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- Use your own authority’s renewal checklist and portal.
- Review changes to activities, ownership and premises before renewal.
- Track licence, facility and immigration expiry dates separately.
Start with the issuer and the expiry date
Find the authority named on your licence and the expiry date shown on the current document. Dubai mainland companies can access the Invest in Dubai renewal service; free zone companies should follow their own authority’s process.
Check early enough to resolve an outstanding document or approval. Do not assume a grace period applies just because another company received one.
Has anything changed in the business?
Compare the licence with the work you now invoice. Have you added services, changed premises or brought in another owner? Ask whether an amendment is required and how it interacts with renewal. Paying a renewal invoice does not correct an inaccurate activity or ownership record by itself.
- Confirm the company name, activities and legal form.
- Check shareholder, manager and authorised-signatory details.
- Review the facility or lease arrangement.
- Check any sector-specific approvals.
- Ask whether ownership declarations need updating.
Compare the renewal bill line by line
Separate the licence from premises, company-file charges, optional services and any outstanding amounts. If the first year was promotional, ask which discount ends. Compare the renewal for the same activities, people and facility so that the figures mean something.
Keep the authority’s receipt and final document. If an adviser arranges the process, ask which amount is a government or authority charge and which is a service fee.
What else expires around the same time?
Create separate reminders for the lease or desk agreement, establishment card, employee permissions and residence documents where applicable. Check tax and banking updates independently. The licence date is a useful organising point, but it is not one universal deadline for the whole company.
Close the loop after renewal
Download the new licence, verify the details and replace the old copy in your company folder. Give the updated document to institutions that request it through their official channels. Keep a record of what you submitted and when. Our PRO support can help organise the authority steps and the related document calendar.
