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Your Ejari number is the contract number Dubai Land Department assigns when a tenancy contract is registered in Ejari. It is printed on the e-Contract Registration Certificate, the PDF DLD emails after an online registration. It is not the DEWA premise number or the Municipality number, which belong to the property rather than to your lease.
The numbers on a Dubai lease
A rented unit in Dubai carries several numbers. People mix them up, and DLD's download form needs four of them at once.
| Number | Belongs to | Found on |
|---|---|---|
| Ejari contract number | Your registered lease | The Ejari certificate |
| DEWA premise number (9 digits) | The unit's electricity and water connection | Your DEWA bill |
| Municipality number | The property in Dubai Municipality's records | The Ejari certificate, unit details |
| Sub number | The unit within that property | Next to the Municipality number |
Source: DLD Download Rental Certificate (Ejari) form, checked , which lists these four fields as mandatory.
Where to look, in order
- Your email. When you register online on Dubai REST or the DLD website, the certificate comes by email. Search for messages from DLD around the date the lease started.
- The paper certificate. A trustee center hands it over at the counter.
- Your landlord or property manager. They either registered the contract or approved your request, so they have a copy.
- Your employer or PRO. If they used your Ejari for a visa file, they may have kept a copy.
DLD's download form has a small link, "Where can I find Ejari Contract Number?", that opens a picture of the certificate with the number shown.
What the Ejari number is used for
- Downloading a new copy of the certificate. The Ejari certificate download page walks through the form.
- Visa files. A dependant's residence visa needs a certified lease or ownership proof, so expect to hand over the certificate with its number. See the family visa guide.
- Renewing or cancelling. Renewal and cancellation work on a specific registered contract. See Ejari renewal and Ejari cancellation.
- Company files. A business lease's Ejari is used for the trade licence and the MOHRE labour file. See commercial Ejari.
Is the Ejari number in the tenancy contract?
People often look for it on the lease and find nothing. That is normal. The Unified Tenancy Contract is filled in and signed before anyone registers it, so the Ejari number does not exist yet when the contract is printed. The number is created at registration and printed on the certificate.
If a form asks for the "contract number", read the label carefully. Some mean the Ejari contract number from the certificate. Others mean the landlord's or property manager's own reference on the lease. When in doubt, use the Ejari number, since that is the one DLD can look up.
If you have no Ejari number at all
Then the lease was probably never registered. It happens with sublets and informal arrangements, and it shows up as soon as a visa file asks for proof of your address. Ask your landlord whether the contract is registered. If not, you can register Ejari online yourself, which gives you a number within the normal approval time.
Every Ejari topic, from fees to the 7 DLD trustee centers, is linked from Ejari in Dubai.
