A UAE company search starts with the issuing authority.
A Dubai mainland company, a DIFC company and a DMCC company have different issuers and document sets. Identify the authority before asking for a registry search.
Company search in the United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates has no single company registry. Mainland companies are licensed by the economic department of the emirate they sit in, free zone companies by the authority of their free zone, and the two financial free zones, DIFC and ADGM, run their own registrars under their own company laws. The federal Ministry of Economy and Tourism's National Economic Register draws licence data from all of these into one search.
Fill Easy returns the licence record or the free zone certificate from the authority that issued it, by email to agent@fill-easy.com or through the REST API. Every result records the source, the retrieval time and the request ID.
At a glance
- Registry
- No single registry: National Economic Register, emirate economic departments, free zone registrars
- Authority
- Ministry of Economy and Tourism; emirate DEDs and DET; DIFC Registrar of Companies; ADGM Registration Authority; free zone authorities
- Language of records
- Arabic and English. Mainland licences are bilingual; DIFC and ADGM records are in English.
- Currency of fees
- UAE dirham (AED); ADGM registry fees are set in US dollars
- Public online search
- National Economic Register and emirate licence searches show licence details and status; DIFC and ADGM public registers show entity particulars
- Shareholders disclosed
- Partially. Free zone certificates of incumbency name shareholders; mainland licence searches show licence details, not ownership. Beneficial owners are not public.
- Directors disclosed
- Partially. Managers appear on licences; directors appear on DIFC and ADGM certificates of incumbency.
- Turnaround via Fill Easy
- Confirmed with the order
Registry
National Economic Register (NER), with emirate economic departments and free zone registrars
السجل الاقتصادي الوطني
Ministry of Economy and Tourism (federal); Departments of Economic Development or Economy and Tourism in each emirate; Registrar of Companies in DIFC, Registration Authority in ADGM, and the free zone authorities such as DMCC
The National Economic Register is the federal lookup for business licences, hosted at growth.gov.ae. The UAE Government portal describes it as a federal platform integrating licence data from local and national authorities, through which anyone may enquire about an economic licence or an economic activity or check the availability of a trade name. The licensing authorities it lists are the Ministry of Economy and Tourism and the economic departments of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain, with the Fujairah and Dibba municipalities.
Each emirate also runs its own search. Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism publishes licence information through Invest in Dubai, searchable by licence number, Dubai Unified Licence number or name; Abu Dhabi's Department of Economic Development publishes through TAMM.
DIFC and ADGM are separate jurisdictions with English-law style company regimes. The DIFC Registrar of Companies publishes a public register on the DIFC website, and the ADGM Registration Authority publishes its public register and issues certificates of good standing and incumbency electronically.
Identifier
Trade licence number, with registry numbers for DIFC and ADGM
Each licensing authority issues its own licence number, and Dubai also issues a Dubai Unified Licence (DUL) number. DIFC and ADGM entities carry a registration number from their own registrar. Formats differ by authority, so quote the number with the authority that issued it.
Documents
| Document | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Trade licence | The licence issued by the emirate's economic department or free zone authority: licence number, legal form, trade name, licensed activities, licence holder, manager, address and expiry date. Mainland licences are issued in Arabic and English. |
| National Economic Register record | The federal register's licence details for a business across emirates: name, licence number and authority, legal form, activities and status. |
| Certificate of incorporation or registration (DIFC, ADGM, DMCC) | The registrar's certificate that the entity is incorporated or registered, with its name, registration number and date. DMCC's company regulations call it a Certificate of Registration. |
| Certificate of good standing (DIFC, ADGM, DMCC) | The registrar's confirmation that the entity is active, holds a valid licence and is up to date with its filings. ADGM issues it electronically and instantly, subject to the entity having no outstanding fines. DMCC's company regulations provide for the Registrar to issue certificates of good standing and of incumbency in the form it determines. |
| Certificate of incumbency (ADGM, DIFC, DMCC) | The entity's registered office, directors and secretaries with appointment dates, issued shares and shareholders. ADGM's certificate does not show share capital or ownership percentages. |
| Register extract or certified copy of filed documents (ADGM) | An extract from the ADGM register or a certified copy of a filed document, each listed at USD 100 in the Registration Authority's 2025 fee schedule, with a 15 per cent surcharge for a paper copy. |
Worth knowing
- Ask for the right authority. A Dubai mainland LLC, a DMCC company and a DIFC company are three different registers with three different document sets. Give Fill Easy the licence number and the issuing authority, or the registration number for DIFC and ADGM.
- Mainland memoranda of association are notarised documents held by the company and the licensing authority. They are not supplied to the public through the licence search.
- Ultimate beneficial owner registers are filed with the licensing authority or registrar under Cabinet Decision 109 of 2023 and are not published: the decision prohibits the Ministry and the registrar from disclosing the beneficial owner record or the register of partners or shareholders to any person without the written approval of the beneficial owner, apart from the exceptions it lists for competent authorities. Ownership evidence comes from the certificate of incumbency, the licence or the company's own documents.
- ADGM restricts certificates of good standing, certificates of incumbency and certified copies for entities with unpaid fines or late fees, so a certificate may be unavailable until the entity settles them.
- The licence expiry date is a practical status check. An expired licence usually means the company is not in good standing with its authority.
- For the KYC and AML rules that apply to onboarding UAE companies, see the UAE KYC and AML page.
Questions
Is there a company registry for the whole of the UAE?
Not in the sense of one registrar. The National Economic Register is a federal search across licensing authorities, but the licence itself comes from the emirate's economic department or the free zone, and DIFC and ADGM keep their own registers.
How do I verify a UAE trade licence?
Search the National Economic Register or the emirate's own service, such as Invest in Dubai for Dubai licences, by licence number or name. Fill Easy returns the licence record from the issuing authority with the source and retrieval time recorded.
Can I get the shareholders of a UAE company?
For DIFC, ADGM and DMCC entities, a certificate of incumbency names the shareholders and directors. For mainland companies the public licence search shows licence details rather than ownership, and beneficial owner registers are not public.
What is a certificate of good standing in the UAE?
A certificate from a free zone registrar, such as DIFC or ADGM, confirming the entity is active, licensed and current with its filings. ADGM issues it electronically and will not issue it while fines are outstanding.
What is the Dubai Unified Licence number?
A number Dubai assigns across its licensing authorities so a business can be found with one identifier. The Invest in Dubai licence search accepts it alongside the licence number and business name.
Sources
- UAE Government: National Economic Register (opens in a new tab)
- UAE Government: verify business licences (opens in a new tab)
- Invest in Dubai: search licence information (opens in a new tab)
- ADGM: the official public register of Abu Dhabi Global Market (opens in a new tab)
- DIFC: Registrar of Companies (opens in a new tab)
- Ministry of Economy and Tourism (opens in a new tab)
- Cabinet Decision No. 109 of 2023 on the regulation of the real beneficiary procedures (English) (opens in a new tab)
- ADGM Registration Authority: overview of fees 2025 (opens in a new tab)
- DMCCA Company Regulations (October 2024) (opens in a new tab)