral assessments are held only in England and Wales.
Is there an SQE exam centre in Abu Dhabi or Riyadh?
Both cities are on the SRA’s list for SQE1 and the SQE2 written assessments, alongside Dubai. No city in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman or Qatar is on the list, so candidates there travel to a listed city.
Can a UK solicitor practise law in Dubai?
As a registered legal consultant, not as an advocate. Dubai’s bylaws accept an academic law qualification plus valid professional membership in the jurisdiction where the lawyer is authorised to practise, and ask a non-national who graduated outside the UAE for three years of experience, a residence permit and full-time employment with a licensed firm. The bylaw names no country, so treating a solicitor’s admission as that membership is a reading, and the Legal Affairs Department decides.
Can an English solicitor appear in the Dubai courts?
Not in the onshore Dubai Courts. Pleading there is reserved to registered advocates, who must be UAE nationals save for a 15-year experience route for non-nationals. The DIFC Courts are separate: they register lawyers from any jurisdiction, with rights of audience after two or five years of advocacy experience.
Do Dubai advocates and legal consultants get an SQE2 exemption?
Neither has an agreed exemption, and both can apply for an individual one. The SRA asks a Dubai advocate for a reference showing one year of legal work after qualifying. It asks a Dubai legal consultant for two years, plus specific examples of each skill, redacted work samples and detailed supervisor references.
Do lawyers from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait or Oman get an SQE exemption?
Bahrain has an agreed SQE2 exemption. Saudi Arabian lawyers can apply for an individual SQE2 exemption with two years of experience, which can include the mandatory pre-qualification period. Qatar, Kuwait and Oman are not on the SRA’s list, which means a lawyer from those countries can still make an individual application. None of them is exempt from SQE1.
I am an Indian or Pakistani advocate working in Dubai. Which SQE exemption rule applies to me?
The one for the qualification you hold. The SRA asks an Indian advocate for an All India Bar Examination pass and a reference showing two years of legal work since qualifying, and a Pakistani advocate for a reference showing 18 months. The entries we read do not say how work done in the Gulf is treated, so ask the SRA before you apply.
How many lawyers are registered with the DIFC Courts?
The DIFC Courts reported 1,224 registered practitioners and 235 registered law firms for 2025, up 14% and 13% on the year before. They do not publish a breakdown by the country in which those lawyers qualified.
How much does the SQE cost in the UAE?
The SQE cost page gives a single fee in pounds for each assessment and shows no extra charge for international centres: £2,006 for SQE1 and £3,086 for SQE2 for assessments from September 2026, paid in full by card at booking. A candidate who sits SQE2 should add the cost of travelling to England or Wales for the two oral days.
Other routes to the English title
SQE for Indian lawyersSix test cities, an SQE2 exemption that asks for the AIBE and two years of practice, and what the English title is worth in India.
SQE in PakistanNo test city in Pakistan, an 18-month SQE2 exemption for advocates, and a title that Pakistani law does not name.SQE after a University of London LLBWhat each country’s regulator does with the external LLB, and where you can sit the SQE from there.All 15 international guidesWhere you can sit, what has to be done in the UK, and a guide for each country.Sources for this page (21)
- SQE: SQE1 and SQE2 written locations
- SQE: assessment locations
- SQE: SQE2 oral locations
- SQE: SQE2 assessment days
- SQE: SQE1 assessment days
- SQE: booking windows
- SQE: costs and fees
- SRA: SQE exemptions by jurisdiction
- SRA: applying for an SQE2 exemption
- SRA: applying for an SQE1 exemption
- SRA: agreed SQE2 exemptions
- SRA: English or Welsh language proficiency
- SRA: qualifying work experience
- GOV.UK: Standard Visitor
- GOV.UK: Home Office visit guidance
- Government of Dubai: Administrative Resolution No. 51 of 2022 approving the bylaws on advocates and legal consultants
- DIFC Courts: registration of practitioners, guidelines
- DIFC Courts: registration of practitioners, questions
- DIFC Courts: Order No. 1 of 2025
- DIFC Courts: 2025 service statistics
- ADGM Courts: frequently asked questions
Each source was read on or before 12 November 2026. Rules change: check the regulator's own page before you act on anything here. This page is general information, not legal or immigration advice. FQPS Academy is an independent SQE preparation provider, not affiliated with or endorsed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or Kaplan. The SQE and SOLICITORS QUALIFYING EXAMINATION trade marks are the property of and are used under licence from the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
