Home business licence in Dubai: Intelaq or eTrader

Do you need a licence to run a home business in Dubai?

Yes. Dubai Law No. 13 of 2011 allows an economic activity in the emirate only through a business licensed by the economic department, now the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET). Article 18 is the part that makes a home business possible at all: it lets DET waive the usual requirement for commercial premises when the activity is run from a residence. Article 29 sets the penalty for trading without a licence at AED 100 to AED 100,000, with possible closure (Dubai Legislation Portal).

That covers an Instagram account and a WhatsApp order book as much as a shop. The federal position is the same: "You must have the appropriate licence to conduct eCommerce activities," and every eCommerce licence also needs approval from the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), which the UAE Government portal restated on 11 August 2026 (u.ae).

The archived DED Trader FAQ put a number on the risk: an "illegal selling" violation starting from AED 25,000, with the account closed if it repeats (DED Trader FAQ, archived 8 December 2022). No law is cited alongside that figure and no 2026 source confirms it, so read it as a floor rather than a settled fee.

Which home business licence does Dubai issue?

Two, and the difference between them is mostly who they are open to and what you are allowed to do at the address.

Intelaq is the home business licence proper. Dubai SME, an agency of DET, describes it as "a license for UAE or GCC national(s) residents of Dubai, to run a business from home in various fields, for a minimal fee paid annually" (Dubai SME). It is the one that permits food preparation at the residence, subject to Dubai Municipality approval.

eTrader, also called DED Trader, was DET's licence for trading online from a residential address, issued to one person, with no shop and no staff on the official FAQ. Structurally it is also a home business licence, but its status is now genuinely unclear, which is covered below.

Both sit under DET. Neither is a free zone product, and neither replaces the TDRA approval.

Who can get a Dubai home business licence?

This is where most guides are vague, so here it is plainly. Intelaq requires UAE or GCC nationality plus residence in Dubai, and the enterprise must be 100% owned and managed by those nationals. Article 18 of the 2011 law names UAE nationals; DET extends the licence to GCC nationals in practice, which is worth confirming with DET if your case turns on it.

Expat residents cannot get Intelaq. An older UAE government page once described it as a licence for "Dubai residents" (u.ae, archived 22 February 2026), but that page has since been removed, and Dubai SME, DET, the Dubai Media Office and Dubai Municipality all state UAE or GCC nationals only.

For food specifically the municipality is unambiguous. Its guide to preparing and selling products from homes, DM-FSD-GU62, limits the Trader or Intelaq food licence to UAE and GCC citizens residing in Dubai (DM-FSD-GU62). If you are an expat resident planning to cook at home in Dubai, no official source permits it, and selling food from home in Dubai sets out what is actually left open to you.

What does a Dubai home business licence cost?

	Intelaq	eTrader
Who it is for	UAE or GCC nationals resident in Dubai, 100% ownership and management	UAE or GCC nationals in Dubai from 18; other Dubai residents from 21
Published fee	AED 1,070 a year	AED 1,070, plus AED 300 Dubai Chamber membership on commercial activities
Source date	Current DET page	2022 and 2023 archives only
Validity	1 year, renewed annually	1 year, with a one month grace period
Employees	Up to 3, with Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation approval	None, on the official FAQ
Food preparation at home	Yes, with Dubai Municipality approval and a separate dedicated space	Only with municipality approval, which it limits to UAE and GCC nationals
Status in 2026	Live	Portal offline, no retirement notice

The Intelaq figure moved recently: Invest in Dubai showed AED 1,050 until January 2026 and now shows AED 1,070, and the fee excludes charges from federal agencies and some other entities. Dubai SME's own pages still showed AED 1,050 in snapshots up to May 2025. Check the current number before you pay rather than budgeting from any guide, including this one.

There is one more clock worth knowing about. The 2020 rules that added foodstuff activities to Intelaq allowed them for five years, renewed annually, after which "the licence must be converted into a commercial licence" (Dubai Media Office). Neither the current DET page nor Dubai SME restates that cap, so ask Dubai SME whether it still applies before you plan around year six.

Is the eTrader licence still being issued?

Nobody official will say, and that is the honest answer.

The portal, dedtrader.ae, no longer resolves: a DNS query on 25 August 2026 came back refused by every name server. The archive record shows the last working capture on 14 October 2023, 404s on inner paths through June 2024, and by 5 June 2026 the domain returned only a redirect to Invest in Dubai with an empty body. The u.ae page describing the licence was live on 29 April 2025 and a 404 by 28 July 2026. Yet the u.ae eCommerce page still referenced eTrader as a related Invest in Dubai service when it was updated on 11 August 2026, which is a straight contradiction between two federal pages.

No official page anywhere says the licence was retired, renamed or folded into something else. Consultancy sites continue to sell it as a current product, which is exactly the kind of claim to distrust. Treat every eTrader figure as historical and put the question to DET before you plan around it. The full paper trail is in the eTrader licence guide.

How do you apply, and what comes after the licence?

Intelaq runs through Invest in Dubai with UAE Pass. You choose your activity, reserve a trade name, submit the application with your Emirates ID, passport copy, tenancy contract or ownership deed and a landlord no objection certificate, then pay. Renewal is annual, and the renewal approval letter stays valid for six months (Dubai SME renewal).

Two steps get missed. The TDRA no objection certificate for practising an e-activity is separate from the licence, free, and takes about 2 working days with UAE Pass. And if you are handling food, the municipality approval is its own process: GU62 requires a separate, dedicated preparation space inside the house rather than the family one, trained food handlers, and an accredited health supervisor among the workers registered on the licence.

After that the work is commercial rather than administrative. What to charge and how to deliver decide whether the licence pays for itself, and a licence bought before you know either is a licence carrying a cost you have not priced. For the other six emirates, the UAE home business licence guide compares all of them.

KLU is free to join, with no listing, subscription or setup fees. You keep a storefront link to share, take orders on iOS, Android or the web, and get paid weekly to a UAE bank account, with 5% commission on completed orders plus 2% card processing. Licensing is your own responsibility as the seller, not something a marketplace grants or checks. Our FAQ covers the rest.

Frequently asked questions

Can an expat get a home business licence in Dubai? Not Intelaq, which is restricted to UAE and GCC nationals resident in Dubai. The archived eTrader FAQ set a minimum age of 21 for other Dubai residents, but the portal is offline and the position cannot be confirmed. For food specifically, Dubai Municipality limits home preparation to UAE and GCC citizens.

How much is a home business licence in Dubai? AED 1,070 a year for Intelaq on the current DET page, excluding federal agency charges. eTrader was also AED 1,070, plus AED 300 Dubai Chamber membership for commercial activities, but those figures come from 2022 and 2023 archives.

Can you prepare food at home on an Intelaq licence? Yes, with Dubai Municipality approval, and only in a separate dedicated preparation space within the house rather than the family one. Seven food activities are covered.

Do you need TDRA approval as well as the licence? Yes. Every eCommerce licence in the UAE requires TDRA approval. It is free and takes about 2 working days.

What happens if you sell without a licence? Dubai Law No. 13 of 2011 sets a fine of AED 100 to AED 100,000 plus possible closure. The archived DED Trader FAQ put an illegal selling violation at AED 25,000 and up.

Sources

Last verified: 31 August 2026. Fees and eligibility change without notice; confirm with Dubai Economy and Tourism before you apply.