Dubai Economy issues 4,692 instant licences to date

Dubai Economy has issued a total of 4,692 instant licences since the launch of the service in July 2017, Dubai Media Office reported.

Among the categories of licences issued, 3,448 were commercial while 1,244  were professional licences, making up 73.5 per cent, and 26.5 per cent of the pool respectively, the Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) sector at Dubai Economy reported.

An instant licence can be obtained for four legal forms of businesses – limited liability company LLC, single member LLC, sole proprietorship and civil company, a statement said.

The instant licence service enables businessmen to obtain a commercial license within five minutes, offering ease in conducting businesses in the emirate.

Furthermore, the move helps businesses secure their commercial licence in a single move for the first year without having a company’s lease or location.

These service can be availed through eServices (ded.ae/instant), outsourced service centres in the emirate, or the Happiness and Smart lounges. Holders of the general trade licences can only use electronic services.

All business partners or one of them must be present while applying through the outsourced service centres or the Happiness lounge, and must present a valid passport copy of all parties (partner and manager), residence visa copy and a no-objection letter from the sponsor to the foreign parties, the statement said.

All business activities can benefit from the instant service, except public and private shareholding companies.

The instant licence offers the added option of an electronic memorandum of association (eMOA), in addition to procuring the license and entry in the Dubai Economy commercial registry.

In addition, the licensee is given instant membership to the Dubai Chamber, an establishment card of the General Directorate of Residency & Foreigners Affairs as well as three work permits for employees from the Ministry of Human Resources & Emiratisation post the issuance of the trade licence.

The registration of ‘native’ workers is done at the Ministry of Human Resources & Emiratisation while issuing the instant licence.

The number of instant licence owners totaled 16,935, of which 14,842 (87.6 per cent) are men, 2,093 (12.4 per cent) being women.

The instant licence owners hail from Britain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, India, China, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, and Sudan, the statement said.

Dubai Economy is the government entity responsible to foster and drive the economic landscape of the emirate. The UAE, currently, ranks 16th in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index 2020, with a score of 80.9.