They have a very big tedious hiring process. references benefits more then having the required skill. Preference of hiring in UAE is as follows 1. British/ American or any Scandinavian ( or any one with fair skin) 2.Local Emirate 3. Arab Nationals (arabic speaking) 4. Malayalee ( specifically because they refer themselves as "malyalee" then Indians and they always have partiality . A lower skilled Malayalam can receive more benefits and higher salaries then other Indians) 5. Filipinos 6. Rest of India (excluding Karnataka) 7. Pakistani