Setting up on the Abu Dhabi mainland changed shape in 2025, and most guides online have not caught up. Licensing in the emirate now runs through a dedicated authority created for the job, delivered through the same app residents use for everything else. Here is how an Abu Dhabi business licence actually works now.
Who issues the licence
In January 2025, the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development announced the creation of ADRA — the Abu Dhabi Registration and Licensing Authority, following an Abu Dhabi Executive Council resolution. ADRA describes itself as an arm of ADDED set up to regulate and develop the business sector in the emirate.
Its remit is wider than the mainland alone: it oversees business registration across the emirate and its non-financial economic free zones, and maintains a unified database of economic establishments. In practice, ADDED remains the economic development body, ADRA is the registrar, and TAMM is the counter you actually walk up to.
The mainland route, step by step
The federal framework sets the shape of the process, and the emirate delivers it.
| Step | What it involves |
|---|---|
| Choose the activity | The economic activity drives everything after it — including which legal form you are allowed to use |
| Reserve a trade name | The name must relate to the type of licence, and must not already be registered by another company |
| Initial approval | Confirms the government has no objection to the entity being established |
| Complete licensing | Documentation, approvals from any relevant regulator, and issue of the licence |
One detail is worth stating precisely, because it trips people up. Initial approval means only that the UAE Government does not object to the entity being established — it explicitly does not constitute authorisation to operate. Signing a lease or taking customer money on the strength of an initial approval is a mistake.
Foreign investors have an extra step: approval from the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs must be obtained before initial approval, not after.
The legal form has to be consistent with the activity. Mainland options include partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability companies and joint stock companies.
Tajer Abu Dhabi: a licence without an office
The most useful product in the emirate for a small operator is the Tajer Abu Dhabi licence, which lets you launch a trading business on your Emirates ID without corporate documents or an office.
The headline feature is that you are not required to lease an office for the first three years. Read that limit carefully — it is a three-year exemption, not a permanent one, and the cost of year four should be in your plan from the start.
| Tajer feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Who can apply | UAE nationals, UAE residents and GCC nationals |
| Structures | Establishment, sole proprietorship, or limited liability company |
| Activities | Around 1,200 to choose from, with six investor-selected activities included |
| Cost | From AED 790 for the basic licence including six activities, rising to about AED 5,500 depending on activities; extra activities around AED 100 each |
| Office | Not required for the first three years |
Ownership: what the 2020 reform did and did not do
The UAE’s federal position is that companies and investors of various nationalities can take full ownership across economic sectors including industry, agriculture and services — except for some activities with a strategic impact. That exception is not a footnote. If your activity touches a strategic sector, check it specifically rather than assuming the headline applies.
The reform dates from 2020 and took effect from 2021. The companies legislation has been amended more than once since, so for anything structurally unusual, confirm the current position with ADRA or a licensed adviser rather than relying on any article — including this one.
Mainland or free zone
Abu Dhabi’s own economic development body frames the trade-off plainly. Mainland gives access to the local UAE market without restrictions and the flexibility to trade throughout the country, with no minimum capital requirement for most activities. Free zones offer full foreign ownership, full repatriation of capital and profits, and dual licensing options.
The emirate’s free zones include ADGM, KEZAD, Masdar City, the Abu Dhabi Airports Free Zone, twofour54 and the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi. ADGM is a separate matter again — inaugurated in October 2015, it runs on the direct application of English common law and is a jurisdiction of its own rather than a mainland alternative.
For the wider comparison, see our guide to business setup in the UAE and the breakdown of UAE trade licence types.
After the licence
A licence is the start of the compliance calendar, not the end of it. You will need a business bank account, and you will need to know where you stand on corporate tax and on VAT registration. Those obligations are federal and follow you regardless of which emirate issued the licence.
Primary sources: ADRA — Tajer Abu Dhabi licence, TAMM — Abu Dhabi Trader licence, ADDED — mainland and free zones and the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism.
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