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Trade licence cancellation in Dubai is the last step of closing a company, not the first. The Dubai.ae closing guide says every other local and federal cancellation must be done before DET cancels the licence, and MOHRE labour cards must be cancelled for every business type. A mainland LLC also has to publish a liquidation notice and give creditors 45 days. Market totals run about AED 3,000 to AED 7,000.
The order that works
If you do these out of order, a later office sends you back to an earlier one. Market guides and the official pages line up on this sequence:
- Settle debts with suppliers, the bank and utilities.
- Cancel MOHRE work permits for every employee.
- Cancel the residence visas with GDRFA.
- Cancel the Emirates IDs (they are cancelled with the visa).
- FTA: VAT deregistration and the final corporate tax return.
- Cancel the commercial Ejari.
- Get any NOCs your activity needs.
- Apply to DET.
- Publish the liquidation notice (LLC only).
- Collect the cancellation certificate, then close the bank account.
Steps 2 to 4 are fixed by the official rules. MOHRE needs dues paid before it cancels a permit, GDRFA needs the MOHRE cancellation before it cancels a visa, and GDRFA will not cancel the establishment card while anyone is still sponsored on it.
What each type of company needs
| Company type | What the Dubai.ae guide asks for |
|---|---|
| LLC or other commercial company | Notarised general assembly minutes approving liquidation and naming the liquidator, the liquidator's acceptance letter, a dissolution certificate approved by the legal advisor, the original newspaper notice, a final report, a no-objection declaration, MOHRE labour card cancellation |
| Sole establishment | MOHRE labour card cancellation, then deregistration at a service center |
| Civil company | A notarised partnership termination contract, MOHRE labour card cancellation |
| Any licence expired over two years | One-day notice in widely read Arabic newspapers, 15-day grace period, local partner undertaking covering debts, no-liabilities undertaking |
Source: Dubai.ae, Closing your business, last modified , checked . The page lists no fees.
Staff first: permits, visas and the establishment card
Each employee's file closes in two stages.
MOHRE. The work permit and contract are cancelled with a cancellation form signed by both sides for a used permit, a statement from the company that the worker's dues are fully paid, the employee's signature and payment of any late renewal fines. Online it is free apart from federal charges, a business center can charge at most AED 72 commission, and it takes 2 working days (MOHRE service page).
GDRFA. The residence cancellation then costs AED 100 plus AED 10 Knowledge and AED 10 Innovation fees, using the sponsor's passport, the employee's passport and the MOHRE cancellation extract (GDRFA service page, checked ). From cancellation, the employee has a grace period to leave or move to a new sponsor. The visa cancellation page covers the employee side.
Your own visa, if the company sponsors you, has to go too, unless you will be sponsored elsewhere. Family members on your visa must be cancelled or moved first.
Establishment card. Once the card has no one on it, GDRFA cancels it with the trade licence and a letter from the sponsor. The service page lists only collection charges, such as AED 100 through an Amer center, and no base fee. See the establishment card page.
The liquidation notice for an LLC
This is the part that sets the timeline. The company publishes a notice of liquidation in two Arabic local newspapers for one day. From then, creditors have 45 days to file claims with the liquidator. Only after that does the liquidator issue the final report that DET needs.
Use the 45 days. It is when you cancel the remaining visas, close VAT and empty the office, so nothing is left once the window ends.
Tax and the lease
Market guides place VAT deregistration and the final corporate tax return before the DET application. No official page found says DET checks for an FTA clearance, but a tax registration left open after closing can still produce returns that fall due. Treat this as general information and confirm your own tax position with the FTA or a registered tax agent. The VAT registration page explains the FTA side.
For the office, DLD allows early cancellation of a commercial Ejari when the trade licence is cancelled. It is free if the landlord or property company cancels it, and AED 40 through a trustee office (DLD FAQ). See commercial Ejari in Dubai.
What cancellation costs: market prices
DET's own cancellation fee is not on any page we could load, so the figures below are market prices, not official fees. They come from published price lists and cost guides of Dubai consultancies and PRO firms, checked .
| Item | Market price |
|---|---|
| DET cancellation application | about AED 1,020 |
| LLC dissolution or liquidation | about AED 2,000 to AED 2,800 |
| Liquidation newspaper notice | AED 500 to AED 2,500 per newspaper, depending on the source |
| Service provider fee for the cancellation | AED 1,000 to AED 5,000 or more |
| Total, mainland cancellation | AED 3,000 to AED 7,000 |
| Example: sole establishment, no staff | AED 4,500 to AED 7,500 |
| Example: LLC with 2 staff | AED 12,000 to AED 18,000 |
The spread comes from staff numbers and legal form. Each employee adds a work permit and visa cancellation, and an LLC adds the liquidator, two newspaper notices and the notary.
How long it takes
Market guides give a mainland LLC 2 to 3 months, a sole establishment 3 to 6 weeks, and DET itself 5 to 10 business days once the file reaches it. The longest wait is nearly always the 45-day creditor window, so start the liquidation as early as the other steps allow.
Mistakes that keep a company open
- Applying to DET with staff still on visas. The establishment card cannot be cancelled, and the file stops.
- Missing a late permit fine. MOHRE wants unpaid fines settled before it cancels a permit.
- Closing the bank account too early. You still need it to pay final dues, fines and the liquidator.
- Letting the licence lapse instead of cancelling. Once it is more than two years expired you need extra newspaper notices and undertakings.
- Forgetting the customs code. We found no official rule tying it to cancellation, but if you imported goods, ask Dubai Customs whether anything is outstanding on your customs code.
Closing the company in the right order
Send the licence type, the number of people on the company's visas and whether the office lease is still running. The partner team maps the order for your company and works through it: each work permit and visa, the establishment card, the Ejari, and for an LLC the liquidator and the newspaper notice, then the DET cancellation. Closures go wrong when DET is approached first or one staff visa is forgotten, which blocks everything behind it. They tell you when it is safe to close the bank account. You get one total price first, with the government fees and the service charge listed apart. Restructuring instead? The trade licence amendment page may fit better.
