How to Become a Real Estate Agent in Dubai: Exam, Broker Card and Fees

In Dubai you cannot work as a real estate agent until you are registered with the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), part of the Dubai Land Department (DLD), and hold a broker card. The card is applied for by your employer, a licensed brokerage, after you complete the qualification course and pass DLD’s brokerage exam. This guide sets out each step with the fees DLD publishes, as checked on 21 September 2026, and corrects several things older guides still repeat.

How to become a real estate agent in Dubai, step by step

1. Join a licensed brokerage. The broker card is filed by the company, not by you, and DLD asks for your residence visa to be on the same licence as the brokerage.
2. Get a good conduct certificate from Dubai Police, addressed to the Dubai Land Department or RERA.
3. Complete the real estate qualification course. DLD names a university real estate qualification course for graduates and a real estate diploma course for non-graduates. The course is run by training entities that DLD accredits.
4. Pass the Real Estate Brokerage Exam. It is a DLD exam taken online, in English, and your company registers you for it using its trade licence number.
5. Receive your broker card. The brokerage applies in Trakheesi, pays the fee and prints the e-card; DLD gives the service time as five minutes.
6. Renew on time. Renewal costs AED 520 through Trakheesi or the Dubai REST app, and DLD requires the annual test to have been passed.

A brokerage can only add you once its own real estate licence exists, and every salesperson in the office must be registered and hold a card.

What it costs

Some people do not sit the exam at all: DLD exempts applicants over 55, brokers with five consecutive years in the same real estate office, and holders of a start-up licence.

What older guides get wrong

• The Dubai Real Estate Institute (DREI) no longer exists. It was dissolved by Law No. 16 of 2020 and its rights and obligations passed to DLD. Its old website now shows a domain for sale. Courses are now run by training entities under a service agreement with DLD, and the exam is a DLD online exam.
• “RERA certificate” is not an official term. What DLD issues is the broker card (the real estate professional practice card), an office registration certificate for the brokerage, and a course completion certificate after training.
• The card is not simply valid for one year. DLD states that its validity is linked to the validity of the company’s trade licence.
• There is no current official pass mark. The only one DLD ever published is 85%, in a circular that took effect on 1 April 2015. No current DLD page states a figure.
• The AED 50,000 fine does not come from the 2006 brokers bylaw. It is set by Executive Council Resolution No. 25 of 2009.

Opening your own brokerage

A brokerage needs two licences: a trade licence from the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) with the brokerage activity, and a real estate licence from DLD. DLD describes the order: apply through DET, register in Trakheesi, then apply for the broker cards once the real estate licence is approved.

• Activities: real estate buying and selling brokerage and real estate leasing brokerage are separate activities.
• DLD fee: AED 5,000 a year for each brokerage activity, plus a AED 20 knowledge and innovation fee.
• Office: the brokers bylaw requires a title deed or tenancy contract for the office and Dubai Chamber membership.
• Limits: an owner may hold only one brokerage licence, a manager or partner may not sit on another brokerage licence, and a branch needs at least 15 brokers at the main office plus AED 5,000 a year.
• Free zone licences need a no objection certificate from their licensing authority.

On who may own a brokerage, DLD’s own FAQ contradicts itself: one answer limits the licence to UAE and GCC citizens, another says an expatriate can own it with a citizen services agent. Confirm your structure with DET and DLD before you sign an office lease. Brokerage offices are then classified by DLD as gold, silver, bronze or general.

Advertising properties

Every property advert needs a permit from Trakheesi, and the permit number must appear on the ad. Since 15 April 2023 the permit’s QR code must be on every advert as well, with a fine of AED 50,000 for leaving it off. An ad permit costs AED 1,000 plus a AED 20 fee, and a broker needs a marketing contract with the owner (Form A) to apply. DLD’s 2026 rules on contacting owners add a AED 50,000 fine and a three-month suspension for cold calling, with permanent revocation for a repeat.

Can you be a freelance real estate agent in Dubai?

We found no official freelance broker licence for expatriates: DLD links every broker card to a licensed company. UAE nationals have their own route, the Dubai Program for Real Estate Broker, which issues a National Broker licence and a card valid for three years; registration for its second phase was closed when we checked.

Penalties for working without a card

• Brokerage in Dubai without a RERA licence: AED 50,000, doubled for a repeat within one year, up to AED 1 million.
• Administrative penalties in the brokers bylaw: notice, warning, suspension for up to six months or blacklisting, and cancellation of registration after three black points.
• An unlicensed broker can lose the right to a commission.

How to check a broker

Buyers, tenants and employers can verify a broker’s e-card in the Dubai REST app, and DLD publishes a list of licensed brokers searchable by broker number. The same checks are worth running on the brokerage itself before you accept a job offer; our guide to verifying a company in Dubai covers the trade licence side, and the offer letter guide explains the MOHRE offer you will sign.