Looking to manufacture, process, or assemble goods in Dubai? An industrial license from DED is essential to operate legally in designated industrial zones. With the right license, you can sponsor employees, ensure full regulatory compliance, and expand your business across UAE and international markets.
An industrial license in Dubai is mandatory for businesses that transform raw materials into finished goods. Manufacturing, assembly, processing, fabrication, and packaging all require this license.
The DET issues this license for mainland factories. Free zone authorities such as JAFZA, Dubai Industrial City, and Dubai South issue it within their zones. A physical production facility is mandatory.
Beyond the local license, manufacturers must also register with MoIAT for the federal Industrial Production Certificate. This unlocks 5% customs duty exemption on imported machinery and raw materials.
Adjacent to Jebel Ali Port. Suited to heavy industrial and large-scale manufacturing with hazardous goods handling.
Purpose-built for light to medium manufacturing with fitted factory units and SME packages near Al Maktoum Airport.
Co-located with Al Maktoum Airport. Suited to aerospace-adjacent and air freight-dependent light manufacturing.
Full UAE market access and government contract eligibility. Factory must be in an approved zone with an Ejari lease.
Al Quoz and Ras Al Khor are established mainland districts for lighter manufacturing with strong road access.
Dubai Science Park for pharma, Dubai Healthcare City for medical devices, Dubai Textile City for garment production.
A structured process from facility planning to first production run typically 10 to 15 working days for the license, up to 3 months with full approvals.
Fix your activity and scale. Choose mainland or free zone, then pick the zone that fits your logistics model.
Submit your trade name and plan to DET or free zone. Confirms your activity before committing to any facility.
Lease in an approved zone. Prepare a blueprint: machinery, workflow, ventilation, drainage, and fire safety.
Run Civil Defence, Municipality, and DEWA clearances in parallel. Food or chemical approvals run concurrently.
File your full application with all clearances and fees. License issued after verification by the authority.
Apply on moiat.gov.ae. Requires AED 250,000 capital and 10 employees. Unlocks 5% duty exemption on machinery.
An industrial license requires more documentation than a commercial or professional license. You are dealing with multiple government authorities simultaneously. Having the right documents ready from the start is the difference between a 15-day process and a 3-month one.
Requirements vary by production type, facility size, and jurisdiction. Sector-specific approvals must run in parallel with the main license application to avoid adding months to your timeline. Riz and Mona Consultancy coordinates all multi-authority submissions as part of your industrial license setup.
Industrial setup costs are higher than commercial or professional licenses because of facility requirements, multi-authority compliance, and equipment investment. These figures reflect license and compliance costs only to machinery and fit-out are additional.
AED 20,000 – 35,000
Covers DET or free zone license fees, trade name, MOA, initial authority clearances (Civil Defence, Municipality, DEWA), and facility lease registration. Machinery, fit-out, and visa costs are additional.
AED 30,000 – 55,000
Includes all light industrial costs plus higher DET activity fees, sector compliance approvals such as HACCP for food, additional Municipality inspections, and MoIAT registration fees. Production equipment is separate.
AED 50,000 – 100,000+
Covers JAFZA or equivalent zone fees, MOCCAE environmental permits, chemical safety documentation, hazardous storage licensing, insurance, and comprehensive technical compliance submissions.
Industrial facilities in JAFZA or Dubai Industrial City carry higher lease rates than municipality zones. Larger facilities are required for heavy production, and market fees on the mainland are calculated on total lease value.
Every external clearance to Civil Defence, Municipality, DEWA, MOCCAE to carries its own fee and inspection cost. Regulated sectors like food, pharma, and chemicals add further approvals, each with their own timeline.
The Industrial Production Certificate application fee and inspector visit are separate from the local license cost, but the customs duty exemption it unlocks typically recovers this cost many times over for capital-intensive factories.
Machinery import duties (5% standard rate) apply before the MoIAT exemption is secured. Large equipment investments should be timed after the MoIAT certificate is issued to capture the full customs duty saving.
Industrial operations require larger teams than service businesses. MoIAT registration itself requires a minimum of 10 employees. Worker accommodation costs are a significant factor in zones like Dubai Industrial City.
All figures are indicative. Final costs depend on production type, facility size, zone, number of authority approvals, and visa requirements. Riz and Mona provides a full itemized quote for your specific industrial setup.
An industrial license opens visa eligibility for the owner and full production team. Manufacturing operations typically require more visas than any other license type.
Once your license is active, you can apply for an investor residency visa as the company owner. This gives you UAE residency, an Emirates ID, and the right to open personal and corporate bank accounts.
Mainland industrial companies have no fixed employee visa cap. Your quota grows with facility footprint. MoIAT requires a minimum of 10 employees, so visa planning must start alongside the license application.
Riz and Mona handles investor and employee visas as part of the industrial setup so your production team is in place alongside your first operational approval.
Health insurance is mandatory for all UAE visa holders. MoIAT requires minimum 10 employees. Visa costs are billed separately from the license fee.
Industrial companies are among the most documentation-intensive banking applications. Banks want to understand your production model, raw material supply chain, capital investment in machinery, and customer base.
Industrial setup is the most complex license process in Dubai. These are the mistakes that cause the most expensive delays to and every one of them is avoidable.
Committing to a factory before approval is confirmed is costly. If restricted in that zone, you are locked into an unusable lease.
Civil Defence, Municipality, and DEWA clearances must run in parallel. Sequential handling adds months to your timeline for no reason.
Without the Industrial Production Certificate, you pay 5% duty on every machinery import. For capital-intensive factories, not optional.
Bringing in capital equipment before MoIAT approval means paying full customs duty. For expensive production lines, this is avoidable.
A full industrial setup with sector approvals takes 1 to 3 months. Building the right timeline into your plan prevents cash flow pressure.
Thin layout plans are a common cause of authority rejection. The blueprint must cover machinery, ventilation, drainage, and fire safety.
Whether you are building a food processing unit, a fabrication workshop, a pharma line, or a large industrial facility, Riz and Mona manages every step from zone selection to production.