Home business licence: RAK, Fujairah and UAQ fees

What is the home business licence in Ras Al Khaimah?

It is Al Ghad, in Arabic رخصة الغد, rendered on RAK DED's own English page as "Alghad License". The Department of Economic Development in Ras Al Khaimah launched it in 2007 so people could run a commercial activity from home at low cost until they were ready for a shop. Applications went to the Business Development Department, which assessed each one on its merits.

What RAK published

Fees, as last published by RAK DED:

AED 1,000 to issue, including the trade name reservation
AED 800 a year to renew
AED 10 to cancel, and AED 10 a month as a fine if you let it expire
Amendments charged at ordinary licence rates

Conditions:

You must be 18 or over
Al Ghad must be your first venture. You may not already hold a commercial licence
The home must be inside the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah
Two licences per home, maximum
No employees. Labour may not be sponsored on an Al Ghad licence
Up to three harmonised activities on one licence
You must own the home or live in it, with the landlord's written consent if you rent
No nuisance to neighbours, no parking congestion, no animals, no hazardous or flammable materials
Nobody may run the licensing procedure for you under a power of attorney

Documents: initial approval from the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, a passport copy, a valid Emirates ID, proof of ownership or a tenancy contract with a no objection letter from the landlord, and a health card for food activities.

The published activity list was heavily food: hot and cold beverages, retail chocolate and sweets, traditional confectionery, hospitality services, cafeteria and snack sales, pastries and pies, spices, olives and pickles, honey, jam, date packing, and e-trading in foodstuffs at retail. RAK DED ran a second home-based licence from 2018, the Virtual Trader licence (رخصة التاجر الافتراضي), for businesses run through social media, websites and apps. Same fees, three licences per home rather than two, and three extra conditions: fixed working hours, no large-scale storage or transport of goods, no acting as agent for anyone else.

Is Al Ghad still issued in 2026?

Yes, on the evidence available in September 2026. The details above come from DED's own Al Ghad page, captured in January 2021 and again in February 2023 (RAK DED Al Ghad page, archived 8 February 2023), and Al Ghad is still missing from the four-item services catalogue on DED's site. But the DED homepage itself carries a رخصة الغد button under "Business support and development" (RAK DED). In December 2024 DED said more than 600 Al Ghad licences were active (Al Khaleej, 15 December 2024), and in September 2025 DED and RAK Municipality ran a food control awareness campaign for Al Ghad holders (Al Ittihad, 12 September 2025).

The renewal fee is less settled: the RAK Government fee table, last updated in November 2019, says AED 1,000 for a new licence or a renewal (RAK Government, economic licensing fees). Residents of Ras Al Khaimah who are not nationals have a separate home licence, Forsa, at AED 1,500 a year (RAK DED, Chance License). Fees, eligibility, Forsa and the municipality's food rules are in our Al Ghad licence guide. Our guide to home business licences across the UAE covers the other emirates.

How do you apply for a home business licence in Fujairah?

Through Dibba Al Fujairah Municipality, where the service is live today. The licence is Mashroui, رخصة مشروعي, "My Project", filed under commercial licences.

Fee to issue: AED 100. That is the only fee the municipality publishes
Attachments: Emirates ID, passport, health card, plot plan, lease contract
Steps: reserve a trade name that has not expired, apply, fill in the form, attach the documents, confirm
Health card: AED 50 new or renewed, at Al Sharq Medical Centre or Salama Medical Centre, with a photo, medical examination, passport, trade licence and Emirates ID

There is a cancellation service, with no fee published and no documents required. There is no renewal card and no renewal fee published, even though the municipality counts renewals: 43 home licences in 2020, 25 new and 18 renewals, and 10 new and 9 renewed, part of 2,414 licences the municipality completed in the first half of 2022.

Food is the point of the scheme. The municipality describes Mashroui as an initiative under which food is sold from homes and marketed through social media. Inspectors visit and check where food is prepared: sanitation, temperatures at receipt, preparation and display, cross contamination and pest control. Zero health violations were recorded across those 43 licences in 2020, and most holders are women working from home.

If you live in Fujairah city rather than Dibba

Fujairah Municipality handles Mashroui too, but publishes no fee for it. Its live licensing catalogue opens with a Mashroui trade name reservation service (حجز الاسم التجاري لمشروعي), which asks for a passport copy, an ID copy and a signed form and issues a trade name certificate; the fee field shows only a placeholder (Fujairah Municipality portal, service 526). What the city does not publish is a card to issue, renew or cancel the licence: its licensing package has none (Fujairah Municipality portal, licensing), its 2023 services guide, over 250 service cards, mentions Mashroui once, for a Ramadan market permit (services guide 2023), and the Rukhsati portal lists seven service guides, none home based (Rukhsati).

That Ramadan market permit is where the licence pays off. Mashroui holders and other supported projects pay AED 150, in the 2023 guide and on the live portal, which asks for a "commercial licence / Mashroui" (Fujairah Municipality portal, service 244). Ordinary food establishments pay AED 500 in the market in the 2023 guide and at Dibba (Dibba Municipality, Ramadan permits), and AED 300 on the live city portal. So in Fujairah city, reserve the name through Fujairah Municipality and ask what the licence costs; do not assume Dibba's AED 100 applies. The full walkthrough is in our Mashroui licence guide.

Does Umm Al Quwain have a home business licence?

Not one that is published anywhere. The Department of Economic Development in Umm Al Quwain lists permits only: discounts, clearance, promotional campaigns, billboards, trading after hours, kiosks, warehouses, trade name reservation. Alongside them sit two licensing guides, one promising data on expected fees, documents and external approvals. Both link to the same file, and that file is a two page placeholder whose entire text content is the word "TEST". The site footer reads "last updated 1 July 2017". The emirate's main portal and its municipality subdomain currently return server errors or fail to connect, so there is no municipal catalogue either.

That is an absence of publication, not a documented rule. No official UAQ source names a home business licence, and none says there is not one. u.ae, the federal platform, has no home based business page for any emirate. Do not plan around a figure from a consultancy blog. Telephone UAQ DED, ask what a resident may run from home, and ask for the answer in writing.

What does a food business need on top of the licence?

In RAK, a food application went to the Public Health Department at the municipality for prior approval before the licence could issue, and a health card from that department was required. In Fujairah, the health card is one of the five attachments, and inspectors visit. UAQ publishes nothing.

None of the three publishes a written standard for preparing food at home, an inspection schedule, or a list of foods you may not sell. Nor does any of them say whether you may sell through a marketplace or a delivery app, who carries responsibility for the food in transit, or whether a separate distribution permit is needed. If delivery is part of your plan, put the question to your issuing authority in writing, and read our guide to delivery for a home business for how the options compare.

Can a resident who is not a UAE national hold one?

No official source answers this cleanly, and two of them contradict themselves on the same page.

Ras Al Khaimah. The Al Ghad introduction says the licence opened an opportunity for citizens. The binding conditions set no nationality condition, and the documents list asks for a passport plus a valid Emirates ID, which every legal resident holds. Residents of Ras Al Khaimah of any nationality have a separate home licence, Forsa, at AED 1,500 a year; check the visa conditions with DED (RAK DED, Chance License).
Fujairah. Dibba's Arabic card says Mashroui is dedicated to citizens residing in the Emirate of Fujairah. The English version of the identical card says only that it issues a licence to practise an activity at home, with no nationality restriction.
Umm Al Quwain. Silent.

Treat the question as open. Go to the counter, state your residency status plainly, and get the answer in writing before you pay for a trade name.

How do the three emirates compare?

	Ras Al Khaimah	Fujairah	Umm Al Quwain
Licence name	Al Ghad, رخصة الغد	Mashroui, رخصة مشروعي	None published
Issuing authority	RAK Department of Economic Development	Dibba Al Fujairah Municipality; Fujairah Municipality reserves Mashroui trade names	UAQ Department of Economic Development
Fee to issue	AED 1,000, includes trade name	AED 100	Not published
Fee to renew	AED 800 or AED 1,000 a year, sources differ	Not published	Not published
Validity	Not published	Not published	Not published
Employees	Not permitted	Not published	Not published
Food activities	Yes, with prior Public Health Department approval and a health card	Yes, the core use case, health card required	Not published
Source live today	Licence linked from DED homepage; fee pages archived (2021, 2023)	Yes	Site last updated 1 July 2017

Fujairah is the cheapest published route by a wide margin, and the only one whose fee sits on a live service card for the licence. A blank in that table is a question for the counter, not a gap for a blog to fill.

Once licensing is settled, the next questions are what to charge and where to sell. Our pricing guide covers the first. KLU is free to join, with no listing, subscription or setup fees. 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. KLU takes 5% commission on completed orders plus 2% card processing, and pays out weekly to a UAE bank account. Onboarding is in English and Arabic. Your licence stays between you and your emirate's authority.

Frequently asked questions

Is the RAK Al Ghad licence still being issued?

Yes, on the evidence available in September 2026. The RAK DED homepage links to it, DED counted more than 600 active Al Ghad licences in December 2024, and DED and the municipality ran a food safety campaign for Al Ghad holders in September 2025. It is still missing from DED's services catalogue, so confirm the fees with DED on 072044444. The detail is in our Al Ghad licence guide.

How much does a home business licence cost in the northern emirates?

Fujairah publishes AED 100 to issue through Dibba Al Fujairah Municipality, plus AED 50 for the health card. RAK DED's Al Ghad page, last captured in 2023, gave AED 1,000 to issue and AED 800 a year to renew; the RAK Government fee table says AED 1,000 to renew. Umm Al Quwain publishes no fee for any licence or permit.

How long is the licence valid for?

No official source in the three emirates states a validity term. RAK's renewal fee is described as annual, which implies a year, but the page never says so. Dibba publishes no validity for Mashroui and no renewal card. Ask when you apply.

Can I hire someone to help me?

In RAK the rule was explicit: labour may not be sponsored on an Al Ghad licence. Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain publish no rule either way, which is not the same as permission. Ask the issuing authority in writing first.

Can I sell through a delivery app or an online marketplace?

No official source in RAK, Fujairah or Umm Al Quwain answers this. RAK's Virtual Trader licence was built for businesses run through social media, websites and apps, so online selling was expected, but its conditions also ban large-scale storage and transport of goods without defining that scale. Ask your issuing authority to confirm in writing what your licence permits.

Sources

Last verified: 22 September 2026.