Instant Licence Dubai 2026: DET Eligibility, Activities, Bundled Cards, Fees and First-Year Conditions Explained

Instant licence Dubai refers to the Department of Economy and Tourism’s Instant Licence: a Dubai mainland trade licence issued online through Invest in Dubai within about five minutes, for activities that need no approval from any authority other than DET, with an optional electronic memorandum of association, a virtual business site for the first year, and bundled Dubai Chamber membership, GDRFA establishment card and MOHRE establishment card allowing up to three employees. After the first year the company must give DET a real business location, registered on Ejari, before it can renew or amend the licence. It is available to LLCs, single-owner LLCs, sole establishments and civil companies. You will also see it written as “instant license Dubai” or called an instant trade licence; all three mean the same DET product.

This guide explains who can apply, which activities and legal forms qualify, what the bundle really contains, what the published fees are, what you must finish during the first year, what happens if you do not, and how the Instant Licence compares with a standard licence, the home-based e-Trader and Intelaq licences and the Dubai Unified Licence. It is part of our mainland series; the full company route is in our mainland company formation guide.

Instant licence Dubai at a glance

The short answers first. Every row is explained further down with its source.

Instant licence Dubai: how MIRDXB PRO helps

The Instant Licence is quick to issue and easy to get wrong later. Most of the problems we see start at month eleven, when the owner discovers that renewal needs premises, or at the first amendment, when adding a partner suddenly needs an Ejari. We plan the whole first year before you click “issue”.

What we do

• Check each activity you want against DET’s activity list and the outside-approval list, so you know before you start whether the Instant route is open to you.
• Advise on the legal form (LLC, single-owner LLC, sole establishment or civil company), including whether a local service agent is needed for a professional sole establishment or civil company with foreign owners.
• Prepare the trade name, initial approval and electronic memorandum of association, and apply with you on Invest in Dubai as part of our company formation support.
• Activate the bundled GDRFA establishment card and MOHRE file, then run the first work permits and visas through our employment visa service.
• Set the premises plan for year two: a business centre desk or office, the Ejari through our Ejari registration service, and the first renewal through our trade licence renewal service.

How it works

1. Message us on WhatsApp with your activities, the owners’ nationalities and residence status, and how many people you want to hire in the first year.
2. We reply in writing: whether the Instant Licence fits, the legal form, the government lines you can expect on the voucher, the year-two premises cost, and our fee.
3. With your UAE PASS login, we prepare and submit the application on Invest in Dubai, and you pay the voucher directly or through us at cost.
4. After the licence issues, we set up the establishment cards, Chamber certificate, corporate tax registration and UBO filing, and diarise the premises and renewal deadlines.

What it costs

Government fees are passed on at cost, on the authority’s receipt: the DET voucher, Dubai Chambers, GDRFA, MOHRE and, in year two, the Ejari and market fee. Our own fee is quoted in writing before we start and depends on the work: a single-owner consultancy with no staff is simpler than a three-partner LLC hiring three people in its first quarter. Our published service fees are on our fees page, and every government line of a mainland set-up is in our mainland setup cost guide.

Why founders use us

• We name the official source for every rule and fee we apply, as this guide does, and show you the receipts.
• We tell you when you do not need us. A single-owner Instant Licence for a simple activity is something many people finish themselves on Invest in Dubai, and we will say so.
• We handle the files that follow the licence (GDRFA, MOHRE, Dubai Chambers, Ejari, tax), so the first-year conditions are tracked from day one.
• Our office is in Al Barsha 1, Dubai, open Monday to Thursday and Saturday 09:00 to 18:00 and Friday 09:00 to 12:00. Owners abroad can instruct us under a power of attorney for the steps that allow it.

What the Instant Licence is, and where it came from

Dubai’s economic department launched the Instant Licence in 2017. Its own press releases give the date as July 2017 (February 2020 release) and August 2017 (May 2022 release); both describe the same service. The idea was simple: let a founder obtain a mainland licence “in one step within five minutes”, start trading, and complete the rest of the set-up during the first year.

The product has been steady in its core features. Every official description since 2020 lists the same four legal forms and the same bundle: Dubai Chamber membership, a GDRFA establishment card and three MOHRE work permits (now described as a MOHRE establishment card with the option to employ three people). Since 2021 the application has run on the Invest in Dubai platform (invest.dubai.ae), which replaced the older ded.ae/instant channel.

Take-up has been substantial. The Dubai Media Office reported 4,692 Instant Licences by February 2020, 10,707 in the first ten months of 2021 alone, and 32,564 in total by May 2022. In 2022 professional activities made up 59% and commercial activities 41%, and civil companies were the most common form (36%), followed by LLCs (27%), sole establishments (23%) and one-person LLCs (14%). No later official figures were published that we could find.

Instant Licence, Basher and the Abu Dhabi instant licence are different things

Three similar names cause confusion. The Dubai Instant Licence is DET’s product on Invest in Dubai. Basher (also written Bashr) is a federal platform run by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism that promises to “start your business in the UAE within 15 minutes” by connecting federal and local services; it is a channel, not a Dubai licence type. The Abu Dhabi instant licence, which u.ae describes as a service of the Department of Economic Development Abu Dhabi, is issued under Abu Dhabi rules and has nothing to do with DET. This guide is only about the Dubai product.

What “instant” does and does not mean

“Instant” refers to the issue of the licence once everything is ready. It does not mean that the trade name, the activity choice, the partners’ identity checks, the establishment cards or the visas are instant. Invest in Dubai states the licence step takes about five minutes for an Instant or e-Trader licence and about ten minutes for a normal licence. The difference that matters is not the minutes; it is that the Instant Licence lets you skip the lease and any outside approval at the start.

Is the Instant Licence still available in 2026?

Yes. On 25 September 2026 Invest in Dubai’s “Request to issue a trade licence” service listed three types of trade licence: the normal licence, the Instant Licence and the eTrader licence. Its “Mainland companies” page listed the Instant Licence as the sixth of eight licence types, and u.ae’s mainland steps page lists “instant” among Dubai’s eight licence varieties (industrial, commercial, professional, eTrader, dual, instant, SME and Intelaq).

The description has narrowed over time. In 2020 Dubai Economy said “all business activities can benefit from the service, except public and private shareholding companies”. The current Invest in Dubai wording limits it to activities “that do not require external approvals beyond the Department of Economy and Tourism”. We treat the current wording as the rule and explain the difference in the section on conflicting sources below.

Who can apply for an instant licence in Dubai

The Instant Licence is not limited by nationality in any official description we found. It is open to the same founders who can hold the chosen legal form on the Dubai mainland, subject to three practical conditions.

You must be able to log in and be identified

Invest in Dubai asks for the “unified number or ID number” of the parties for an Instant Licence. In practice that means each partner and the manager must already have an Emirates ID or a UAE unified number (UID), which a non-resident receives on entering the UAE. Invest in Dubai’s general guidance says a non-resident “must hold a valid tourist or visit visa before applying for a licence”. The applicant logs in with UAE PASS, which itself needs an Emirates ID or a verified identity.

The 2020 release listed “valid passport copy of all parties (partner and manager), residence visa copy and no-objection letter from the sponsor to the foreign parties”. The current service card asks only for the ID or unified number. If you are employed in the UAE, check your employment contract and any employer rules before you become a partner or manager; MOHRE and GDRFA will see both files.

Foreign ownership rules still apply

The Instant Licence does not change who may own what. Since 2021 most commercial and industrial activities in Dubai allow 100% foreign ownership, but some remain restricted, and professional sole establishments and civil companies with non-UAE owners still need a local service agent under Dubai Law No. 13 of 2011, Article 15. Nothing in DET’s description of the Instant Licence exempts it from those rules. Our guides to 100% foreign ownership in Dubai and the local service agent in Dubai explain both.

Owners who are companies

Official descriptions do not say whether a corporate shareholder (a company owning the LLC) can use the Instant route. Corporate shareholders need attested parent documents and a board resolution, which do not fit a five-minute flow. Some advisers state flatly that corporate shareholders are excluded; we found no official statement either way. If your shareholder is a company, plan on the normal licence and treat the Instant route as a possibility to confirm with DET.

Eligible activities: the “no external approval” test

This is the rule that decides most cases. Invest in Dubai says the Instant Licence “is available for all business activities that do not require external approvals beyond the Department of Economy and Tourism”. If even one activity on your licence needs approval from another authority, the whole application moves to the normal licence.

Activities that need outside approval

Invest in Dubai’s “Additional approvals” list names the sectors that need another authority’s approval. The table summarises it. If your activity is here, the Instant route is closed.

The same page adds that “for certain sectors including food and beverages, healthcare, aviation, education, communication, transportation and insurance, additional No-objection Certificates and documents are required”. Education and training activities also need the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, and real estate activities need the Dubai Land Department, as our Dubai mainland licence types guide explains.

Activities that usually qualify

What remains is a large group of office-based professional and trading activities. From the Dubai Media Office figures, professional licences have always been the majority of Instant Licences. Typical examples from DET’s activity list that do not appear on the outside-approval list include management consultancy, computer systems and software design, web design, marketing management, typing and photocopying services, and trading in computers, software, mobile phones and accessories, perfumes and cosmetics, and furniture. Those are examples, not a DET list: DET decides on the activity code, and the application screen tells you whether a chosen activity needs an approval.

Premises-heavy activities

Some activities need no outside approval on paper but cannot work without premises: a warehouse-based trading company, a shop, a salon or a repair workshop. The Instant Licence can still be issued, because the virtual site covers year one on paper, but you cannot lawfully open a shop or hold stock at an address that is not on the licence. Adding the address is an amendment, and any amendment triggers the location requirement. For those businesses the Instant Licence mainly saves a few weeks at the start.

General trading

General trading does not appear on the outside-approval list, but it carries DET’s AED 15,000 activity fee under Executive Council Resolution No. 13 of 2011, and Dubai Customs registration is a separate step. Whether DET offers it through the Instant route depends on the activity record at the time you apply. Our general trading licence guide covers the activity in full.

Legal forms available on the Instant Licence

Invest in Dubai lists four legal forms for the MOHRE card in the bundle, and the Dubai Media Office used the same four to describe the product in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Public and private joint stock companies were excluded in 2020 and are not listed now. Branches of foreign, UAE or free zone companies are not among the Instant forms either; branches need parent documents and, for foreign parents, registration with the Ministry of Economy and Tourism, which is an outside approval. Our types of companies in Dubai guide compares the forms in detail.

What is bundled with the Instant Licence

The bundle is the main reason founders choose this route. Each item is something a normal licence holder applies for separately after the licence issues.

1. The electronic memorandum of association

Invest in Dubai says you “can also issue a memorandum of association” electronically. For an LLC, single-owner LLC or civil company the memorandum is otherwise issued and attested by DET or, for other forms, by a notary. The Commercial Companies Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021, Article 14) requires the memorandum in Arabic and attested, or it is void, so the electronic version is DET’s own attested document, not an informal template. If your partners want bespoke clauses (drag-along rights, deadlock rules, share classes), the standard electronic memorandum may not carry them; our memorandum of association guide explains the choice.

2. The virtual business site for year one

Normally Dubai Law No. 13 of 2011, Article 17, requires every applicant to specify premises, and u.ae says the tenancy must be registered with Ejari. The Instant Licence “includes a virtual business site for the first year only”. That is a DET-provided registration address, not an office, a mailing service or a place you can receive customers. It ends at the first renewal or at the first amendment, whichever comes first. Our office space for trade licence guide covers what DET accepts afterwards.

3. Dubai Chamber membership

Invest in Dubai lists “Dubai Chamber membership for commercial activities”. Dubai Law No. 1 of 2022, Article 16, makes Chamber membership mandatory for DET licensees, and Dubai Chambers Board Resolution No. 4 of 2023 says a licensee becomes a member “once a commercial or professional licence is issued”. Annual fees run from AED 50 to AED 2,200 by category. Whether a professional Instant Licence holder is enrolled in the same step, or later, is not stated; the membership certificate on DC Connect tells you. Our Dubai Chamber membership guide has the categories.

4. The GDRFA immigration establishment card

This card opens the company’s file at the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai, and no entry permit or residence visa can be issued under the company without it. GDRFA’s published fee for a new card is AED 280 digital or AED 380 urgent when bought on its own. Official pages do not say whether the Instant bundle waives that fee or collects it on the voucher. Our establishment card guide explains the card and its renewals.

5. The MOHRE establishment card, with the option to employ three people

The company is registered with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, which Invest in Dubai describes as an establishment card “with the option to employ three people”. MOHRE’s published fee for the establishment card is AED 406 (Ta’qeem) when issued on its own. Invest in Dubai says this card is available for the LLC, single-owner LLC, sole establishment and civil company. It is the part of the bundle that most often gets overstated; the next section explains why.

The three employees: what the MOHRE card really gives you

The 2020 and 2021 releases called this “three work permits for employees”. The current wording is “the option to employ three people”. Read together, the bundle gives the company an open MOHRE file with an initial allowance to hire three people. It does not issue three visas, and it does not pay for them.

• Each hire is a separate application. The worker needs a MOHRE work permit (AED 250, AED 1,200 or AED 3,450 for two years by establishment category under Cabinet Resolution No. 21 of 2020), then a GDRFA entry permit or status change, a medical test, Emirates ID and residence. Our employment visa cost guide lists every line.
• Owners and partners are not automatically in the three. A partner’s or investor’s own residence goes through GDRFA’s partner or investor route, which has its own conditions; a Green Visa for a partner, for example, needs a share of at least AED 1 million. Whether a partner visa uses one of the three places depends on how the file is set up, and no official page says.
• More than three needs a quota request. MOHRE decides quota on the legal form, premises, projects and evidenced demand. Without an Ejari for real premises, a request beyond the starting allowance is unlikely to succeed. See our guide to company visa quota in Dubai and our quota approval service.
• The MOHRE file still needs its signatory set-up. The authorised signatory’s e-signature card and the link between the GDRFA and MOHRE files are normal follow-up steps; our MOHRE labour card guide and labour file opening service cover them.

How to apply for an instant licence in Dubai, step by step

The application runs on Invest in Dubai. The initial approval is part of the same flow: DET’s initial approval path asks you at step 5 to choose the licence type, “normal, instant, or DED trader”. Our initial approval guide covers that step.

1. Check every activity. Use Invest in Dubai’s activity search to find the exact activity names and codes, and compare them with the outside-approval list. One regulated activity closes the Instant route.
2. Choose the legal form and confirm whether a local service agent is needed (professional sole establishment or civil company with non-UAE owners).
3. Log in to Invest in Dubai with UAE PASS and start a new licence. Enter the partners, manager and shares using their Emirates ID or unified number.
4. Reserve the trade name. DET’s naming rules apply as for any licence; our trade name registration guide has them.
5. Obtain the initial approval and select “instant” as the licence type.
6. Issue the electronic memorandum of association if you are using it, and have the partners sign it electronically as the system requires.
7. Pay the licence voucher. u.ae says the voucher must be paid within 30 days. Once paid, the licence issues within minutes.
8. Download the licence, the Chamber certificate and the establishment card details. Check each record carries the same trade name, licence number and partners.
9. Diarise the year. Corporate tax registration (three months), UBO data (60 days), bank account, first hires, premises (before month twelve) and renewal (the last month before expiry).

Documents

For the Instant Licence itself Invest in Dubai asks only for the unified number or ID number. Keep these ready anyway, because the steps around the licence need them: passport copies and Emirates IDs of partners and manager; UAE PASS on the applicant’s phone; a sponsor or employer NOC if a partner’s employer or visa sponsor requires one; the local service agent’s details and agreement where needed; and, if an owner is a company, the attested parent documents (which usually push you to a normal licence).

Instant licence Dubai fees: what is published

DET does not publish a single Instant Licence price. Invest in Dubai says fees “vary depending on the type of licence and specific activities” and points to its business set-up recommendation tool for an estimate. The table lists the government lines that apply to a new DET licence and where each comes from.

The lines every new licence meets (initial approval, trade name, licence issue, commercial register and the previously published voucher lines) add up to about AED 1,520. That is our arithmetic on the published lines, the same floor used in our cost guide, not a DET quotation. With no rent registered in year one, we would not expect a market fee on the first voucher, but DET does not say so in writing; check the voucher.

What the whole first year can look like

For a single-owner LLC in consultancy with no staff, the government side of year one is the DET lines, the Chamber fee for its category and whatever the bundle charges for the two establishment cards. For a three-partner trading LLC hiring three people, add three work permits and visas, and plan the premises budget for renewal. Secondary websites quote “AED 5,000 to AED 18,000” for an Instant Licence; those figures include private service fees and are not published by DET.

What year two adds

At the first renewal you pay DET’s renewal lines, the Chamber renewal, and now the premises: rent, Ejari (AED 177.75 online) and the 2.5% market fee on the registered rent. A business centre desk at AED 15,000 a year, for example, adds AED 375 of market fee and AED 177.75 of Ejari to the renewal, before the rent itself. Our guide to renewing a trade licence in Dubai shows the renewal voucher line by line.

Validity and the first-year conditions

An Instant Licence is valid for one year, like any DET licence. Dubai Law No. 13 of 2011, Article 8, allows a licence to be issued for up to four years with DET’s approval and requires renewal within the last month before expiry. The conditions attached to the Instant route all fall due within that first year.

Condition 1: a valid business location at renewal or any amendment

This is the only Instant-specific condition in DET’s current wording: “a valid business location must be provided upon renewal or any amendments”. In practice DET accepts the same premises as for a normal licence: an office, shop, warehouse or other unit, or a desk in a DET-licensed business centre, on a tenancy registered with Ejari. A mailing-address “virtual office” does not satisfy it. Because Ejari registration can take a few days and a business centre may need its own paperwork, start at month nine or ten.

The phrase “or any amendments” is easy to miss. Adding a partner, transferring shares, changing the manager, adding an activity or changing the trade name are all licence amendments, and each one ends the virtual-site period early. Our trade licence amendment guide lists the amendment types.

Condition 2: outside approvals, if any

Under the current rule, an Instant Licence carries no activity that needs an outside approval, so there is nothing to finish. The 2021 and 2022 releases said owners could “complete the remaining requirements of the licence, such as approvals from other relevant government entities” after issue. If you hold an older Instant Licence issued on that basis, check at renewal whether DET has an outstanding approval on file; your renewal will not go through until it is cleared.

The ordinary obligations that apply to every licence

• Corporate tax registration within three months of the licence (FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024); late registration costs AED 10,000 (Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2024). See our corporate tax registration guide.
• Beneficial owner data within 60 days of licensing, and any change within 15 days (Cabinet Decision No. 109 of 2023). See our UBO register guide.
• Chamber membership kept current alongside the licence.
• Establishment cards renewed in step with the licence; GDRFA and MOHRE will not process transactions for a company whose licence has expired.

Finalising the Instant Licence: the year-two conversion

There is no separate “conversion” application. The Instant Licence becomes an ordinary licence in practice when you give DET a real location at renewal or at your first amendment. Treat it as a short project.

1. Month six: decide the premises. Match the space to your activity and hiring plan. A consultancy of one or two people can usually work from a business centre desk; a trading company with stock needs a warehouse or store; a shop needs a retail unit with the right approvals.
2. Month eight or nine: sign and check. Confirm the business centre holds a DET licence or that the unit is permitted for commercial use, that the landlord or operator can issue an Ejari, and that the term will cover the licence year.
3. Month nine or ten: register the Ejari with the Dubai Land Department (AED 177.75 online) and keep the certificate.
4. Month eleven: renew with the new location. DET’s renewal voucher now includes the 2.5% market fee on the registered rent. If you need the location on the licence earlier (for example because a bank or client wants a real address), file a location amendment.
5. Afterwards: update the other files. MOHRE may inspect premises before issuing its e-signature card or approving more quota; GDRFA, Dubai Chambers, the bank and the Federal Tax Authority should show the same address.

If the business has grown beyond the four Instant forms or needs a regulated activity, the change is a normal amendment with the relevant outside approval, handled like any other licence.

What happens if you do not meet the conditions

Nothing dramatic happens on the anniversary itself. The consequences come from the licence expiring without renewal, and they are the same as for any Dubai licence.

If the business is not going ahead, it is usually cheaper to cancel the licence properly than to let it lapse: cancel employees’ visas and permits, close the establishment cards, deregister for tax, and cancel the licence with DET. Our expired trade licence guide explains the fines and the recovery route, and our company liquidation and visa cancellation service handles closure.

Limits of the Instant Licence

• Activities: only those with no outside approval. Regulated sectors (health, food, education, finance, media, transport, construction, recruitment, real estate) go through the normal licence.
• Legal forms: four. No joint stock companies and no branches.
• Premises: deferred, not removed, and only for year one. You cannot receive customers, hold stock or display a sign at the virtual site.
• Amendments: the first amendment ends the virtual-site period. Plan partner changes for after the premises are in place.
• Staff: the MOHRE file starts with an allowance for three people; more needs quota, which depends on real premises.
• Banking: banks run their own due diligence. Some ask about the operating address or expected activity; a virtual site may prompt more questions. Our corporate bank account guide covers the bank’s view.
• Free zone work: the Instant Licence is a mainland licence. It does not let you operate in a free zone, and a free zone company wanting to work in Dubai uses DET’s dual licence or the Free Zone Mainland Operating Permit instead.

Instant trade licence vs standard licence

An instant trade licence is a faster route to the same kind of licence. The differences are in the start-up sequence, not in what the licence permits.

If you already have premises, or your activity needs a regulator, the Instant route adds little. If you are testing a service business before committing to an office, it gives you a year to find the right space while trading legally.

Instant Licence vs e-Trader and Intelaq

People comparing low-cost routes usually weigh the Instant Licence against DET’s two home-based licences. They are different products for different people.

If you will work alone from home and do not need staff or your own company visa, the e-Trader or Intelaq licence usually costs less. If you want a company that can hire, the Instant Licence is the lighter route. Our home business licence guide covers e-Trader and Intelaq in full.

Where the Dubai Unified Licence fits

The Dubai Unified Licence (DUL) is not a licence type and not an alternative to the Instant Licence. DET launched it in December 2023 as “a unique commercial identification provided to all businesses in Dubai”, covering mainland and free zone companies, with a QR code a business can display “instead of presenting the traditional trade licence certificates”.

Every Instant Licence holder receives a DUL number like any other Dubai business. Its practical value is in what connects to it. The Dubai Media Office said in November 2025 that more than 900,000 DULs had been issued and that linking banks to the DUL had cut average business bank account opening time “from 65 days to just five”, with seven banks and bodies including MOFA, DEWA, RTA and MOHRE connected. For a new Instant Licence company, the DUL is the identity that lets the bank and other bodies pull the licence data rather than ask you for copies.

What goes wrong with Instant Licences

• No premises plan. Owners assume the virtual site continues. At renewal DET asks for a location and the renewal stalls in the last week.
• An early amendment. A new partner joins in month four, the amendment needs a location, and the company has to sign a lease in a hurry.
• A regulated activity added later. Adding a food, health or education activity turns the next step into a normal amendment with an outside approval, which takes weeks.
• Hiring a fourth person. The quota request fails because there is no real office behind it.
• Treating the licence as the finish line. The tax registration deadline (three months) and UBO filing (60 days) run from the licence date and are missed.
• Wrong form for liability. A founder chooses a sole establishment for speed and later realises the liability is personal and unlimited.
• Letting it lapse instead of cancelling. Fines of AED 200 a month continue and the owner’s other files can be affected.

Instant Licence myths: what circulates online that is not true

Instant licence Dubai in practice: five cases

These cases are built from the situations we see most often. Names and identifying details are left out, and the figures are the published ones.

1. A marketing consultant starting alone

A resident marketing consultant wanted a company quickly to sign a client contract. Marketing management does not appear on the outside-approval list, so the Instant route was open. She chose a single-owner LLC rather than a sole establishment to limit liability, and because an LLC needs no local service agent. The licence issued the day the voucher was paid. She registered for corporate tax in month two, filed UBO data with the licence, and took a business centre desk in month ten so the Ejari was ready for renewal.

2. Three partners in an electronics trading company

Three partners planned to trade mobile phones and accessories and to hire three staff. The Instant Licence gave them the licence and both establishment cards at once, and they hired the three staff within the first quarter. In month five an investor wanted to join as a fourth partner. That share transfer was an amendment, so the virtual-site period ended; they signed a warehouse lease with an office, registered the Ejari and filed the amendment together. Doing it in that order avoided a second amendment later.

3. A founder whose activity list included a regulated activity

A founder wanted IT consultancy plus “educational training”. The training activity needed KHDA approval, which closed the Instant route for the whole licence. He had two choices: drop training and take an Instant Licence now, or apply for a normal licence with the KHDA permit. He took the Instant Licence for IT consultancy and planned to add training later as an amendment, with premises and the KHDA permit, once the first contracts were signed.

4. A professional partnership with foreign partners

Two foreign accountants wanted to offer bookkeeping services (not auditing, which needs the Ministry’s auditors register) as a civil company. The civil company is an Instant form, but as non-UAE partners they still needed a local service agent under Dubai Law No. 13 of 2011, Article 15. The agent agreement, and DET’s AED 700 appointment line, were prepared before the application. The licence then issued through the Instant route with the bundled cards.

5. An Instant Licence that nearly lapsed

An owner who had used the virtual site for a year discovered at month twelve that DET would not renew without a location. The licence expired while he looked for space. He signed with a business centre, registered the Ejari and renewed seven weeks after expiry, paying AED 250 for failure to renew and AED 400 for two months of delay under Resolution 13/2011, on top of the renewal. His GDRFA and MOHRE transactions were held in the meantime, delaying an employee’s visa renewal.

Where the official sources are silent or disagree

How to verify every figure in this guide

What we will and will not do

We will check your activities against the outside-approval list before you apply; advise on the legal form and any local service agent; prepare and file the Instant Licence with you on Invest in Dubai; activate the establishment cards and run the first visas; register the premises and Ejari before renewal; and pass on every government fee at cost with the receipt.

We will not promise that an activity qualifies before DET’s system confirms it; arrange an address with no real premises behind it for your renewal; promise visa quota, which MOHRE decides; quote an Instant Licence “package price” that hides government lines; or give legal advice on your memorandum or partner disputes, which belong with a lawyer.

Related guides

• Mainland company formation: the complete step-by-step guide
• Mainland setup cost in Dubai, line by line
• Dubai mainland licence types
• Home business licence in Dubai (e-Trader and Intelaq)
• Office space for a trade licence in Dubai
• Professional licence in Dubai
• Initial approval in Dubai
• Trade licence amendment in Dubai
• Establishment card in the UAE
• Free zone vs mainland Dubai
• UAE government fees list 2026
• Why companies need PRO services

Keeping your licence, establishment cards, Chamber membership and premises in step through the first year and beyond is what our PRO services in Dubai team handles, and our corporate PRO services and establishment card renewal service cover it on a retained basis.