How to open a clinic in Dubai: setup steps, licences and costs
To open a medical clinic in Dubai, apply for a new facility licence on the Sheryan portal, fit out the unit, then activate the licence by passing an inspection by Dubai's health regulator. Initial approval costs AED 1,000, takes an average of 5 working days and gives an inactive licence valid for one year. A trade licence is optional at that stage. Activation needs a trade licence, a medical director, licensed staff, a NABIDH-connected EMR, a civil defence certificate and a waste contract.
Pricing
| Procedure / Item | Range | Typical |
|---|---|---|
| Initial approval (New Facility License): general clinic, general dental clinic, specialty clinic, polyclinic or school clinic | AED 1,000–AED 1,000 | AED 1,000 |
| Facility licence: general clinic, general dental clinic or school clinic | AED 5,000–AED 12,500 | AED 5,000 |
| Facility licence: specialty clinic | AED 6,000–AED 15,000 | AED 6,000 |
| Facility licence: polyclinic (multiple specialties) | AED 15,000–AED 37,500 | AED 15,000 |
| Activation inspection: clinic | AED 2,000–AED 2,000 | AED 2,000 |
| Trade name reservation (Dubai Economy and Tourism) | AED 620–AED 620 | AED 620 |
| Dubai Healthcare City: minimum paid-up capital for a clinical FZ-LLC | AED 300,000–AED 300,000 | AED 300,000 |
The note beside each fee gives its source. Check the current fee with the issuing authority before you pay. All amounts in AED. Last reviewed October 2026.
How does clinic licensing in Dubai work, step by step?
Opening a clinic in Dubai needs two licences: a trade licence from Dubai Economy and Tourism (DET) or a free zone authority, and a health facility licence from Dubai's health regulator. The facility licence comes through two services on the Sheryan portal. The New Facility License service issues an inactive licence. The Activate Facility License service makes it active after an inspection.
The Sheryan page for the New Facility License service says a trade licence is optional before you apply. The regulator's Manual for Licensing Health Facility (version 1.2, 30 September 2026) says a new facility licence can be started with the regulator or with the trade licence authority, such as DET or a free zone, and that you register through Sheryan or the Invest in Dubai platform.
1. Apply for the New Facility License on Sheryan with the facility proposal, an engineering layout and the owners' passport copies. The average processing time is 5 working days.
2. Receive the inactive facility licence. It is valid for one year. While it is inactive, the clinic cannot treat patients or advertise health services.
3. Fit out the unit to the Health Facility Guidelines and apply for your staff's professional licences under the inactive facility.
4. Get the trade licence, appoint a medical director, install an EMR that connects to NABIDH, and collect the civil defence certificate and the waste management contract.
5. Apply for the Activate Facility License service, pay the fees and pass the inspection. The average processing time is 1 working day. Staff professional licences activate automatically when the facility licence activates.
If the requirements are not completed within one year, the manual says the licensing process is cancelled and you must apply again. The inactive licence can be renewed through the Renew Facility License service, subject to approval.
Which business entity and trade licence does a clinic need?
You can set up on the Dubai mainland, with a trade licence from Dubai Economy and Tourism (DET), or in Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), a healthcare free zone with its own regulator, the Dubai Healthcare City Authority (DHCA).
On the mainland, Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020, in effect from early 2021, removed the requirement for 51 per cent Emirati ownership or a local agent for most business activities. The Cabinet can set ownership conditions for activities with a strategic impact. Check your clinical activity on the Invest in Dubai platform or with DET before you fix the ownership structure.
The commercial track starts with a trade name. DET's trade name reservation service lists a fee of AED 600 plus AED 10 Knowledge Dirham and AED 10 Innovation Dirham, and a reserved name is valid for six months. The facility name on the health licence must match the trade name in Arabic and English. DET licence fees depend on the activity, so get the figure for your activity from DET or the Invest in Dubai platform.
In DHCC, the DHCC FAQ says a clinical free zone limited liability company (FZ-LLC) needs minimum paid-up capital of AED 300,000, and branch establishments have no minimum. DHCC says owners wholly own their business in the free zone. A DHCC clinic is licensed by the DHCA's regulator, not by Dubai's health regulator. You submit an application and business plan, receive a provisional approval letter, build the unit to standards that the DHCA approves, and pass a pre-operational assessment before you receive a clinical operating licence.
How do I get initial approval on Sheryan?
Initial approval is the New Facility License service on Sheryan. Investors and delegated representatives can apply, with consent from the facility owners. The Sheryan page lists these documents: owner and partner passport copies (and Emirates ID if applicable), an engineering layout from an engineering or design company, the facility proposal, and the trade licence if you have one. The Manual for Licensing Health Facility also lists the location details with the Makani number, the Dubai Municipality plot number certificate and the Ejari, and says the layout must come from a pre-qualified health facility design consultant, with room and bed counts as set in the Health Facility Guidelines.
The initial approval fee is AED 1,000 for a general clinic, general dental clinic, specialty clinic, polyclinic or school clinic. Day surgery centres and hospitals pay AED 2,000. Knowledge and Innovation Fees are added at checkout. The average processing time is 5 working days. The manual says licensing fees are non-refundable except in the cases it lists.
An approved request receives an inactive facility licence, valid for one year. During that year you can change the layout, specialties or location through the Amend Facility License service. For an inactive licence this needs only a design review and costs AED 500. Draft applications left untouched for more than three months are deleted from the account.
What fit-out approvals does a clinic need?
The Health Facility Guidelines of Dubai's health regulator (Part B, Outpatients Unit) set the rooms for a clinic. For the smallest model in its schedule, with three consult rooms, the guidelines list a reception, a waiting area, combined consult and examination rooms of 13 square metres each, a handwashing bay, a resuscitation trolley bay, a dirty utility room, a general store, a patient toilet and an accessible toilet. They require handwashing facilities in consult and examination rooms, acoustic treatment for consult and examination rooms, treatment areas and staff rooms, separate waiting areas for men and women, and at least 2 waiting seats per consult room.
The Standards for Outpatient Facilities (effective 19 January 2025) add more rules. Dental, ENT and ophthalmology services need dedicated rooms. The clinic needs a sterilisation room, physically separate from other areas. The medical waste room must be locked and ventilated, with yellow-bag bins. Outpatient facilities may not operate 24 hours a day.
For the activation inspection, the manual says the facility must have the approved engineering layout, a civil defence certificate, a waste management contract, a third party insurance contract, approved policies and procedures, and a list of its medical equipment. A clinic that installs radiology equipment, such as dental X-ray, must also register with the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) and have its X-ray facilities inspected.
The guidelines do not publish fit-out costs. Ask contractors to quote for your unit and specialty.
How are staff licensed, and how does the clinic go live?
A facility with an inactive licence can apply for professional licences. Those licences stay inactive until the facility licence is activated, and then they activate automatically. The Activate Facility License service lists two prerequisites: add and activate the licences of the professionals under the facility, and select a medical director. The required document is a valid trade licence.
The Standards for Outpatient Facilities set the minimum staff. A general clinic needs a full-time GP, a full-time registered nurse and an assistant nurse, and is operated by general practitioners. A specialty clinic needs full-time licensed specialist or consultant physicians and the same nursing cover, and is operated by doctors of that specialty. A polyclinic needs full-time licensed doctors and nurses, plus a full-time general dentist if it offers dental care, and is operated by a medical director.
The medical director must hold an active licence and must not be the medical director of another facility outside the same group. One person can be medical director for several facilities in a group registered in Sheryan. The post must not be vacant for more than two weeks.
The manual requires an EMR that complies with the NABIDH Minimum Data Set, connectivity requirements and other NABIDH standards, and a copy of the approval email for tested connectivity with NABIDH at activation. NABIDH is Dubai's health information exchange. On 1 October 2026 it listed 114 connected EMRs and 2,342 connected facilities. Check that your vendor is on NABIDH's list of connected EMRs before you sign.
After you apply and pay, the inspection team contacts the clinic to set a date. If the clinic passes, the licence becomes active. If it fails, you book a new inspection and pay again. The inspection fee for a clinic is AED 2,000 and a re-inspection is AED 1,000. All outstanding fines must be paid before you apply for activation.
How much does it cost to open a clinic in Dubai?
The Sheryan fees for a clinic are published per facility type. Initial approval costs AED 1,000. The activation inspection costs AED 2,000, and a re-inspection AED 1,000.
The facility licence can be issued for 1, 2 or 3 years. A general clinic, general dental clinic or school clinic pays AED 5,000, AED 8,750 or AED 12,500. A specialty clinic pays AED 6,000, AED 10,500 or AED 15,000. A polyclinic pays AED 15,000, AED 26,250 or AED 37,500. Knowledge and Innovation Fees are added at checkout.
On the commercial side, DET lists AED 620 in total to reserve a trade name. DET licence fees depend on the activity. In DHCC, a clinical FZ-LLC needs minimum paid-up capital of AED 300,000.
The largest costs are rent, fit-out, equipment, salaries and working capital. They depend on the unit, the specialty and the market, and no official source publishes them, so this guide gives no figures for them. Get quotes for your own unit and services.
Which mistakes delay first-time clinic owners?
Choosing a unit before checking it against the guidelines. The engineering layout is drawn for one unit, and the manual asks for that unit's Ejari with the application. Ask your pre-qualified design consultant to check the unit against the Health Facility Guidelines before you sign the lease.
Waiting for the trade licence before starting the facility application. The Sheryan page says a trade licence is optional for initial approval. It becomes mandatory at activation, and the facility name must match the trade name.
Letting the one-year inactive licence run out. If the requirements are not met within one year, the process is cancelled and you apply again. If the fit-out will take longer, renew the inactive licence on Sheryan.
Leaving staff licensing to the end. Professional licences can be applied for under the inactive facility, and the facility cannot be activated until its professionals are added and a medical director is selected.
Choosing an EMR that has not passed NABIDH connectivity testing. Activation needs the approval email for tested connectivity.
Going to inspection unprepared. A failed inspection means a new booking and another AED 1,000 re-inspection fee for a clinic. The regulator publishes self-inspection checklists, linked from the Sheryan service pages, that you can use to prepare.
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To open a medical clinic in Dubai, apply for a new facility licence on the Sheryan portal, fit out the unit, then activate the licence by passing an inspection by Dubai's health regulator. Initial approval costs AED 1,000, takes an average of 5 working days and gives an inactive licence valid for one year. A trade licence is optional at that stage. Activation needs a trade licence, a medical director, licensed staff, a NABIDH-connected EMR, a civil defence certificate and a waste contract. This guide is published by Zavis (https://www.zavis.ai) and covers healthcare services in the United Arab Emirates. Its sources are listed on this page. Last reviewed 2026-10-29.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a foreign national own 100% of a medical clinic on Dubai mainland?
For most business activities, yes. Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020, in effect from early 2021, removed the requirement for 51 per cent Emirati ownership or a local agent for most activities. The Cabinet can set ownership conditions for activities with a strategic impact. Check your clinical activity on the Invest in Dubai platform or with Dubai Economy and Tourism before you fix the ownership. In Dubai Healthcare City, a free zone, owners wholly own their business.
Do I need a trade licence before I apply for pre-approval?
No. The Sheryan page for the New Facility License service says a trade licence is optional before you apply. You need a valid trade licence later, to activate the facility licence, and the facility name must match the trade name in Arabic and English.
How long does the full process take from first application to opening?
Dubai's health regulator publishes service times, not a total timeline. Initial approval takes an average of 5 working days. Activation takes an average of 1 working day, with the inspection date set by the inspection team. The inactive licence is valid for one year, so the fit-out, staff licensing and other activation requirements must be finished within that year, or the inactive licence renewed. The total time depends mostly on the fit-out and on staff licensing.
What is the minimum space for a clinic in Dubai?
The guidelines set rooms, not one minimum total area. For the smallest outpatient model in the Health Facility Guidelines (three consult rooms), the schedule recommends combined consult and examination rooms of 13 square metres each, a 10 square metre reception, a 10 square metre waiting area, an 8 square metre dirty utility room, a 4 square metre patient toilet and a 6 square metre accessible toilet, plus stores and bays, with a circulation allowance on top. Your pre-qualified design consultant sizes the plan to your services.
What does the mandatory medical director appointment require?
Sheryan requires you to select a medical director before the facility licence can be activated. The medical director must hold an active licence and must not be the medical director of another facility outside the same group. One person can be medical director for several facilities in one group registered in Sheryan, and the post must not be vacant for more than two weeks. The Standards for Outpatient Facilities say a general clinic is operated by general practitioners and a specialty clinic by doctors of that specialty.
What is NABIDH, and why must a Dubai clinic connect to it?
NABIDH is the health information exchange run by Dubai's health regulator. It links patient records across public and private facilities in Dubai. To activate a facility licence, a clinic needs an EMR that complies with the NABIDH Minimum Data Set and standards, and a copy of the approval email for tested connectivity with NABIDH. On 1 October 2026 NABIDH listed 114 connected EMRs and 2,342 connected facilities. Check that a vendor is on NABIDH's list of connected EMRs before you sign.
Is Dubai Healthcare City a better option than mainland for a first clinic?
It depends on your structure and location. DHCC is a healthcare free zone where owners wholly own their business, and its clinics are licensed by the Dubai Healthcare City Authority's regulator, not by Dubai's health regulator. A clinical FZ-LLC needs minimum paid-up capital of AED 300,000; a branch establishment has no minimum. A DHCC clinic receives a provisional approval letter, builds its unit to DHCA-approved standards and passes a pre-operational assessment before it receives a clinical operating licence.
What must be in place before the final activation inspection?
The Sheryan Activate Facility License service needs the professionals added and their licences activated, a medical director selected and a valid trade licence. For the inspection, the manual also lists the approved engineering layout, enough staff to deliver the service, a list of medical equipment, a civil defence certificate, approved policies and procedures, a third party insurance contract, a waste management contract, and the approval email for tested NABIDH connectivity. Outstanding fines must be paid first, and the manual requires malpractice insurance for all licensed professionals.