How to check a UAE trade licence online: registers for every emirate

Any UAE trade licence can be checked online, free, in about two minutes. Check Dubai licences with Dubai Economy and Tourism, Abu Dhabi licences on TAMM, Sharjah licences with SEDD, free zone companies on each zone’s own register, or search across emirates on the federal National Economic Register. The public record shows status, activities, legal form and expiry date. Banks and the FTA use the same records, so it is worth checking your own company regularly too.

What an online licence check shows

A UAE trade licence is a company’s operating permit: it says which legal entity may trade, in which activities, until which date. Checking it online tells you four things that matter before you sign or pay: that the entity is real and registered, that its licence is active and not expired, that the activities it may legally trade in match what it is selling you, and the legal form and issuing authority you are dealing with. It does not tell you whether the company is solvent or reliable, which needs separate checks. It does rule out a common problem: dealing with a company whose licence has lapsed or never covered the work.

Two habits put this to work. Run the check on any new counterparty before money moves: a supplier you are about to prepay, a customer asking for credit terms, an agent signing on your behalf. And run it on your own company once a quarter, because your clients, your bank and the Federal Tax Authority see the same record.

Trade licence registers by emirate

Each mainland emirate runs its own economic department and its own register; each free zone keeps a separate one. If you know where the entity is licensed, go straight to that authority for the fullest record. If you don’t, start with the federal register in the next section and let it point you to the issuer.

The mainland portals expose status, activity list and expiry by number or by name, and most also run a mobile app. Coverage varies, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi the most complete, but each is free and needs no account for a basic search.

The National Economic Register

When you do not know where a company is licensed, which is common because UAE companies sit in dozens of separate registers, start with the National Economic Register, run by the Ministry of Economy. It aggregates commercial licences across the mainland emirates and a growing set of free zones into one search. Enter the trade name or the licence number and it returns the issuing authority, the licence status and the registered activities.

The federal register confirms that the company exists, shows its status and tells you which authority licensed it. That authority’s own portal then gives the fuller record: office, ownership, complete activity codes and the exact expiry date.

Free zones keep their own registers

Free zones are separate jurisdictions with their own registrars, so a DMCC or IFZA company may not appear in a mainland emirate’s search at all, and may or may not yet show on the federal register. Most zones publish a public company search: DMCC’s is the most complete, exposing member status, activities and licence validity; smaller and budget zones range from a full register down to a simple name-lookup that only confirms a company exists.

If a free zone counterparty’s number returns nothing on the federal register, that does not mean the company is fake: search the zone’s own register. If you are choosing a zone yourself and want registers that make your own company easy for banks and clients to verify later, the Free Zone Index compares all 45 on exactly these practical differences.

Reading the licence record

Status. Active, expired or cancelled. Treat anything other than an active status as a reason to stop until it is explained. Activities. A UAE licence lists the specific activities the company may trade in, and banks and the FTA read them literally. If a supplier’s licence says “general trading” but the invoice is for consultancy, that mismatch is the counterparty’s problem and, if you paid, potentially yours.

Legal form and issuing authority. LLC, sole establishment or free zone company: this tells you who stands behind the contract and where a dispute would be heard. Expiry date. The single most useful field for your own company; UAE licences renew annually. One thing the record does not tell you: a trade licence number is not a tax number. If VAT status matters, for example before you rely on a supplier’s tax invoice, verify their TRN separately with the FTA’s TRN check. An active licence says nothing about VAT registration; our VAT page explains when a business must register.

Checking counterparties before you pay

Run the check before you send money. Verify the entity name matches the one on the contract exactly, that the licence is active, that its activities cover the work, and that the expiry date is comfortably ahead. Save a dated screenshot of the result for your file in case of a later dispute.

Checking your own licence and renewal date

Run the same check on your own entity every quarter. Confirm three things: that the activities still match what you invoice (a new service may need a licence amendment, or the mismatch shows up at the bank or in a tax review), that the status is active, and that the expiry date is not close. A UAE trade licence renews annually; letting it lapse freezes visa processing and bank operations and, in several zones, triggers late-renewal fines that grow each month.

The prevention is one calendar line: diarise the expiry the day the licence issues, with a renewal buffer of a few weeks. For licence renewals and amendments handled for you, see our PRO services. If you are still setting up, the guide to starting a business in Dubai sets out the seven steps with costs.

This is general information on UAE rules. It is not legal, tax or immigration advice for your situation. Rules and government fees change; we confirm the position for your facts in writing before you act.