SSS, Pag-IBIG and saving for OFWs in the UAE

SSS from the UAE

Land-based OFWs pay the whole SSS contribution, under SSS Circular 2024-010:

Rate

15% of your salary credit

Monthly salary credit

PHP 8,000 to 35,000

Monthly contribution

PHP 1,200.00 to 5,250.00

Pay January to September by 31 December of the same year, and October to December by 31 January of the following year.

How to pay. Log in to My.SSS, open the PRN tab and generate a payment reference number. Then either pay online, or download the PRN and pay over the counter at an SSS overseas partner. SSS lists five: Asia United Bank, Bank of Commerce, Philippine National Bank, Pinoy Express and Ventaja (SSS land-based OFW page).

SSS offices in the UAE (SSS Citizen’s Charter 2026):

• Abu Dhabi: Embassy of the Philippines, W-48, Street No. 8, Sector 2-23, Plot 51, Al Qubaisat; (+971) 02-4465122 or (+971) 56-4614435; abudhabi@sss.gov.ph.
• Dubai: Migrant Workers Office, 2C Street, Al Twar Fourth (formerly Al Qusais 3); dubai@sss.gov.ph. This office has an SSS E-Center. The phone number SSS prints for it is missing digits, so use the email.

The SSS guide for OFWs covers the pension and benefits. See how land-based OFWs pay SSS.

Pag-IBIG, MP2 and PhilHealth

Pag-IBIG lists two Overseas Service Desks in the UAE (Pag-IBIG OFW page):

• Abu Dhabi: c/o Migrant Workers Office, W-48 Street, No. 8 Sector 2-23, Plot 51, Al Qubaisat; (+971) 503576308; popabudhabi@pagibigfund.gov.ph; 7:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday.
• Dubai: c/o Philippine Consulate General, Migrant Workers Office, Beirut Street, Al Qusais, P.O. Box 4960; (+971) 567285143; popdubai@pagibigfund.gov.ph; 7:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday.

You can pay membership savings and MP2 online through Virtual Pag-IBIG or GCash, at Philippine National Bank’s offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, or at the exchange houses Pag-IBIG lists for the UAE. On 20 October 2026 its list for the UAE named, in alphabetical order: Al Ahalia Money Exchange Bureau, Al Ansari Exchange, Al Bader Exchange, Al Fardan Exchange, Al Fuad Exchange, Al Jazira Exchange, Al Rostamani, Delma Exchange, Federal Exchange, Hadi Express Exchange, Joy Alukkas Exchange, Lari Exchange, LM Exchange, Orient Exchange, Payoll Payment Services, Progoti Exchange, Universal Exchange Centre and Wallstreet Exchange. The list changes, so check the current one on Pag-IBIG’s OFW page. We do not rank or recommend any of them. See paying Pag-IBIG online. Read the MP2 guide before you open an account.

PhilHealth. OFWs pay 5% of their monthly income, at least PHP 500 a month, monthly to yearly (PhilHealth Advisory No. 2026-0042). PhilHealth’s overseas collecting agents include exchange houses in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, on the lists it publishes for its partners DBP and Ventaja. You can also pay online. PhilHealth has no office in the UAE. See paying PhilHealth online. The PhilHealth guide covers the benefits.

Your end-of-service gratuity

The UAE has no pension for foreign workers. What you build up there is your end-of-service gratuity. For full-time private-sector staff, Article 51 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 gives, after a year of continuous service, 21 days of basic wage for each of the first five years and 30 days for each year after, up to two years’ wage. It uses your basic wage, without allowances. Unpaid absence does not count. The u.ae guidance says employers must pay it within 14 days of the contract ending.

The UAE gratuity calculator works out an estimate line by line.

Three groups have different rules:

• Domestic workers are under Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022. Its Article 22 leaves their end-of-service rules to the UAE Cabinet, so check your standard contract and ask MOHRE, the UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.
• DIFC staff are under the DIFC’s own employment law. Their end-of-service savings for service after the scheme started go into DEWS, the DIFC Employee Workplace Savings scheme. ADGM has its own employment regulations too.
• Employers in the Savings Scheme. Under Cabinet Resolution No. 96 of 2023, an employer can pay 5.83% of basic salary (under 5 years’ service) or 8.33% (over 5 years) into an investment fund instead of the gratuity. Gratuity built up before joining is still paid under the law.

If you lose your job: the ILOE scheme

The UAE’s Involuntary Loss of Employment (ILOE) insurance covers “all employees in the federal government sector and the private sector”. Domestic workers, employees on temporary contracts, investors, under-18s and some retirees are exempt (u.ae, updated 8 December 2025).

Premium, basic salary under AED 16,000

No more than AED 5 a month

Premium, basic salary over AED 16,000

No more than AED 10 a month

What it pays

60% of the subscription salary, for 3 months

Monthly cap

AED 10,000 or AED 20,000, by category

Fine for not subscribing

AED 400

To claim, you must have been subscribed for at least 12 continuous months, have lost the job “for reasons other than resignation” and not for disciplinary reasons, be in the UAE, and claim within 30 days of the job ending. u.ae says compensation is paid within two weeks of the claim.

Planning your gratuity before you leave

A gratuity arrives once, often when you are about to change jobs or go home. A plain way to think about it, as information only:

1. Work out the figure first with the UAE gratuity calculator. To see it in pesos, use the day’s rate: the BSP reference rate was PHP 17.1766 per dirham on 20 October 2026.
2. Set aside months of costs for the gap between jobs or after coming home. The emergency fund calculator helps you choose how many.
3. Bring your Philippine contributions up to date within SSS’s payment deadlines, so the years abroad count.
4. Decide what the family needs from it, and what can go to longer-term savings, such as MP2 or a PERA retirement account (a 5% tax credit on up to PHP 400,000 a year for overseas Filipinos, BSP PERA FAQ), or the other options in our investing guides. See how PERA works. The OFW retirement calculator shows how far your savings would go.

Sending dirhams home

Exchange houses in the UAE are licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE. Check the name against its CB Register (August 2026) before you use one. See sending money home for how fees and exchange rates work.

Where to get help in the UAE

All numbers are as the offices publish them. The embassy and consulate websites showed maintenance pages on 20 October 2026, so check the post’s site or social media before visiting. In Dubai, the Consulate and the MWO are in the same area, but each agency writes the address differently (Al Twar 4, Al Twar Fourth, or Beirut Street, Al Qusais 3): confirm the location before you go.

• Philippine Embassy, Abu Dhabi: W-48, Street No. 8, Sector 2-23, Plot 51, Al Qubaisat; 050 813 7836; abudhabi.pe@dfa.gov.ph or auhpe@philembassy.ae.
• Philippine Consulate General, Dubai: 851 Beirut Street, Al Twar 4; consular +971 4 220 7800; assistance to nationals +971 56 501 5756, atn@pcgdubai.ae.
• Migrant Workers Office, Abu Dhabi: at the Embassy, W-48 Street No. 8, Sector 2-23, Plot No. 51, Al Qubaisat; hotline +971562709157; mwo_abudhabi@dmw.gov.ph. It covers Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Delma Island, Ghayathi, Liwa, Mirfa, Ruwais, Sila and Madinat Zayed (DMW directory, 13 March 2026).
• Migrant Workers Office, Dubai: Villa No. 2, Street No. 26, Beirut Street, Al Qusais 3; hotline +971506526626; mwo_dubai@dmw.gov.ph. It covers Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain.
• OWWA: in Abu Dhabi, OWWA hotline (00971) 0545572121 or 0585943131; in Dubai, OWWA hotline (00971) 505585536 (OWWA overseas offices page).
• Time. u.ae says “The UAE is 4 hours ahead of GMT”. Manila is 8 hours ahead, so the UAE is 4 hours behind Manila. 9 am in Dubai is 1 pm in Manila.

Going home on holiday? See Balik Manggagawa for the papers to fly back.

Moving to Saudi Arabia? See our Saudi Arabia guide.