Insurance protection extension system for GCC nationals: 10 things to know

The General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) of the UAE has launched a unified campaign aimed at raising awareness on the insurance protection extension system for registered GCC or Gulf Cooperation Council nationals employed in the UAE. GCC is an economic alliance of six Gulf countries - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman,
Qatar, and UAE.

The campaign in collaboration with the rest of the GCC countries is part of efforts amongst all pension and social security authorities in the region to ensure citizens are offered the right type of insurance protection, regardless of whether it is within their own country or elsewhere in the GCC.


Dr. Maysa Rashed Ghadeer, Government Communications Director at the GPSSA, said: “Our aim is to ensure GCC nationals receive an insurance protection extension system outside their borders in order to secure their present and future, and encourage the transfer of GCC labor amongst all GCC countries in order to embody a form of unity and care amongst us, regardless of the country of origin,”

GCC insurance protection extension system - key things to know

1) Under this retirement and insurance system, GCC nationals employed in UAE-based entities are registered with the GPSSA and they receive their end-of-service and retirement pension in accordance to the pension law by which they are subject to in their own home country.

2) The same insurance system is also extended to the insured’s beneficiaries and to those who were supported by the insured or pensioner during his/her lifetime.

3) The individual must posses the GCC nationality in order to qualify for registration, as well as work for an employer who is subjected to the provisions of the pension and social security law.

4) As part of the registration mechanism, the pension authority in the GCC individual’s workplace country in coordination with the pension authority in his/her home country, must register the employee and follow-up on collecting his/her monthly contributions in accordance to the insurance protection system established in their countries to ensure that their contributions are paid in a manner that does not exceed the employer’s share that is determined in the workplace country.

5) Under GCC insurance protection extension system, the responsibility for paying the contributions on behalf of the GCC national rests with the employer.

6) Registration is mandatory for all GCC nationals employed in UAE-based government and private sectors, including free zones as well as the hotel and tourism sector.

7) The employer has to deduct a percentage from the insured alongside the percentage prescribed for him/her and ensure the amount is transferred on monthly basis to the designated pension system bank account in the insured’s home country.

8) The employer and the insured are mandated to register. Failure to register and contribute on behalf of an insured may result punishable by law.

9) The protection extension system grants those covered by its provisions the possibility to merge employment years prior to the date of application of the system with the current employer.

10) It also permissible to join previous service periods in their countries in accordance with the terms of joining service periods in the pension authority by which they belong.