A commercial brokerage license in Dubai lets you legally operate as a paid intermediary between buyers and sellers of goods — connecting overseas suppliers with UAE distributors, or manufacturers with wholesale buyers, on a commission or contract-fee basis, without ever taking ownership of the goods yourself. It's issued by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) as one of the activities available under a standard commercial license, and it's one of the more overlooked ways to start a brokerage firm in the UAE with low overhead and no inventory risk. Here's exactly how the DET commercial brokerage activity works, what it costs, and how the application process runs from trade name to issued license.
What Is a Commercial Brokerage License in Dubai?
DET classifies commercial brokerage under activity code 4610.11 — "Wholesale on a Fee or Contract Basis." Officially, it covers any firm that brings together buyers and sellers of goods — commission agents, trade brokers, and wholesale representatives — across sectors like industrial equipment, food and beverages, textiles, building materials, machinery, and general merchandise. You earn a commission (typically 2–8% of transaction value, higher for exclusive or technically specialized representation) rather than a trading margin, since you never hold title to the goods you're brokering.
Importantly, DET's definition of commercial brokerage specifically excludes real estate, financial instruments, shares and bonds, and services brokerage — those fall under separate regulators (RERA for property, the SCA for securities) with their own licensing tracks. If you're looking to broker property deals rather than physical goods, you need a real estate brokerage registration through RERA, not a DET commercial brokerage license — the two are commonly confused but are entirely different activities with different approval bodies.
Who Needs a Commercial Brokerage License?
This activity fits commission agents and trade brokers representing multiple sectors, overseas suppliers setting up a UAE-based representation office, specialized intermediaries handling technical or industrial product lines, and trade consultants who combine advisory work with deal-brokering. If your business model is "I connect buyer and seller, and get paid a fee or commission when the deal closes" — without ever buying or holding the goods — this is the activity you license under, rather than a standard trading license.
How to Start a Brokerage Firm in the UAE: Step-by-Step Process via DET
Getting a commercial brokerage license in Dubai follows the same structured DET pathway as any mainland commercial license, with a few brokerage-specific considerations at each stage.
- Define your brokerage activity. Specify exactly which goods categories and brokerage model you're operating under — general commodity brokerage, sector-specific (industrial, technical, F&B), or multi-category representation — since this determines your activity code and whether any related approvals apply.
- Choose your legal structure. Most commercial brokers set up as a Limited Liability Company (LLC) for mainland operations, though sole establishments and free zone company structures are also available depending on your ownership and market-access goals.
- Reserve your trade name. Your business name is checked against DET's naming conventions and reserved before the rest of the application proceeds.
- Obtain DET initial approval. This confirms DET has no objection to your proposed brokerage activity and legal structure, and clears you to move on to office setup and documentation. No third-party regulatory approval is required for standard commercial brokerage activity, which keeps this stage faster than goods-trading licenses involving regulated products.
- Secure office space and register Ejari. Mainland licenses require a registered business address — a physical office or, in several free zones, a flexi-desk arrangement — backed by an Ejari tenancy registration. This is a mandatory checkpoint: DET will not issue the license without a valid Ejari certificate on file.
- Draft your Memorandum of Association (LLC structures). This sets out ownership shares, activities, and governance terms for the entity.
- Submit your documents and pay license fees. Once your file — trade name certificate, initial approval, MOA, and Ejari — is complete, DET issues your commercial brokerage license.
- Open your corporate bank account and apply for visas. With your license in hand, you can proceed to banking and residence visas for owners and staff.
Mandatory Approvals: Initial Approval, Trade Name & Ejari
Three checkpoints in particular determine whether your file moves smoothly or stalls:
DET initial approval is the authority's in-principle confirmation that your brokerage activity and ownership structure are acceptable — you cannot proceed to office registration or document submission without it, and it must be secured before any issuance fee is paid.
Trade name reservation has to clear DET's uniqueness and naming-convention checks; a name that collides with an existing registration or violates naming guidelines gets bounced back, delaying your timeline.
Ejari registration is non-negotiable for mainland brokerage licenses — it's the tenancy registration system that proves you hold a legitimate registered address, whether that's a full office or a flexi-desk package, and DET requires it on file before releasing the license.
100% Foreign Ownership for Commercial Brokerage Firms
Since the 2021 amendments to the UAE Commercial Companies Law, most mainland commercial activities — including commercial brokerage — no longer require a UAE national shareholder holding 51% of the company. Foreign investors can own 100% of a mainland commercial brokerage LLC outright, with no local service agent or profit-sharing arrangement required. That said, mainland companies still need to comply with any sector-specific rules DET applies to particular brokerage categories, so it's worth confirming your specific activity mix qualifies for full foreign ownership before you file — in practice, standard commercial brokerage almost always does.
Documents Required for a Commercial Brokerage License
- Passport copies of all shareholders and the appointed manager
- Emirates ID and residence visa copies, where applicable
- No Objection Certificate (NOC) from a current sponsor, if a shareholder is already UAE-resident under another employer
- Ejari tenancy contract for the registered office or flexi-desk
- DET trade name reservation certificate
- DET initial approval certificate
- Memorandum of Association (for LLC structures)
Total Cost of a Commercial Brokerage License in Dubai
Commercial brokerage license costs vary by legal structure, office type, and jurisdiction, but the typical mainland cost components break down as follows:
| Cost Component | Estimated Range (AED) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DET initial approval | 200 – 1,500 | Varies by activity and structure |
| Trade name reservation | 600 – 2,000 | Depends on name complexity |
| Commercial license fee | 10,000 – 15,000 | Single-activity brokerage license via DET |
| Market fee | 5% of annual office rent (up to AED 20,000 cap); 20% for warehouse space | Charged on your Ejari-registered premises |
| Chamber of Commerce membership | 1,200 – 3,000 / year | Required for most mainland trade licenses |
| Office / flexi-desk cost | 5,000 – 20,000+ | Physical office or flexi-desk, depending on jurisdiction |
Total estimated setup cost typically lands between AED 18,000 and AED 40,000+, before visa costs, depending on your office choice and whether you need multiple activity codes under one license. These figures are indicative — actual DET fees are activity- and structure-specific and change periodically, so treat this as a planning range rather than a fixed quote. Takween Advisory gives every client an itemized, activity-based quote after reviewing their specific brokerage model, rather than a one-size-fits-all number.
Commercial Brokerage vs. Real Estate Brokerage License
It's worth repeating because it trips up a lot of first-time applicants: a DET commercial brokerage license covers intermediation in physical goods and commercial transactions — not property. If you want to broker real estate deals in Dubai, you need to register as a real estate broker through RERA (the Real Estate Regulatory Agency), which involves separate training, a RERA broker card, and DLD registration on top of your trade license. The two licenses serve completely different markets, and holding one does not authorize you to operate under the other.
How Long Does It Take?
For a standard commercial brokerage activity with no third-party regulatory approvals required, the DET process typically moves from trade name reservation through license issuance in a matter of weeks rather than months — the pace is set mainly by how quickly your office/Ejari documentation and MOA are finalized, since initial approval itself is usually fast for this activity.
Why Set Up Your Commercial Brokerage License with Takween Advisory
Commercial brokerage falls under the same commercial license category Takween Advisory has guided 500+ businesses through across Dubai's mainland and free zones over more than 10 years. We define your brokerage activity correctly against DET's activity codes from the outset, handle trade name reservation, initial approval, Ejari registration, and MOA drafting end-to-end, and give you a transparent, itemized cost quote rather than a generic estimate — so your license is issued clean the first time, with nothing trading or brokering outside what's permitted. See our full Commercial License Dubai guide for how brokerage activities fit within the broader commercial license category, or book a free consultation to get your brokerage activity scoped and quoted.