Dubai trade license check: how to verify a company's license

How to do a Dubai trade license check online

The fastest Dubai trade license check is the Search License Information page on Invest in Dubai, Dubai's digital business set-up platform. You can search by license number, Dubai Unified License (DUL) number, English business name or Arabic business name, then open the matching record.

The Dubai business directory on the Invest in Dubai website offers a similar search by business name or DUL number. Whichever tool you use, search with the details the company gave you rather than details from an advert or a chat message. You are testing whether those exact details lead to a real, current record.

A careful check takes a few minutes and follows the same order every time:

• Ask the company for a copy of its current trade license, its license number, its DUL number and its trade name exactly as registered.
• Open Search License Information on Invest in Dubai and enter the license number first, since names can be similar or spelled in different ways.
• Open the matching record and compare each detail it shows with the license copy, the contract and the invoice.
• Search again with the DUL number or the business name and confirm that both lead to the same company.
• Save a dated screenshot or PDF of the record in your supplier or customer file.

What the Dubai Unified License and its QR code show

The Dubai Unified License (DUL) is a unique commercial identity that the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) launched with the Dubai Free Zones Council in December 2023, covering registered companies on the Dubai mainland and in Dubai's free zones. By November 2025, more than 900,000 DULs had been issued, according to the Government of Dubai Media Office.

Each DUL comes with a QR code. When it launched the DUL, DET said businesses could display the code on their premises, websites and social media accounts instead of presenting the traditional trade license certificate, and that government entities, service providers, suppliers and customers could scan it to retrieve information about the company. The guide to the DUL published by Jafza, the Jebel Ali Free Zone authority, adds that the code retrieves the latest license information.

That makes the QR code more useful than a PDF copy, which can be out of date or edited. Scan the code yourself, at the company's premises or on its website, rather than relying on a screenshot someone sends you. Before you rely on what opens, check that the page sits on an official Dubai government website.

Trade license verification across the UAE: the National Economic Register

For a company licensed outside Dubai, or when you want a federal view, use the National Economic Register (NER), which the Ministry of Economy and Tourism (MoET) runs under the name Growth. According to u.ae, the NER lets you enquire about economic licenses and economic activities and search for the availability of trade names.

When MoET launched the register in October 2024, it described it as the largest unified database of business licenses across the seven emirates, with 1.5 million active and cancelled commercial licenses and more than 46 connected entities. In August 2026, the Ministry said it was still connecting licensing authorities in the mainland and free zones, so a missing record is a reason to check the issuing authority, not proof that a license is fake.

MoET also offers an Enquire about commercial companies license service, which gives the details or a copy of a company's file after you sign in; MoET lists its average delivery time as immediate. Separate MoET inquiry services cover registered private joint stock companies and branches of foreign companies.

Other emirates

Abu Dhabi: u.ae lists an Enquire about economic licenses service on TAMM, Abu Dhabi's government services platform. Sharjah: the Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD) offers inquiry services for license data, permitted commercial activities and existing violations. The rest of the UAE: the Verify business licenses page on u.ae gathers the license and trade name lookups that most emirates offer.

Mainland or free zone: where to check, and what the license allows

Check a company on the register of the authority that issued its license: DET for a Dubai mainland company, or the free zone authority for a free zone company. Because the DUL covers Dubai's free zone companies as well as mainland ones, the Invest in Dubai search is a sensible first stop for both.

Some free zones also publish their own registers. The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) has a searchable register of DMCC entities, plus a document check that confirms its electronic documents using the system-generated authentication code each one carries. The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Registrar of Companies maintains public registers, and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) publishes an official public register where you can search registered entities and their details.

The license type also tells you what the company may do. According to u.ae, free zone companies can trade freely within their free zone and internationally, but access to the mainland market is regulated: to sell locally, they work through a licensed mainland distributor or set up a mainland presence, and direct mainland sales are generally not permitted without the required licenses or approvals.

Dubai added another route in October 2025. Under Dubai Executive Council Decision No. 11 of 2025, a free zone company holding a DUL can apply through the Invest in Dubai platform for a Free Zone Mainland Operating Permit, covering non-regulated activities such as technology, consultancy, design, professional services and trading in its first phase. The announcement set the permit at six months for AED 5,000. If a free zone supplier will deliver work on the mainland, ask which route it uses. If you plan to trade there yourself, compare the options on our business setup page, including mainland company formation.

How to check your own trade license status and expiry date

If you own the business, sign in to your licensing authority's online services with UAE PASS, the national digital identity, to see your license's status and expiry date. Dubai.ae, the Dubai government portal, says mainland owners use the DET portal and free zone owners use their free zone authority's online services, with access typically through UAE PASS.

DET's eServices help pages describe a My Licenses list that shows each license's business name, status, license number and expiry date, with the address and activities one click further. Checking it every few months catches problems early, such as an activity that no longer matches what you sell.

The expiry date matters beyond renewal. Jafza's guide to the DUL states that no economic activity may be conducted unless the DUL is issued and remains valid, and that the DUL is read alongside a valid and active trade license certificate. Banks and bodies such as the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE), Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) are integrated with the DUL, according to the Government of Dubai Media Office, so they read the same record your customers see. A simple routine:

• Search your own license number on Invest in Dubai to see what customers and suppliers will see.
• Scan your DUL QR code and confirm it opens your current record.
• Put the expiry date in your calendar with a reminder well before it.
• Check that your activities, address and contact details are still accurate.
• Plan the renewal early, using our guide to trade license renewal in Dubai.

How to check a company license in Dubai: a due-diligence checklist

Match the same details across the registry record, the license copy and every document the company sends you, and if any of them differ, ask why before you go further. The checklist below covers the points that matter most when you are about to pay a deposit, sign a contract or appoint a supplier.

Ownership needs a separate step. Under Cabinet Decision No. 109 of 2023 on regulating beneficial owner procedures, companies must keep a beneficial owner record and a register of partners or shareholders and submit them to the registrar, but the Ministry and the registrar may not disclose beneficial owner data without written approval. Public searches therefore do not show who ultimately owns a company.

Ask instead for the memorandum of association (MOA) and proof of who can sign, and for key certificates issued abroad, consider document verification before you rely on them. Then work through these points:

• Trade name: the exact registered name in English and Arabic matches the contract, the invoice and the bank account name.
• License number and DUL number: both lead to the same record.
• Legal form: the record matches how the company describes itself, for example a limited liability company, a sole establishment, a branch or a free zone entity.
• Activities: the licensed activities cover the goods or services you are buying.
• Status and expiry: the license is active, and its expiry date falls after the work you are paying for, or the company can show a renewal.
• Address and authority: the emirate, free zone and address match the company's premises and letterhead.
• Signatory: the person signing appears in the company's documents as a manager or holds a valid power of attorney.

Red flags that should pause a deal

Stop and ask questions whenever a lookup and the documents do not tell the same story. One red flag is not proof of fraud, but it is reason enough to wait until you have a clear, written answer.

Watch for these warning signs:

• The license number returns no result, a different company or a cancelled record.
• The name on the invoice or bank account differs from the licensed trade name, or payment is requested to a personal account.
• The company sends only a cropped image or screenshot of its license and avoids sharing the license number.
• A QR code opens a website that is not an official government page.
• The licensed activities do not cover the goods or services on offer.
• A free zone company offers mainland work with no explanation of how it is permitted to do so.
• The license expires before the work is due to finish, with no renewal plan.

Common mistakes when you check a trade license online

Most failed checks come from searching the wrong way, not from information that is hard to find. These are the easiest mistakes to make, and each one is simple to avoid:

• Searching only by name when several companies have similar names; search by license number first.
• Trusting a PDF copy or an old screenshot instead of the live record.
• Searching the wrong authority, for example a Dubai search for a company licensed in Sharjah or in a free zone with its own register.
• Treating a missing National Economic Register result as proof of fraud while authorities are still being connected.
• Checking once at onboarding and never again, even though licenses expire and can be cancelled.
• Confusing a registered trade name with a registered trademark, which is a separate right recorded by a different authority.

How Global Sky PRO can help

Global Sky PRO can run these checks for you on the official registers, compare the record with the documents you have received and tell you plainly what matches and what does not. Where certificates were issued abroad, we can arrange their verification or attestation.

For your own company, we track license expiry dates and prepare and submit renewals and amendments as part of our PRO services. DET, the free zone authorities and MoET keep the registers and decide every application. Government fees are paid at cost and shown separately from our service fee, which we confirm in writing before we start.