Dubai Trade Licence Amendment: What Each Change Costs
A Dubai trade licence amendment changes one term of the licence — an activity, a partner, the address, the capital — and Dubai Economy publishes a fee for each kind. The base request is AED 500. Everything after that depends on what you are changing and how many people have to sign.
This guide prints that fee schedule as published, lists the documents each change needs, and shows why the amendment has to happen before anything downstream will move. Our trade licence service files these; see also our guides to trade licence renewal and the establishment card and the labour file, which are the registrations that depend on it.
What an amendment covers
Dubai Economy’s own modify licence request service describes itself as modifying one term of a trade licence — the business activity, adding or removing an activity, or adding a partner — and says it can produce “an annex to an Articles of Association”.
It lists the legal forms it applies to for amendments through an “Appendix to a Incorporation Contract”: Civil, Solidarity Works, Simple Recommendation, and Public and Private Contribution.
One honest note about that source, because it matters. The page itself never names Dubai or any emirate. It sits on Dubai Economy’s own domain, which is how we know whose service it is, and we describe it that way rather than claiming the page says so. The same service on the department’s other domain is closed to automated requests and we did not work around it.
The published fees
Read 14 October 2026. The page carries no date of its own.
| What you are changing | Published fee |
|---|---|
| Trade licence amendment request | AED 500 |
| Advertising fee change, or a brand or advertisement waiver licence | AED 500 |
| Annex to an incorporation contract, where the total sale value is under AED 100,000 | AED 300 per party signature |
| Annex to an incorporation contract, where it is over AED 100,000 | 0.5% of the contract value, capped at AED 15,000 |
| Adding, withdrawing or changing capital, under AED 100,000 combined | AED 300 per party signature |
| Adding, withdrawing or changing capital, over AED 100,000 | 0.5% of the value, capped at AED 15,000 |
| Other amendments | AED 200 per party signature |
| Signature of one party at a different service delivery centre | AED 500 |
Two structural points are worth more than the numbers. Several fees are per party signature, not per amendment — so a four-partner company pays four times for the same change. And once a sale or capital change passes AED 100,000, the fee stops being a flat amount and becomes half a percent of the value, with a ceiling of AED 15,000.
What each change needs
| Change | Document the page names |
|---|---|
| Any amendment | The trade licence |
| Activity modification | External approval |
| Site modification | Rent contract |
| Change of parties | A copy of accommodation and a no-objection letter |
| Shop sale | A sale contract amendment certified by a Notary Public |
“External approval” is the one that catches people. Changing an activity can mean a third authority has to sign off before Dubai Economy will act, and which authority depends entirely on the activity. The page does not list them.
Why the order matters
Because the amendment is upstream of registrations you also hold, and the authorities downstream check for it.
MOHRE’s own service for updating the establishment file sets as a condition that “The Economic Department must register the required amendments”. So changing a partner at the ministry before the licence has been amended is not a shortcut; it is a refusal.
The same sequencing applies on the immigration side: ICP publishes that “The establishment must notify the Authority of any changes to its information”, with a published AED 1,000 fine for not doing it. The licence changes first, then the card, then the labour file.
If you are in a free zone rather than the mainland, none of the above applies to you — the authority is your own free zone, and timing windows differ. RAKEZ, for example, publishes that activity and licence changes “will only be accepted 60 days prior to licence expiry”. Our guide to free zone licence renewal covers that side.
What is not published anywhere official
- Any processing time for an amendment. The service page gives none.
- Which external approvals each activity needs, or which authorities grant them.
- Whether an amendment can be made at any point in the licence year, or only alongside renewal.
- Whether the amendment fee is refundable if the change is rejected.
- What “a copy of accommodation” means in practice for a change of parties.
- Any date on the service page, so there is no way to tell how current the fee schedule is.
- Whether the 0.5% ceiling of AED 15,000 applies per amendment or per contract.
- What happens to the establishment card and labour file while an amendment is in progress.
Our advice — practical guidance, not a rule
Marked as advice because no official page prescribes it.
- Count the signatures before you budget. Several fees are per party signature. The number of partners, not the size of the change, often decides the bill.
- Find out which external approval your activity needs before you file anything. It is the step most likely to add weeks, and the service page will not tell you which authority it is.
- Amend the licence first, then everything downstream. MOHRE publishes the economic department registration as a condition; ICP publishes a fine for not being told.
- Tell ICP in the same week. The AED 1,000 is for changing establishment information without notifying the Authority, and it is easy to incur while you are busy with the licence.
- If the change involves a sale, get the value settled first. Above AED 100,000 the fee stops being flat and becomes a percentage.
- Do not assume the published fees are current. The page carries no date. Confirm before you transfer anything.
If you would rather hand it over, our trade licence desk files the amendment, chases the external approval, and updates the establishment card and labour file in the right order afterwards.
If the change you are weighing is the last one — closing rather than amending — our guide to closing a company in Dubai sets out the two de-registration phases and the liquidation articles that govern them.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to amend a trade licence in Dubai?
Dubai Economy publishes AED 500 for the amendment request itself. Other changes are priced separately: AED 300 per party signature for an annex or a capital change under AED 100,000, 0.5% of the value capped at AED 15,000 above that, and AED 200 per party signature for other amendments.
What can I change on a Dubai trade licence?
The service covers modifying one term of the licence — the business activity, adding or removing an activity, adding a partner — and can produce an annex to the articles of association. Site changes and shop sales have their own document requirements.
What documents do I need to amend a trade licence?
The trade licence in every case. An activity modification needs external approval, a site modification needs a rent contract, a change of parties needs a copy of accommodation and a no-objection letter, and a shop sale needs a sale contract amendment certified by a Notary Public.
How long does a trade licence amendment take in Dubai?
No processing time is published on the service page. The realistic variable is the external approval an activity change may need, which comes from a different authority.
Do I need to update my establishment card after amending the licence?
ICP publishes that “The establishment must notify the Authority of any changes to its information”, and publishes a AED 1,000 fine for changing establishment information without notifying it. MOHRE separately requires the economic department to have registered the amendment before it will update the labour file.
Can I add a business activity to an existing licence?
Yes, adding or removing an activity is one of the changes the service covers. The published document requirement for an activity modification is external approval, which comes from whichever authority regulates that activity.
Does this apply to a free zone licence?
No. A free zone company deals with its own free zone authority, and the terms differ. RAKEZ, for example, publishes that activity and licence changes are only accepted in the 60 days before licence expiry.