How to renew a trade licence in Dubai and the UAE

A Dubai mainland trade licence is renewed with the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) on the Invest in Dubai portal, by SMS to 6969 or at a service centre, and DET completes the renewal instantly. The fee depends on the business activity on the licence. Abu Dhabi licences are renewed through TAMM, and free zone licences with the free zone authority that issued them.

Key takeaways

• A Dubai mainland licence is renewed with the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) on the Invest in Dubai portal, by SMS to 6969 or at a service centre, and the renewal is completed instantly.
• In Dubai the renewal fee depends on the business activity on the licence; DET's renewal page lists no general discount, but it links to a fee exemption service for Emirati and GCC national entrepreneurs.
• Abu Dhabi economic licences are renewed through ADDED's eServices on TAMM, and free zone licences with the free zone authority that issued them.
• ICP renews a company's establishment card only while its trade licence is valid; a card renewed more than 30 days late costs AED 100 a month, up to AED 1,000.
• A business that closes instead of renewing cancels its licence and, if it is registered for corporate tax, must apply to deregister within 3 months.

On this page 8 sections

Renewing a Dubai mainland licence

DET renews the licences of businesses on the Dubai mainland, and its service is what many people still search for as a “DED renewal”. Under Dubai Law No. 20 of 2021, DET took over all the duties of the former Department of Economic Development (DED) and succeeded to its rights and obligations.

Dubai mainland licence renewal

Renewal fee depends on the activity; SMS 6969, portal or service centre

A Dubai mainland trade licence is renewed at a service centre, by SMS to 6969 or on the Invest in Dubai portal, and the renewal is completed instantly; the licence holder receives an SMS reminder near expiry, and the renewal fee depends on the business activity.

The three channels

DET’s renewal page lists three channels and says the service is completed instantly.

The licence types themselves, from commercial and professional to eTrader, are explained in the guide to trade licence types.

Paying the renewal fee

DET’s renewal page gives no fixed price, because the fee depends on the activities on the licence. Its renewal page lists two ways to pay: direct debit through Dubai Islamic Bank, Commercial Bank of Dubai or Emirates Islamic, or cash or cheque at Aafaq Islamic Finance, Commercial Bank of Dubai or Emirates Islamic.

The licence fee is not the only renewal cost of the year. The company’s establishment card is renewed separately with the immigration authority, which charges its own fees. For Dubai, Invest in Dubai names the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs Dubai (GDRFA) as the issuer of the establishment card that comes with its instant licence. The cost table below lists ICP’s renewal fees, which apply to establishments registered with ICP.

Before you renew

DET’s renewal page gives no document list. A licence is issued on a set of documents and approvals, and some of them can change during the year. The UAE government portal says every mainland business needs a physical address that meets the emirate’s requirements, backed by an office or warehouse lease, and that in Dubai the lease must be registered with Ejari.

For a new licence, the same portal lists the lease contract (attested by Dubai’s Real Estate Regulatory Agency), an attested Memorandum of Association and any approvals from other government bodies the activity needs. Which of these DET checks again at renewal is not stated on its page. The steps for a first licence are in the guide to mainland company setup.

Renewing in Abu Dhabi and the other emirates

An Abu Dhabi mainland licence, called an economic licence, is renewed through the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), which takes applications through its eServices on TAMM. ADDED lists renewing an economic licence among its primary licensing services, alongside issuing, amending, cancelling and mortgaging one, with paying licence fees and a licence statement among its secondary services. Its licensing page publishes no renewal fee, delay fine or validity period.

In the other emirates, a mainland licence is renewed with the economic authority that issued it. The UAE government portal lists them:

Renewing a free zone licence

A free zone licence is renewed with the free zone authority that issued it, not with DET or ADDED. The UAE government portal sends free zone businesses to each authority’s own website for licensing and names the Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ), with its online licensing and renewal services, as one example. The renewal fee is the zone’s own charge, and the portal gives no figure. Setting up in a zone is covered in free zone company setup.

A Dubai free zone company that also works in Dubai outside its zone has a second renewal to track: the DET licence or permit that covers that work.

DET licence for free zone companies

Branch licence AED 10,000 a year; permit up to 6 months AED 5,000

Under Dubai Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025, a free zone establishment may operate in Dubai outside its free zone with a DET licence for a branch in the emirate, a DET licence for a branch operating out of the free zone (AED 10,000 a year, licences valid one year and renewable), or a temporary DET permit for specific activities valid up to 6 months (AED 5,000), and must keep separate financial records for that activity.

Under Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025, DET issues these licences and the permit only with the free zone authority’s approval and while the company’s free zone licence is valid. The resolution sets no separate conditions for renewing them.

What renewal costs

There is no single renewal price in the UAE: each authority charges its own fees, and in Dubai the mainland licence fee depends on the activity. A few renewal fees are fixed, such as DET’s fee for the Intelaq licence.

Intelaq licence fee

AED 1,070 a year (UAE and GCC nationals)

Dubai's Intelaq licence lets UAE and GCC nationals living in Dubai run a home-based business 100% owned and managed by them for an annual issue and renewal fee of AED 1,070, provided the applicant holds no more than five trade licences; the fee excludes fees and guarantees of federal government agencies and some other entities.

DET’s renewal page lists no general renewal discount. It does link to a separate licence exemption service, under which Emirati and GCC national entrepreneurs pay a minimal annual fee to issue and renew a licence for up to five years, with the lowest fees in the first three years.

DET licence exemption for Emirati and GCC entrepreneurs

AED 1,000 for the first three years; AED 2,000 a year in years four and five

DET’s licence exemption service lets Emirati and GCC national entrepreneurs apply for exemption from special project-related fees and pay a minimal annual fee for licence issuance and renewal; the exemption is valid for up to five years in total, and the fees are AED 1,000 for the first three years from the licence issuance date and AED 2,000 annually for the fourth and fifth years, excluding fees and guarantees for federal authorities, government agencies and certain other entities.

The table brings together the renewal fees that official pages state. It covers renewal only; first-year licence costs are a separate topic.

The ICP amounts are the service fees its establishment card renewal page lists for private sector and free zone companies registered with ICP. The page does not say which of them are charged on every renewal, so they are listed here, not added up.

Renewing late

Renewing late has two kinds of cost: any fine the licensing authority charges on the licence, and fines on registrations that depend on a valid licence, such as the establishment card.

Fines

Late renewal fines for the licence itself depend on the authority that issued it. DET’s renewal page and ADDED’s licensing page publish no late fine and no grace period. DET presents renewing on time as what keeps a business legal and its operations uninterrupted.

What an expired licence blocks

One registration that needs a valid licence is the company’s establishment card, which registers the company with the immigration authority. ICP describes the card as holding the establishment’s registered data, such as its trade name, licence number, partners and type of activity.

Establishment card renewal at ICP

Valid trade licence required; AED 100 a month late, maximum AED 1,000

ICP renews a company's establishment card only if it has a valid trade licence and has paid any fines due; renewing the card more than 30 days after it expires costs a fine of AED 100 for each month of delay, up to AED 1,000.

Worked example

Establishment card renewed 14 months after it expired

The length of the delay is an illustration.

1. The company’s trade licence and its establishment card have both expired. ICP renews the card only with a valid trade licence, so the licence is renewed first.
2. The card is renewed 14 months after its expiry date, which is more than 30 days late, so the fine applies.
3. At AED 100 for each month of delay: 14 × AED 100 = AED 1,400, or 13 × AED 100 = AED 1,300 if the first month is not counted.
4. The fine is capped at AED 1,000, and both amounts are above it, so the cap applies.
5. ICP requires fines due on the establishment to be paid before it renews the card.

Late renewal fine on the establishment card: AED 1,000, on top of ICP’s service fees and any fine on the licence itself.

A card renewed within 30 days of its expiry date carries no late fine on ICP’s schedule. For a Dubai free zone company with a DET branch licence or permit, a valid free zone licence is one of the conditions on which DET issues them, as set out above.

Letting a licence lapse is not the same as cancelling it. DET’s cancellation service has its own procedure for a company whose licence has been expired for more than two years.

If you are closing instead of renewing

A business that is closing cancels its licence instead of renewing it, and closes its tax registrations as well. In Dubai, cancellation is a separate DET service, applied for at the service centres DET lists, and it comes after the business has completed its cancellations with other local and federal bodies, such as labour cards with MOHRE.

Cancelling a Dubai licence

AED 1,020 licence cancellation; AED 2,520 company dissolution

DET's trade licence cancellation service permanently cancels the licence of a company or branch once the business has completed its cancellations with other local and federal government entities (for example labour cards with MOHRE); the fees are AED 1,020 for cancelling the licence and AED 2,520 for dissolving a company, and the service has a separate procedure for a company whose licence has been expired for more than two years.

A business with staff also settles their end-of-service dues. Under Article 51 of the Labour Law, as the UAE government portal summarises it, an expatriate worker who has completed at least 1 year of continuous service is entitled to a gratuity when the employment ends (see end-of-service gratuity).

Tax registrations do not end with the licence. Corporate tax has its own deregistration deadline, and missing it adds a monthly penalty.

Corporate tax deregistration deadline

3 months from cessation

A natural person must file a Corporate Tax deregistration application within three months of ceasing the Business or Business Activity, and a juridical person within three months of the date it ceases to exist or ceases its Business, is dissolved or liquidated; the FTA does not deregister a Taxable Person until all tax and penalties are paid and all returns, including the return up to the cessation date, are filed.

Late corporate tax deregistration

AED 1,000 a month, maximum AED 10,000

A Registrant that does not submit a Corporate Tax deregistration application within the required timeframe is penalised AED 1,000 for the late application and AED 1,000 on the same date each month after that, up to a maximum of AED 10,000.

A VAT-registered business that stops making taxable supplies must also apply to deregister for VAT (see VAT registration). The full penalty table is in the guide to corporate tax penalties, and the other licence and setup topics are in the Company setup guides.