Trade license renewal in Dubai: timing, steps and late fines

When is trade license renewal due in Dubai?

Renew in the last month before the expiry date shown on your license. Law No. (13) of 2011 Regulating the Conduct of Economic Activities in the Emirate of Dubai makes a license valid for one year, renewable for the same period, and says a business must renew its license within the last month before it expires.

Treat that month as the window for submitting, not for starting. Your lease, any activity permits and the owners' documents all need to be valid when you apply, and fixing one of them can take longer than the renewal itself. A good habit is to check them six to eight weeks before the expiry date.

Free zones set their own windows. The Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), for example, allows a license to be renewed within three months before expiry, while DMCC asks its companies to renew on or before the expiry date.

What to check before you renew

Before you renew, confirm three things: your premises, any permits your activity needs and the details of the people on the license. Each of these has its own expiry date, so each can hold up a renewal that is otherwise straightforward.

Premises and Ejari

Dubai law ties a license to a place of business. Article 17 of Law No. (13) of 2011 says an applicant must name the premises in Dubai from which it will operate, and those premises must suit the licensed activity. Check that your lease runs past the renewal date and that its registration with Ejari, Dubai's tenancy registration system, is current.

If the lease has ended, renew it before you renew the license. The Dubai Land Department (DLD) registers and renews tenancy contracts online through Ejari and the Dubai REST app, and at real estate trustee centres.

Permits and approvals with their own dates

Some activities need a permit or approval from another authority, which Dubai law calls a competent entity. Under Executive Council Resolution No. (5) of 2024, licensing bodies should renew a license instantly once the renewal conditions are met and the fees are paid, and should not tie renewal to the procedures for issuing those permits. That keeps renewal quick, but it also means you should track each permit's expiry yourself rather than rely on the license renewal to catch it.

Owner and manager details

Check the passports and Emirates IDs of the partners and the manager, and the email address and mobile number linked to the license. The same resolution expects investors' data on Invest in Dubai to be kept up to date as DET prescribes. A change of partner or manager is an amendment to the license, so handle it as its own application rather than inside the renewal.

How to renew a trade license in Dubai online

Mainland licenses are renewed online through Invest in Dubai, which Executive Council Resolution No. (5) of 2024 names as Dubai's unified digital platform for issuing, renewing, cancelling and amending licenses. Invest in Dubai lists the service as a request to renew a trade license, and its renewal form asks for only a few details:

The resolution requires licensing bodies to renew instantly once the conditions are met and the fees are paid. There is no single renewal fee to quote, because the amount depends on your activity and license type; Dubai's fees resolution, for example, charges more to renew general trading and contracting licenses than a standard one. The platform shows the total before you pay.

• Open the license renewal service on the Invest in Dubai platform.
• Enter your license number or business name.
• Add the email address and UAE mobile number where renewal details should be sent.
• Check the license details and the fees the platform shows.
• Pay the fees to complete the renewal request.
• Save the renewed license and send copies to everyone who keeps it on file.

Can you renew for more than one year?

On the mainland, the law allows a longer term, subject to approval. Law No. (13) of 2011 lets a business ask for a license validity longer than one year, up to four years, with the department's approval given in coordination with the authority that regulates the activity.

Whether a longer term is available for your license is decided when you apply, so ask before you renew rather than assume. A longer term suits a business whose lease and permits also run for several years. It suits you less if your activities or partners are likely to change soon.

Several free zones publish multi-year options of their own. DMCC offers renewal for 1, 2, 3 or 5 years, except for companies with industrial and selected regulated activities, and JAFZA allows renewal for up to three years for customers holding plot leases.

What happens if you renew late?

Renewing late brings fines, and a long lapse can lead to closure or the loss of the license. Executive Council Resolution No. (13) of 2011, which approves the fees and fines for Dubai's economic licensing department, lists the following at the time of writing:

Beyond fines, the department may close an establishment for up to six months or revoke its license. Law No. (13) of 2011 also allows closure or revocation where a license has not been renewed and the activity has stopped, after a public notice that gives two weeks for objections.

If your business has genuinely stopped trading, do not simply let the license run out. The law lets an owner ask for a license to be suspended for a set period when activities stop, and a business that has ceased its activities is not charged licensing fees or non-renewal fines for that period. The fees resolution expects you to prove the activity stopped, so apply for suspension or cancellation in good time.

• AED 250 for failing to renew the license within the prescribed period.
• AED 200 for each month of delay in renewing, with part of a month counted as a full month.
• Double the fine if the same violation is repeated within one year, up to a maximum of AED 100,000.

Mainland vs free zone renewal: what changes

The main difference is who you renew with. Mainland companies renew with DET through Invest in Dubai, while free zone companies renew with their own free zone authority, on its portal and under its own fees, documents and penalties. Executive Council Resolution No. (5) of 2024 states that it applies without prejudice to the rules of free zone and special development zone authorities.

Three Dubai examples show how much the details differ:

If you are thinking about changing jurisdiction or adding activities, our business setup planner shows which zones allow your activity before you commit to another year where you are.

• DMCC: renew on the DMCC Member Portal on or before expiry, with workmen's compensation and third-party liability insurance in place and an Ejari certificate number for most leased units.
• JAFZA: renew through the Dubai Trade portal within three months before expiry. JAFZA lists an AED 1,000 fine for delay in renewing an expired license.
• Dubai Development Authority (DDA): renew online through its AXS portal, with a no objection certificate (NOC) from any external authority your activity needs. Fees follow its Licensing Categories Decision, plus AED 10 Knowledge Dirham and AED 10 Innovation Dirham per transaction.

What to update after renewal

Renewing the license does not renew everything linked to it. Work through these once the renewed license is issued:

The FTA step is the one most often missed. A late notification can lead to an administrative penalty, so build it into your renewal routine. Our corporate tax services keep your EmaraTax records in line with your license, and our guide to the corporate tax registration deadline explains what to do if your company has not registered yet.

• Establishment card: renew your company's immigration record with the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs Dubai (GDRFA Dubai), online or at an Amer centre. GDRFA Dubai lists an expected completion time of 48 hours.
• Dubai Chambers membership: for most mainland companies, membership runs for the same period as the license, and Dubai Chambers asks for a copy of the renewed trade license to renew it.
• Federal Tax Authority (FTA): submit a tax records amendment on EmaraTax within 20 working days, because the FTA lists renewal of the trade license as a change to notify.
• Visas and work permits: check which staff and family visas fall due soon, since they run on their own dates with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) and GDRFA Dubai.
• Banks, landlords and suppliers: send the renewed copy to anyone who keeps your license on file.

Why renewals stall: common mistakes

Renewals tend to stall on documents that expired quietly in the background, not on the renewal form itself. Check that none of these apply to you before you start:

• Starting after the expiry date, when monthly fines are already running.
• A lease that has ended, or a new lease that was never registered with Ejari.
• An activity permit or approval that lapsed on its own date.
• Expired passports or Emirates IDs for partners or the manager.
• An old email address or mobile number on the license, so renewal messages reach the wrong person.
• Forgetting the establishment card, Dubai Chambers membership or FTA update afterwards.
• Letting the license lapse after the business stops trading, instead of applying for suspension or cancellation.

How Global Sky PRO helps with your renewal

Global Sky PRO prepares and submits your renewal and follows it up with the authority until a decision is issued. Before we submit, we check your lease and Ejari, activity permits and partner documents, and afterwards we handle the establishment card, Dubai Chambers and FTA updates that follow.

DET, or your free zone authority, decides every renewal. Government fees are paid at cost and shown separately from our service fee, which we quote in writing before work starts. Our PRO services cover renewals alongside visas and other company paperwork, and if you are still planning a new company, start with mainland company formation in Dubai.