Licences & changes
Changing the registered address
Moving office is a licence amendment, a new Ejari, a DEWA transfer and a visa quota recalculation. The quota is the one that surprises people — a smaller unit can cost you the ability to hire.
What it covers
What this licence actually permits.
A company's registered address appears on its licence, and moving premises requires the licence to be amended. For a Dubai mainland company the sequence starts with the new tenancy and its Ejari registration, because the licensing authority will not amend the address without a registered tenancy for the new unit. The DEWA account transfers or is opened afresh with its own deposit, the establishment card is updated, and the immigration file reflects the new address.
Visa quota is the consequence people do not anticipate. Quota follows leased floor area, so a company moving to a smaller unit — downsizing, or moving to a more expensive district for the same budget — can find its permitted headcount reduced below its actual headcount. Existing visas are not usually cancelled, but renewals and new hires run into the lower allocation, which converts a property decision into a hiring freeze. Anyone contemplating a move should calculate the quota at the new unit before signing, not after.
At a glance
- First step
- New tenancy and Ejari registration
- Licence
- Amended to show the new address
- DEWA
- Transferred or reopened, with its own deposit
- Establishment card
- Updated with the new address
- Visa quota
- Recalculated on the new leased area
- Free zones
- Moving between zones is a relocation, not an address change
What it costs
The procedure
What the amendment involves.
- Calculate the quota at the new unit before signingFloor area drives headcount. A smaller unit can cap hiring below your current team.
- Register the new tenancyEjari in Dubai, Tawtheeq in Abu Dhabi. The licence amendment depends on it.
- Amend the licenceWith the new registered tenancy and the authority's amendment fee.
- Transfer DEWA and the other utilitiesNew deposits may be required, and the old account must be closed properly to recover the previous one.
- Update the establishment card and everything downstreamImmigration, bank, FTA, customs and counterparties.
Related
Questions
Yes. The registered address is on the licence and moving premises requires an amendment, supported by a registered tenancy for the new unit.
Yes. Quota follows leased floor area, so a smaller unit reduces the allocation and can constrain hiring and renewals.
That is a relocation rather than an address change — effectively a new licence with a new authority, and it affects visas and banking.
It is refunded when the old account is properly closed, and a new deposit is usually required for the new premises.
One question
What are you actually trying to change?
Name, activity, manager or address — each is a formal amendment with its own fee, and most require a fresh MOA addendum before the licence is reprinted. Bundling several amendments into one submission usually costs less and takes no longer than doing them one at a time.
How amendments runOr just ask usShare transfers are notarised, not administrative. Every shareholder signs or is represented under an attested power of attorney, the bank has to be told, and the UBO register updates within days rather than at the next renewal.
Transferring sharesOr just ask usThen do it properly rather than letting the licence lapse. An abandoned company accrues renewal penalties, immigration liabilities and a corporate tax deregistration fine, and it blocks the shareholders from clean incorporations later.
Closing down cleanlyOr just ask us