Sustained Development: Dubai Economy issues 4,692 Instant Licences since 2017

The Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) sector at Dubai Economy reported that 4,692 Instant Licences were issued since the launch of the service in July 2017 to date.

Among the Instant Licences issued, 3,448 were in the commercial (73.5 per cent) and 1,244 were professional (26.5 per cent) categories.

The Instant Licence service provides a convenient model for businessmen who can now obtain a commercial licence within five minutes, enabling them to establish and conduct business in Dubai easily. The initiative is a path-breaking service whereby businesses can secure their commercial license in one-step for the first year without having a company's lease or location.

Through the Instant Licence, Dubai Economy seeks to highlight the sustainable economic development and competitiveness of the emirate.

All business activities can benefit from the service, except public and private shareholding companies, through eServices (ded.ae/instant), the various outsourced service centres in Dubai, or the Happiness and Smart Lounges.

Holders of 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 provide a valid passport copy of all parties (partner and manager), residence visa copy and no-objection letter from the sponsor to the foreign parties.

The Instant Licence offers the option of an electronic memorandum of Association (eMOA), in addition to obtaining the license and entry in the Dubai Economy commercial registry.

Furthermore, the licencee is given membership in the Dubai Chamber instantly, 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 once the trade license is issued.

'Native' workers registration

The registration of 'Native' workers in the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation is done while issuing the Instant Licence. If the partners wish to appoint the employees before the issuance of the Instant Licence, they need to follow a few simple steps or else skip the screen and complete the procedures.

The number of Instant Licence owners reached 16,935 and 87.6 per cent (14,842) of them are men while women account for 12.4 per cent (2,093). The businessmen who secured Instant Licences so far include those from Britain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, India, China, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan and Sudan.

An Instant Licence can be obtained for four legal forms of businesses - limited liability company (LLC), single member LLC, sole proprietorship and civil company.

The Instant Licence initiative has also contributed to the sub-indicator 'Starting a business' in the Ease of Doing Business Index 2020 issued by the World Bank, which ranked the UAE 17th globally.