Miami is a transit city as much as a destination. A great deal of what lands here is going onward into Latin America and the Caribbean, which means the handover is often to a freight forwarder or a bonded facility rather than an end customer. Your job ends at the signature either way, and the paperwork is written for that shape.
Open · United States desk
On Board Courier, Miami
The gateway lane to the Americas. Carry marine spares, pharmaceutical consignments and escorted valuables between the Emirates and Miami.
OnBoard Courier is a United Arab Emirates company, contracted by ICSL FZE and run from Dubai. A country named on this site is a country we cover and route through, not a separate company in that country. Assignments are contracted under UAE law, and the terms are published in full under legal and policies.
GatewayMIA · Miami
Distance from Dubai≈12,600 km
Air time15h 27m
CarriersEmirates
EngagementFreelance · per assignment
Fee per assignmentAED 900 to 2,600
Apply for this position
Applying is free. Freelance · self-employed ·
posted 7 September 2026 · open until 7 March 2027
What the work pays
The fee for an assignment is agreed with you in writing before you accept it. These are the figures the site publishes, and what the desk covers on top of them.
Top published feeAED 2,000The highest fee the site shows for a single assignment: sealed medical samples in a cooled case, Dubai to Singapore.
Published band, per assignmentAED 900 to 2,600A document pouch to London is AED 1,200, an aircraft part to Frankfurt AED 1,500, an escorted watch on the Berlin lane AED 1,800.
What the flight costs youAED 0The desk books and pays the ticket, the transfers and, where the routing needs it, the hotel. A courier never fronts the fare.
The one payment you makeAED 199, returnedThe Academy, paid once. It comes back in full on top of the fee for your first completed assignment. Applying itself is free.
Fees vary with the lane, the notice, the waiting time and whether the return is immediate, so the desk quotes each assignment individually rather than pretending one number fits every trip. You are self-employed and there is no minimum: accept or decline whatever you like, and declining costs you nothing. Earnings are paid per delivery by bank transfer, they appear in your courier portal, and you can request a payout once the balance reaches AED 200. Apply and see the flight board.
You fly as a passengerOne consignment in the cabin, one handover against signature. No warehouse, no van, no round.
The desk books and pays the ticketFlight, transfers and, where the routing needs it, a hotel are booked before you leave for the airport.
Paid per assignmentA fee agreed in writing before you accept, paid to your bank account after the signature. Applying is free.
How to start, in four steps
1
Apply once
One application covers every country desk. Tell us which passports you hold and where you can travel.
2
Verification and the Academy
Identity and background check, then a short course on customs, handovers and chain of custody.
3
Your first offer
The desk sends the routing, the dates and the fee in writing. You accept or decline, nothing is automatic.
4
Fly, hand over, get paid
Collect, board, clear customs in person, hand over against signature, and the fee is paid to your account.
The assignment
Emirates flies the Gulf to Miami nonstop, about fifteen and a half hours. The airport has one of the largest perishable and pharmaceutical handling operations in the Americas, so a temperature controlled consignment meets people who deal with them daily, and the marine trade around Fort Lauderdale is less than an hour north.
Why this lane exists
The superyacht refit industry in south Florida runs on parts that are made somewhere else and needed now, because a vessel in a yard with a booked departure cannot wait for a container. Gulf owners and Gulf yards are part of that market, and a single hydraulic card or a navigation module moves by hand in both directions.
The second stream is pharmaceutical and diagnostic material moving through Miami into Latin America under temperature control, and the third is escorted valuables, because Miami is a jewellery and watch market with the same insurance requirements that govern New York.
What you would be carrying
- Marine and yacht systems spares for a refit with a booked departure date
- Temperature controlled pharmaceutical and diagnostic consignments for onward distribution
- Escorted watches and jewellery moving under a declared customs entry
- Trade and shipping documents that a bank or a forwarder will only accept as originals
The clock
Miami is eight hours behind the UAE in summer and nine in winter, so a Gulf morning departure lands in a Florida afternoon on the same date.
Airports you would fly into
| IATA | City | Airport | From Dubai |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIA | Miami | Miami International | ≈12,600 km |
The engagement, and who we are looking for
The engagement
- Type: freelance, self-employed. You are an independent courier accepting individual assignments, not an employee, and you decide which ones you take.
- Where it runs: the assignment runs between the United Arab Emirates and Miami, the United States, with the return leg agreed per mission.
- Hours: variable. An assignment is a single trip, not a shift or a roster.
- How you are paid: a fee per completed assignment, agreed in writing before you accept it. The fees published on this site run from AED 1,200 for a document pouch to AED 2,000 for a cooled medical consignment, and the figure for your assignment reflects the lane, the notice, the waiting time and whether the return is immediate.
- What the desk pays: the flight, the transfers and, where the routing needs it, the hotel. A courier never pays for the ticket and never fronts the fare.
- Applying is free. No payment is required to apply, to be screened or to be placed on the courier list. The Academy costs AED 199, paid once, and is returned in full on top of the fee for your first completed assignment. It is the only payment a courier ever makes to us.
What we look for
- A passport with comfortable remaining validity and free pages, and the right to enter the United States. The desk checks the visa position for your specific passport before any assignment is offered.
- A clean background check and a willingness to be verified. Couriers carry other people’s property.
- Availability at short notice. Most assignments are confirmed hours, not days, before departure.
- Presentable, calm and articulate at a customs counter. The consignment is only as smooth as the person carrying it.
- A working phone, reachable on the number you gave us, for the whole assignment.
What we provide
- The ticket. Always. A courier never pays for the flight and never fronts the fare.
- The paperwork, prepared before you reach the airport, and a named contact at the desk on both ends.
- A briefing on the consignment, the consignee and what the customs position at the far end looks like.
- A fee per completed assignment, agreed with you in advance and paid by bank transfer after the handover.
Questions about courier work to and from Miami
01Who signs for the consignment if it is going onward?
The forwarder or the bonded facility named in your briefing. A handover to an onward agent is a normal, documented ending for this lane, and you get the same signature, photograph and timestamp you would get from an end customer.
02Do I need a US visa?
Yes, in almost every case. You need a valid visa or an approved authorisation for the passport you hold, and the desk checks that position before an assignment is offered.
03Is Spanish useful?
Genuinely, yes, on this lane more than any other in the network. It is not required, the desk supplies documents and contacts, but couriers who are comfortable in Spanish tend to find the Miami handovers easier.
04What about temperature controlled pharmaceutical goods?
They travel in validated packaging with the documentation prepared in advance, and Miami has specialist facilities for exactly this. You keep the package with you and hand it over inside the stated window.
05How is my fee agreed?
The desk sends the routing, the timing and the fee for that specific assignment in writing. You accept or decline it. Nothing is deducted or charged without your written agreement.
Apply to fly the Miami lane
One form, a short screening call, and you are on the list the desk calls when something has to reach Miami before a vessel or a flight leaves without it.
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