Commercial Permit Dubai 2026: DET Fees, Types and Steps

A commercial permit in Dubai is the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) approval a licensed business needs for temporary extras such as sales, promotions, liquidation sales, exhibitions, commercial tents, banners, kiosks and additional offices. DET's published fees run from AED 250 for a conference or banner up to AED 20,000 for a promotional campaign, with sales at AED 2,500 to 13,500 and a liquidation sale at AED 2,500. DET says a complete request is processed in about 5 minutes, while a festival promotion certificate takes three to five business days.

This guide is for founders and managers who already hold a trade license in Dubai and want to do something the licence alone does not cover: run a summer sale, clear old stock before a move, put a stand in an exhibition, pitch a tent for a launch, or open a counter in a mall. The rule of thumb is simple. Your licence says what you are allowed to trade. A commercial permit says you are allowed to run this specific campaign, at this place, for these dates.

Below we set out what DET actually publishes, what each permit type costs, which documents get a file approved on the first attempt, how festival promotions work through DET Connect, and where a permit is the wrong tool and you need a licence amendment instead. Every government figure here was read on the official DET pages on 25 October 2026. Fees change, so confirm each one on the official portal before you pay.

What a commercial permit covers, according to DET

DET's own service description is broad. It says the permit "grants legal permission" for activities including promotions, sales, special offers, liquidation, exhibitions, conferences, commercial tents, advertising signs, overtime, paper ads, kiosks, counters, installed activities, delivery of requests during the day in Ramadan, self-service machines, ATMs, additional offices, parking lots in public squares and warehouses, and other additional activities. The official service page is Request to issue commercial permit on Invest in Dubai.

It helps to group that list by what the business is trying to do, because the documents and the risk differ by group.

1. Price campaigns. Sales, discounts, special offers, clearance and liquidation. These are the permits most retailers need several times a year. The question DET is answering is whether the advertised offer is genuine and run by a business licensed to sell those goods.

2. Space and presence. Exhibitions, conferences, commercial tents, kiosks, counters, installed activities and additional offices. Here the business is occupying a place it does not normally operate from, so venue consent matters as much as the DET approval.

3. Visibility. Advertising signs, banners and paper ads. Signs on public roads and buildings also touch Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) rules, which is why DET links the RTA shop billboard permit manual from the same service page.

4. Operating extensions. Overtime, daytime delivery during Ramadan, self-service machines and ATMs. These extend how or when the business operates rather than what it sells.

Two practical points follow from this list. First, the permit is always an add-on to a valid licence; it is never a substitute for one. If your licence does not carry the activity you are promoting, the permit request will stall, and the fix is an amendment. Second, because the list ends with "other additional activities", DET has discretion over what falls inside the permit. If your plan does not obviously fit a category, ask before you spend on materials.

DET commercial permit fees in 2026

DET publishes ranges, not a single price, because the fee depends on the size of the store, the type of sale, the duration of an exhibition or the area of a tent. These are the official figures as published on the Invest in Dubai service page, read on 25 October 2026.

DET also states how to pay: by direct debit at Dubai Islamic Bank, Commercial Bank of Dubai or Emirates Islamic, or in cash or by cheque at Aafaq Islamic Finance, Commercial Bank of Dubai or Emirates Islamic. Festival promotion fees through DET Connect are paid online by internet banking or card, or at an Al Ansari Exchange branch by cash or cheque, and DET says that payment must be made before the promotion details are submitted.

How to read the ranges as a founder:

• Budget at the top of the range until DET confirms. A promotional campaign for a store in a prime area can cost forty times what a small banner costs. Plan your campaign budget with the upper figure and treat any saving as margin.
• The flat liquidation fee is the cheapest price campaign on the list. If you are clearing stock before a closure, relocation or range change, the AED 2,500 special offers and liquidation permit is often the right category. Do not describe a routine seasonal sale as a liquidation to save money; the description must match what you actually do.
• Tents are the expensive item. At AED 5,000 to 15,000 before the venue charges, a tent is a serious marketing line. Many launches work as well with an exhibition stand at AED 500 to 1,000.
• Government fees are not the whole cost. Venue rent, NOC fees charged by malls or landlords, printing, and staff time all sit on top. Our own service fee, if you ask us to handle the file, is quoted after scoping.

Commercial permit or festival certificate: which one you need

Dubai runs a retail calendar of festivals and seasonal windows. DET operates a separate service for promotions inside that calendar: the Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE) promotion certificate of participation, applied for through the DET Connect portal. The official page is Apply for a promotion certificate of participation on dubaidet.gov.ae.

What DET says about the festival route:

• Who can apply. Retailers, companies, shopping centres, distributors, e-stores, tourist attractions or restaurants holding a valid DET or free zone trade licence.
• What it covers. Price deals such as sales, discounts, rebates and clearance; special offers such as bulk bundles or gift with purchase; raffles; contests; pop-up kiosks; booths and stands.
• Validity. Once you pay the Retail Calendar Participation Fee for the calendar year, the permit is valid for 12 months and covers the specified seasonal retail windows, such as Dubai Shopping Festival, Dubai Summer Surprises and Dubai Food Festival. DET also offers an off-season calendar with a different set of fees and guidelines.
• Processing. Three to five business days, and DET notes some permit types may require more time.
• Price. DET lists the price as "various" and refers applicants to the price list in the downloads section of the page.
• Changes. Amendments to an issued certificate are requested by email to the address DET publishes on the page.
• Multiple festivals. You may select several festivals and submit promotion details for each.

The practical split looks like this:

Our view: retailers who run more than one promotion a year inside the festival calendar should look hard at the 12-month calendar participation, because one payment and one approval cycle covers several windows. Retailers who run one clearance a year are usually better served by a single commercial permit.

Who can apply, and the licence check that decides most files

A commercial permit sits on top of a trade licence, so the first test is always the licence itself. Before anyone submits a request, check four things.

The licence is valid. An expired licence cannot carry a permit. If your renewal date falls inside the campaign window, renew first. Our guide to trade license renewal in Dubai covers the timing.

The activities match the campaign. A licence for electronics trading supports an electronics sale. It does not support a food tasting stand or a raffle for cars. Where the campaign introduces goods or services outside your licensed activities, you need to add the activity first. Our add activity guide explains how that works.

The licence holder is the one running the campaign. The permit should be in the name of the legal entity that sells the goods, issues the receipts and holds the stock. A franchisee, a distributor and a mall operator are different entities, and each needs its own approval where it acts on its own account.

The location is one you are allowed to use. A mall unit, a hotel ballroom, an exhibition hall or a car park belongs to someone else. The owner's written consent is part of the file, and for pop-up kiosks DET explicitly asks for a venue NOC.

Free zone companies deserve a specific note. DET lists free zone licence holders as eligible for the festival certificate of participation. That is not the same as permission to trade on the mainland. A free zone licence does not by itself allow a company to sell from mainland premises, so a free zone business planning a mainland stand or kiosk should check the operating permit route first; our guide to the free zone mainland permit in Dubai sets out the options.

Documents that get a commercial permit approved first time

DET does not publish one document list for every permit type, so the safest approach is to assemble a file that answers the questions DET is likely to ask for your category. This is the checklist we use.

Always

• A copy of the valid trade licence, showing the activities you are promoting.
• The campaign details: what is offered, the dates, the location and, for price campaigns, the products or categories covered.
• The authorised signatory's details, matching the licence and the company's commercial register.

For price campaigns (sales, discounts, offers, liquidation)

• The list of promotions with their periods, which DET asks for on the festival route.
• A clear description of the offer. "Up to 50% off selected items" is a different promotion from "50% off everything", and the advertising must match what was approved.
• For a liquidation, a short explanation of why stock is being cleared, such as a store closure, relocation or range change.

For space and presence (exhibitions, conferences, tents, kiosks, counters, additional offices)

• The venue or landlord NOC, in the name of the same legal entity.
• The booking contract or space allocation from the organiser.
• A layout or plan of the stand, tent or kiosk where the venue requires one.

For visibility (signs, banners, paper ads)

• The artwork and dimensions.
• The placement: on your own shopfront, inside a mall, on a building facade or near a road. Placements near roads and on facades can bring in RTA rules; DET links the RTA shop billboard permit manual from its commercial permit page. For permanent shop signs, see our signboard permit guide.

A strong file has one property that matters more than any single document: every paper names the same legal entity, the same trade name and the same licence number. Most delays we see come from a mall NOC issued to a brand name rather than the licensed company, or from artwork that promises an offer different from the one described in the application.

Approvals in order: how to apply

The sequence below follows DET's published service pages (read 25 October 2026). The 5 minute processing time DET quotes applies to a complete request; the work is in getting the file complete.

1. Confirm the licence. Check the licence is valid for the whole campaign period and carries the activities you will promote. Renew or amend first if it does not. Authority: DET.
2. Choose the route. A festival window points to the DFRE certificate of participation on DET Connect. Anything else points to the commercial permit through the Invest in Dubai portal or a DET service centre. Event-style activities with an audience point to the event permit.
3. Secure the venue consent. Get the NOC from the mall, landlord, hotel or exhibition organiser before you apply. For pop-up kiosks on the festival route, DET says the venue NOC is required.
4. Check outdoor and road-side placements. Signs, banners or structures near roads or on building exteriors may need RTA or municipality approval in addition to DET. Authority: RTA and the relevant municipality.
5. Submit and pay. On the commercial permit route, submit at a service centre or through the portal and pay through the channels DET lists. On the festival route, register on DET Connect with a copy of your valid trade licence, choose the calendar or festival, pay the fee shown, then submit the promotion certificate of participation request form with your promotion details or full promotion list.
6. Receive the approval and keep it on site. DET says successful festival certificates are issued by email. Keep a printed or digital copy at the store, stand or kiosk for inspections.
7. Run the campaign exactly as approved. Dates, discounts and locations should match the approval. If something changes, request an amendment before the change goes live; on the festival route DET publishes an email address for amendments.

A realistic timeline for a first-time applicant is one to two weeks from the decision to run a campaign to approval in hand, most of it spent on venue consent and artwork. The government step itself can be minutes on the commercial permit route and three to five business days on the festival route.

Permit or licence amendment: choosing the right tool

The most expensive mistake in this area is using a temporary permit for something that is really a permanent change, or the reverse. The test is duration and repetition.

Use a commercial permit when:

• The activity has a start and end date: a sale, a weekend stand, a launch tent, a conference booth.
• The activity is already inside your licensed activities, and the permit only covers the place, the time or the format.
• You are testing a location or format before committing to it.

Use a licence amendment when:

• You will sell a new category of goods or services on an ongoing basis. That is an activity addition.
• You are moving premises or changing the trade name. That changes the licence record.
• You want to bring in a partner or change the manager.

DET does not publish a single amendment fee; the cost depends on the change, and DET says the request can be completed in about 10 minutes at a service centre once the file is ready. Our trade licence amendment guide covers each type of change.

Use an additional licence or a separate unit when:

• You want a permanent second shop, a standing kiosk or a second office that will run all year. DET's list includes "additional offices" as a permit category, but a long-term second outlet is usually a licensing question, not a campaign. A permanent kiosk business has its own requirements; see our kiosk licence guide.

There is also a closing case. If the sale is a liquidation because the company itself is shutting down, the permit is the last commercial step before the cancellation and liquidation process. Our guides on cancelling a trade licence in Dubai and company liquidation in Dubai explain what follows.

Planning a campaign around the permit

A permit is a compliance step, but it shapes the commercial plan. Founders who treat it as an afterthought end up with printed banners for a date that has not been approved, or a stand booked in a mall that will not issue an NOC in time. This is how we plan campaigns with clients.

Work backwards from the launch date. Allow at least one week before launch for the government step on the festival route, more if the venue is slow with NOCs. On the commercial permit route, the government step is quick, so the venue and artwork set the timeline.

Price the whole campaign, not the permit. A typical small retail sale might involve the permit fee, mall marketing charges, printing, extra staff hours and possibly an overtime approval if you extend opening hours. DET lists overtime as a permit category, so late-night trading for a sale needs its own approval.

Match the claim to the approval. If the approval covers selected categories, the advertising should say selected categories. If the approval covers 10 days, the sale ends on day 10. Inspectors compare the shop floor with the approval, not with your intentions.

Use the festival calendar if you promote often. A business that runs promotions in Dubai Shopping Festival, Dubai Summer Surprises and Dubai Food Festival may get better value from the 12-month calendar participation than from separate permits. Check DET's current price list before deciding.

Respect the calendar and the culture. Ramadan daytime delivery appears in DET's permit list for a reason: some activities need specific approval during the holy month. Plan Ramadan and Eid campaigns early and keep messaging respectful and family appropriate.

Keep evidence. Store the approval, the venue NOC, the artwork as approved and photographs of the campaign as it ran. If a customer complains about an offer, that file is how you show the campaign matched what DET approved.

What happens if you skip the permit

DET's pages do not publish a single penalty table for unpermitted promotions, so we will not quote a fine figure here. What we can say from the structure of the rules is where the practical risk sits.

• Inspection on the shop floor. A sale or kiosk without an approval can be stopped during an inspection, which means losing the campaign days you paid for in rent, staff and stock.
• Venue enforcement. Malls and landlords typically ask for the approval before letting a stand or kiosk open. Without it, the space you booked may sit empty.
• Licence holder exposure. Enforcement is directed at the company named on the licence, not at the brand or the mall. A clean compliance history makes later renewals, amendments and approvals simpler.
• Customer disputes. A promotion that was never approved is hard to defend if a customer disputes the offer.

The permit fee is small next to the cost of a campaign that is shut down halfway through. That is the whole case for applying, and for applying early.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Running a sale on an expired licence. Renew first. A permit cannot sit on a lapsed licence.
• Promoting goods outside your licensed activities. Add the activity before the campaign, not after a rejection.
• Getting the venue NOC in the brand name. The NOC, the licence and the application should all name the same legal entity.
• Calling a seasonal sale a liquidation. The category must match what you are doing. Liquidation is for genuine stock clearance.
• Printing before approval. Artwork that promises a different discount, date or scope from the approval invites problems at inspection.
• Forgetting overtime. Extended opening hours for a sale can need their own approval; DET lists overtime as a permit category.
• Assuming a free zone licence covers a mainland stand. Festival participation is open to free zone licence holders, but trading from mainland premises is a separate question.
• Treating a permanent outlet as a permit. A kiosk or office that will run all year is usually a licensing question, not a campaign.
• Using last year's fee. DET publishes ranges that can change. Confirm the fee on the official portal on the day you apply.

What Noble Core does for you

Noble Core is an independent private business setup consultancy, operating since 2020 with offices in Dubai and Riyadh. We are not a government body and we do not issue permits. What we do is make sure the file is right before it reaches DET:

• Check your trade licence, activities and renewal date against the campaign you are planning, and fix gaps with a renewal or amendment where needed.
• Choose the right route: DET commercial permit, DFRE festival certificate of participation, raffle permit or event permit.
• Prepare the application, coordinate the venue or landlord NOC, and review your artwork against the approval wording.
• Submit through the official channel and keep you updated until the approval is issued.

Government fees are paid at actual to the authority. Our service fee is quoted after scoping, because a single banner and a festival programme across five branches are very different jobs. We cannot guarantee approval: the decision belongs to DET and the other authorities involved.

If you are planning a sale, a stand or a launch and want the permit sorted before you spend on the campaign, message us on WhatsApp or call +971 52 253 5694. If you are still choosing a structure for a new business, start with our guide to getting a trade licence in Dubai, then come back to this page when your first campaign is on the calendar.

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