eTrader licence Dubai: is it still issued in 2026?

What is the eTrader licence, and is it still running?

The eTrader licence was Dubai Economy's licence for people trading online from a residence. It is issued to one person, and the federal portal u.ae summed up the limits: "The eTrader cannot open a shop or issue visas and in case of a legal dispute, the licensee alone will be held responsible."

Structurally it is a home business licence. The brochure says it "is issued for residential site only (Makani must be provided)". The FAQ agrees: a real address in the emirate, a Makani number, and the location kept confidential rather than published. You can hold it for a website alone, with no social media accounts. It runs for one year and is renewable.

Now the part the consultancy pages leave out. The official portal, dedtrader.ae, is gone. A live DNS query on 25 August 2026 comes back refused by every name server. The archive record shows the last working capture on 14 October 2023, then 404s on its inner paths through June 2024, and by 5 June 2026 the domain returned only an HTTP 301 redirect to visitdubai.com's Invest in Dubai page, with an empty body. The u.ae page describing the licence was live on 29 April 2025 and a 404 by 28 July 2026, along with the e-commerce section it sat in. Invest in Dubai, where that redirect lands you, carries no eTrader content at all, and det.gov.ae did not respond when we checked on 25 August 2026.

No official page says the licence was retired, renamed or folded into something else. Treat every figure below as historical, from 2022 and 2023 archives, and check the current rule with Dubai Economy and Tourism. For how the other emirates handle this, start with the UAE home business licence guide.

Who can get an eTrader licence in Dubai?

Here the record contradicts itself, and it matters most to expat residents.

The official FAQ sets two minimum ages: 18 and above for UAE and GCC nationals residing in Dubai, and 21 for all residents of the Emirate of Dubai. It also says registration requires only a valid Emirates ID, which admits expatriate residents. A national of another emirate may register if resident in Dubai. Registration by passport rather than Emirates ID is open only to UAE and GCC nationals. Visitors cannot register.

DED's own brochure disagrees on age. It states flatly that "the project owner must be 21 years of age", with no nationality tier.

The federal u.ae page disagreed on something bigger. It said the licence "allows UAE nationals and GCC nationals residing in Dubai to practise business activities through various social media networks", with no expatriate tier at all. That page was last updated on 25 March 2024, later than the FAQ snapshot, and has since been removed.

Question	DED Trader FAQ (Arabic, archived 2022)	DED Trader brochure (archived 2023)	u.ae page (archived 2025, since removed)
Minimum age	18 for UAE and GCC nationals resident in Dubai, 21 for all other Dubai residents	21 for everyone, no nationality tier	Not stated
Who may hold it	Any Dubai resident with a valid Emirates ID	Not stated, except for food activities	UAE and GCC nationals residing in Dubai
Employees	No workers may be requested on the licence	Establishment Card and three employees listed as a benefit	Not stated
Shop and visas	Not stated	Establishment Card, which opens a visa quota	Cannot open a shop or issue visas
Food from home	Needs Dubai Municipality approval	UAE and GCC nationals only, with Food Safety approval	Not stated
Fee	AED 1,070, plus AED 300 Dubai Chamber membership on commercial licences	AED 1,070, Chamber membership for commercial activities	Not stated

Two publications from the same department cannot both be right, and the tie breaker, the department itself, is unreachable online. If your plan depends on your nationality qualifying, ask Dubai Economy and Tourism and get the answer in writing.

What can a home business actually sell on an eTrader licence?

A licence carries up to 10 activities, and they must all come from the same activity group.

Which activities you may pick depended on your nationality. The old activity search page proved it: you chose a nationality first, then an activity group, so the eligible list was computed per nationality. DED never published that mapping, and the system that produced it is gone. The selector also listed every GCC state except Qatar, never corrected before the portal died.

Food is the one restriction actually published

The brochure is explicit: "UAE and GCC nationals can obtain a food licence operated from home subject to the approval of the Food Safety Department of Dubai Municipality." That is the only nationality restriction on activities published in any official source. On its face, an expatriate Dubai resident cannot hold a home food activity on this licence.

The seven food activities and their codes are: 552003 selling snacks, 552004 selling sandwiches, 552005 juice and soft drinks, 552006 selling ice cream, 552009 local sweets, 552010 sweets and candies, 552011 pastry.

Dubai Municipality approval is a separate step with real conditions: inspection of the preparation area at home at any time, that area kept separate within the home, a detailed interior plan of the preparation, cooking, washing and storage areas, and a specified menu. If food is your plan, read selling food from home in Dubai next.

One thing to watch when you look this up: Dubai Municipality has two separate documents numbered GU62, told apart only by the department code in front. DM-FSD-GU62 is the Food Safety Department guide to preparing and selling products from homes, and that is the one that matters here (DM-FSD-GU62). DM-HSD-GU62-AG2 is a Health and Safety Department guideline for acetylene generators, and has nothing to do with food (DM-HSD-GU62-AG2). Search for the number alone and you can easily end up with the wrong one.

The "professional activities only" claim has no official source

You will read that an expat holder may take professional or service activities only. No official page says that. It is press reporting, and it sits badly against u.ae, which excluded expats from the licence entirely. Do not build a business on it.

What does it cost, and what do you get?

The fee

The fee was AED 1,070, stated identically in the FAQ and the brochure. Dubai Chamber membership adds AED 300, and the FAQ scopes that to commercial licences only. So a professional activity paid AED 1,070 and a commercial one AED 1,370, even though a flat AED 1,370 is what usually gets quoted. No 2026 source confirms either figure, so check the current fee with Dubai Economy and Tourism. Fees are not refundable once registration completes, and payment must be made within 24 hours of the payment authorisation, or the system cancels it.

Staff, visas and the rest

The FAQ answers the staff question with one word. Asked whether the holder may request workers on the licence, it says no. The brochure lists "issuance of Establishment Card and employment of three employees" as a benefit of the same licence, and an Establishment Card is what opens a visa quota. Plan on no staff and no visas until the department tells you otherwise.

Other FAQ rules: one person per licence and no partners, though you may hold more than one licence. No signboard outside your residence without a separate permit. Bank accounts were available at three banks only: Emirates Islamic, Mashreq and ADCB. Exhibitions inside and outside the UAE are allowed.

How do you apply and renew in 2026?

Applying

The route was the DED Trader portal, and it no longer exists. Invest in Dubai has no replacement page. Until an official successor appears, go to Dubai Economy and Tourism directly, and to Dubai Municipality's Food Safety Department for anything food related. Anyone quoting you a fixed process today is quoting 2023.

Renewal and the grace period

The licence runs one year. You get a grace period of exactly one month from the expiry date. There is no fine for renewing late, but miss the grace period and your trade name is cancelled automatically, and you register again from scratch. The FAQ does not say whether you may keep trading during that month, so assume not. Renewal by SMS of the licence number to 6969 on du or Etisalat was an option, and is presumed dead along with the portal.

Selling without a licence

The FAQ states the exposure directly: an "illegal selling" violation starting from AED 25,000, and immediate closure of the account by the Department if violations are repeated. No law is cited, no maximum is given, and no 2026 source confirms the figure. Take it as a floor, not a ceiling.

KLU is free to join, with no listing, subscription or setup fees. You pay 5% commission on completed orders plus 2% card processing, and payouts reach your UAE bank account weekly. You get a storefront link to share, buyers order on iOS, Android or the web, and you choose pickup or delivery with the buyer paying the delivery fee at checkout. Onboarding is in English and Arabic. Which licence you hold is your own responsibility.

Frequently asked questions

Can an expat resident get an eTrader licence in Dubai?

The official FAQ says registration needs only a valid Emirates ID and sets a 21 and above tier for "all residents of the Emirate of Dubai", which reads as yes. The u.ae page said the licence was for UAE and GCC nationals residing in Dubai, which reads as no. Both were official. Ask Dubai Economy and Tourism and get it in writing.

Can I sell food from home on an eTrader licence?

The official brochure restricts home food activities to UAE and GCC nationals, subject to approval from Dubai Municipality's Food Safety Department. That is the only published nationality restriction on activities in the record. Seven codes are listed, covering snacks, sandwiches, juices, ice cream, sweets and pastry.

How much does the eTrader licence cost?

AED 1,070 in the last official sources, from 2022 and 2023, plus AED 300 for Dubai Chamber membership if your activity is commercial, so AED 1,370 in that case. No 2026 source confirms these figures, so confirm with Dubai Economy and Tourism.

Is eTrader the same as Intelaq?

They are different Dubai licences. No live official page sets out the current eligibility for either side by side, so check the current rule with Dubai Economy and Tourism. Our Intelaq licence guide sets out what the record holds for that route.

What happened to dedtrader.ae?

Its DNS delegation is broken, so the domain does not resolve as at 25 August 2026. Its inner paths began returning 404 in mid 2024, and the last archived capture of the root, from 5 June 2026, is an HTTP 301 redirect to visitdubai.com's Invest in Dubai page, serving an empty body. No official announcement of a retirement or replacement has been published.

Sources

Last verified: 25 August 2026.