Skip to main content
Theme
CallWhatsAppBook a 15-minute call
Book a 15-minute call
Book a 15-minute call

Types of trade licence by business type

Your activity sets which type of trade licence you need in Dubai and whether a regulator must approve it first.

Book a 15-minute call
Craftsman cutting leather patterns at a long table in a busy workshop studio

Trade licence types in Dubai

The activity decides the licence and any regulator, so find the row that describes your business.

  1. Restricted business activities in the UAE
    Activities that need approval before a licence, and the regulators behind them.
  2. Consultancy licence vs professional licence in Dubai
    Professional or commercial, and why the activity wording decides it.
  3. What licence do I need to sell online in the UAE?
    There is no single e-commerce licence. What you sell, where stock sits and who buys decide it.
  4. VARA licence requirements for a Dubai crypto business
    Which activities need VARA, the approval that comes before the licence, and the ADGM and DIFC alternatives.
  5. Real estate brokerage company licence requirements
    A DET trade licence plus RERA registration, in the right order.
  6. Multiple activities on one trade licence
    Which activities combine, and when a second licence is cleaner.

Every licence starts from the activity

On the mainland, Dubai Economy and Tourism (DET) issues the trade licence, and free zones issue their own equivalents. Within each type, the activity you list decides whether a regulator has to approve you first.

Routine activities

Permitted, with a direct path to a trade licence, because no sector regulator stands in the way.

Regulated activities

A dedicated authority must approve you first.

Sectors that need prior approval

Here the regulator approves the business before, or alongside, the trade licence. That approval decides which jurisdiction you can use.

Virtual assets and crypto

In and from Dubai, outside DIFC, virtual assets fall under the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. The trade licence waits for its approval.

Who approves here: VARA, before the licence

Real estate brokerage

Brokerage in Dubai is regulated by RERA under the Dubai Land Department, and every broker has to be registered before the firm can trade.

Who approves here: RERA and the DLD

Clinics and healthcare

Medical and clinical activities are approved by the health authority for the emirate where you operate.

Who approves here: the health authority

Financial services

Financial activities are regulated in DIFC or ADGM by their own regulators, or onshore by the UAE Central Bank or the CMA (formerly SCA).

Who approves here: DIFC, ADGM, the Central Bank or the CMA

The wrong sequence is rarely refunded. Take a trade licence first, then find the activity needed a regulator your jurisdiction cannot satisfy, and neither the licence nor the deposits come back.

The order we follow for every licence

Choosing and wording the activity is the easiest place to lose money before earning a dirham, which is why it is the part we do not improvise. A routine activity can move quickly; a regulated one carries its authority's approval timeline, which our company setup service plans around.

  1. Confirm what your business does

    The activity as it really runs, including the work at the edges.

  2. Identify the authority and any approval

    We map who must license it and whether a sector regulator comes first, because this is the step that prevents paying twice.

  3. Word the activity, pick the jurisdiction

    Worded so it holds at the bank and through renewal, not only at issuance.

  4. Confirm the path before filing

    Nothing is committed until the sequence is sound.

Questions founders ask about licence types

What are the types of trade licence in Dubai?

There are three main types: a commercial licence for trading goods, a professional licence for services and expertise, and an industrial licence for manufacturing. Tourism, e-trader and other specialised licences sit alongside them. Your activity decides the type, and a regulated activity also needs a sector approval that can decide the jurisdiction.

What happens if I choose the wrong activity or jurisdiction?

Usually you pay twice. A licence taken before the right regulator approves does not transfer, and the setup restarts in the right jurisdiction. Checking the activity wording and any regulator's approval before the licence is filed is the cheapest way to avoid it.

What makes an activity regulated rather than routine?

Its contact with the public or the financial system. A regulated activity needs a dedicated authority's approval before, or alongside, the trade licence, and that approval decides which jurisdiction you can use.

Find where your business sits

In 15 minutes we check whether your business is permitted and how its activity should be worded, so you leave with a clear answer and a sound sequence.

Book a 15-minute call WhatsApp