Important Documents to Obtain Trading License in Dubai 2022

If you are planning to make a business investment in Dubai, you will need to follow the Company Laws of Dubai. It can help you with all the essential steps you will need to follow to incorporate your business setup without any hassle in Dubai. Complying with the process and rules are necessary to avoid conflicts and penalities and make your operations easy and smooth later.

You will need to find out what licence type you require for your business. In Dubai, a trade license is an essential document to start a business, without which your business will not be considered legal. So, when you plan to start a business in Dubai, first plan to obtain a licence. And before you apply for a licence, you will need to decide the type of license that suits your business requirements and select the nature of the business activities conducted under the licence.

Dubai offers different types of licenses, and the investors need to select following the nature of their business activities. Therefore, business license type depends on the nature of the business activity determined.

The commercial license is Dubai’s most common business license, also known as the trading license. The license permits to start business activity in Dubai and mentions all the activities that are permitted to an investor. The trade licence is issued by the Department of Economic Development (DED), Dubai.

Following are the activities that are allowed under a trading license:-

Import and export businesses.
Doing commercial activities such as selling goods and services within the country.
An investor can also use it in carrying out business activities within the Free zones.

To obtain a trading license in Dubai, the investor has to select the business activities expected to be conducted. Therefore, while applying for a trading license, you will need to specify the name of the business activities, prepare a Memorandum and Articles of Association and then submit the application with the DED for approval.

Also, you will need a rental agreement prepared as proof of the company’s address before applying for a trading license in Dubai.

Steps for Trading License in Dubai

Choose a name for the business activity.
After the name is decided, choose the activities in the trading license. The maximum number of activities allowed is 10.
Fill out and submit the application form to get the initial approval.
Get external approvals if needed, depending on the business activities.
Get all the documents like MOA and other documents from the relevant government authorities.
After documentation is complete, choose the location for your business activity.
Submit a complete application and all documents to the DED for final approval.
Pay the required fee and other charges to obtain the license from the concerned authorities.

Essential Documents to Obtain a Trading License in Dubai

A complete license application, duly signed by the company managers or their legal representatives.
Submit a Memorandum of Association (MOA) along with the application form.
Duly attested company name approval letter issued by DED.
Submit the application form along with a passport copy of the managing partners.

After the above process is completed, the commercial registry authority examines all the documents and verifies them accordingly.

The next step is to add the company name to the commercial register. After that, the Department of Economic Development (Dubai) forwards the documents to the federal ministry of the economy for publication.

After the publication of the documents and the application entry, the ministry issues a business approval letter. Finally, the DED issues an original trade license once the above process is complete.

After the issuance of the trade license, it is valid for one year. So, once you complete one year, you will need approval from the authorities and for the same, you will need to apply for the renewal of your license. You will have to submit your previous license along with the renewal application. The renewed license is valid for 5 years.