DMCC activity register
Service licence activities in DMCC
The short answer
DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre) issues the Service licence to companies whose activity is expertise, advice, or a defined piece of work rather than the import, distribution, or manufacture of physical goods. Within DMCC's own register this is the largest licence family, covering 562 of DMCC's 973 approved activities. The question that most often decides whether Service fits, rather than Trading, Industrial, or Commercial, is whether a physical product changes hands as part of the same business: if it does, part of the business needs a different licence category alongside or instead of Service.
DMCC runs four licence categories across its register of 973 approved activities, and Service is the largest of them: 562 activities, just over half the register. A company operating from Jumeirah Lakes Towers, one of DMCC's own business centres, or purely online can hold a Service licence as long as what it sells is expertise, advice, or a defined piece of work, not a physical product moving from a warehouse or a shop counter to a buyer.
The practical test sits in the activity description itself, not in how a founder describes the business. A firm that buys stock and resells it, even alongside its own consultancy work, needs a [trading licence](/zones/dmcc/trading-licence) for that side of the business; a firm that physically transforms raw materials into a finished product needs an [industrial licence](/zones/dmcc/industrial-licence). Service sits between the two: fee-for-work or fee-for-advice, with no goods changing hands under the same licence.
Take two typical applicants. An accounting practice billing clients for bookkeeping and management-accounts work fits under Accounting & Bookkeeping, a Service entry with no extra approval attached. An IT consultancy advising on systems and recommending software, without importing or reselling the hardware itself, fits under Information Technology Consultants on the same basis. Both change category the moment they invoice for a box shipped to a client rather than for advice; the goods side then needs a Trading activity of its own.
A number of Service entries carry a second approval on top of DMCC's own review: virtual-asset activities need a VARA authorisation processed jointly with DMCC; insurance entries such as Insurance Brokers sit under Central Bank of the UAE oversight; health-practice entries such as Acupuncture Center need Dubai Health Authority clearance; and representative-office entries such as Academic Liaison Office need Knowledge & Human Development Authority clearance.
Working out which of the 562 Service entries matches a business plan, and whether a second licence or outside approval is also needed, is worth an adviser checking before an application goes in. [How Velarozone works](/why-velarozone) is to run that activity check against DMCC's current register and the relevant regulator before filing, not to replace DMCC's own decision on the licence.
What the Service classification covers
Activities in this family describe work sold as a service: consultancy, training, installation and maintenance, agency work, logistics services, and operational support. Each register entry names a defined service line rather than a product.
Service activities vary widely in their conditions — some are open to any qualified applicant, while others touch a regulated field where a federal or emirate regulator's approval sits alongside the licence.
What a service licence here is structured for
A licence built from this family suits a business that invoices for expertise, time, or operational work rather than for goods — consultancies, agencies, technical services, and support operations.
The activity description should track the service you actually deliver. Advisers see the same failure repeatedly: a broad-sounding activity chosen for convenience, which then does not match the contract a client or bank is reading.
From the register
Activities in this family, by name
A sample of the 562 activities DMCC files under Service, exactly as the register names them. Activity names are the authority's own wording and are shown in English in every language; register codes are not published.
- Academic Liaison Office
- Accidents & Liabilities Insurance
- Accounting & Bookkeeping
- Acupuncture Center
- Addiction Rehabilitation Center
- Advanced Driving School
- Advanced First Aid Training Center
- Advertising Agency
- Advertising Researches & Consultancies
- Aerial Photography Services
- Agricultural Research & Consultancy
- Air Ambulance Services
- Air Cargo Agent
- Air Cargo Services
- Air Charters for Passengers & Cargo
- Aircraft & Requisites Leasing
- Airplane Management & Operation
- Ambulance Services
- Arab Wears Tailoring
- Arabic Gowns Tailoring
- Art Gallery
- Artificial Intelligence Developing Services
- Assisted Fertilization Center
- Auction Hall
- Auction Organizing
- Audiology & Speech Center
- Auditing of Accounts
- Authentic Artifacts & Antiques Auction House
- Author's Copyrights & Neighboring Rights Collective Management Services
- Automobile Driving School
What this page does not decide
Decision factors
What changes the answer
Inside DMCC specifically, a handful of rules decide whether a Service licence application goes through cleanly or stalls on a second approval.
- DMCC activities must come from a single licence category; adding a Trading or Industrial activity to an existing Service licence generally means applying for a second licence rather than amending the one already held.
- Certain Service entries need approval from outside DMCC before the licence is issued or renewed: virtual-asset work needs a VARA authorisation, insurance entries such as Insurance Brokers sit under Central Bank of the UAE oversight, and health-practice entries such as Acupuncture Center need Dubai Health Authority clearance.
- At renewal, DMCC asks for a No Objection Certificate for any regulated activity, on top of standard renewal paperwork.
- Visa entitlement under a Service licence is tied to the office DMCC allocates rather than to the licence type itself, so a flexi-desk or co-working seat carries fewer visa slots than a leased office.
- A DMCC Service licence authorises work inside DMCC and the wider free zone system; it does not by itself authorise selling directly into the UAE mainland, which runs through a distributor or agent, or a separate mainland permit from Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism.
- DMCC's 0% corporate tax treatment applies to qualifying income under the UAE's corporate tax law, which depends on the activity and the income earned rather than being automatic for every Service entry.
- Audited financial statements are required annually and must be prepared by a firm on DMCC's own Approved Auditor list, not any audit firm a company already uses elsewhere.
- UBO disclosure, naming anyone with 25% or more ownership or control, is required at setup and again whenever ownership changes.
Where this family is a strong fit
- Accounting & Bookkeeping practices billing for hours or engagements, not selling accounting software or hardware alongside
- Academic Liaison Office functions coordinating between institutions, agents, or students, once cleared by the Knowledge & Human Development Authority
- Management consultancy and advisory offices selling deliverables or retainers rather than stock
- IT and software consultancy work, such as an Information Technology Consultants entry, that does not also import or resell hardware under the same company
- Acupuncture Center and comparable licensed wellness-practice entries, once Dubai Health Authority has cleared the practitioner
- Addiction Rehabilitation Center and other clinical or therapeutic practice entries, subject to the same Dubai Health Authority clearance
Where it is the wrong family
- DMCC frames Trading as the import, export, distribution, and sale of goods, and Service as professional or consultancy expertise: a plan built around goods needs a Trading licence even with some advisory work alongside it
- A business that imports goods and resells them, even goods it also installs or services, needs a Trading licence for the goods side of the business
- A business that manufactures or physically transforms materials, such as gold and jewellery casting or refining, or food and beverage manufacturing and packing, needs an Industrial licence rather than Service
- A business built around a Holding Company, a Special Purpose Vehicle, or a Single or Multi Family Office structure sits under DMCC's Commercial licence category, not Service
- A single individual wanting to work alone under their own name, rather than through a company, fits DMCC's Freelance licence rather than a company Service licence
About this listing
Questions
Frequently asked
- My business is mostly consultancy but will also sell some goods — can that still sit on one DMCC Service licence?
- Not usually. DMCC licenses by activity category, and a company qualifies for Service only while what it earns is fee-for-work or fee-for-advice. Once a physical product changes hands as part of the business, that side needs a Trading activity, generally applied for as a second licence rather than added onto the Service licence already held.
- Does a DMCC Service licence let me sell services directly to mainland Dubai clients?
- A DMCC licence authorises work within the free zone system; it does not by itself authorise direct trading into the UAE mainland. Companies that want to serve mainland clients directly typically arrange this through a local distributor or agent, or apply separately to Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism for a mainland permit.
- Do I need approval from anyone other than DMCC to get a Service licence?
- It depends on the activity. DMCC issues the licence itself, but activities it classes as regulated carry their own outside approval: virtual-asset work needs a VARA authorisation via DMCC, insurance work sits under Central Bank of the UAE oversight, and health-practice activities need Dubai Health Authority clearance. Most Service activities do not carry this extra step.
- Does a holding company, SPV, or family office structure sit under the Service licence?
- No. In DMCC's own register, Holding Company, Special Purpose Vehicle, and Family Office entries sit under DMCC's Commercial licence category rather than Service. A business built around one of these structures needs that licence instead of, or alongside, a Service licence for any advisory work it also carries out.
- Are audited financial statements required for a DMCC Service licence?
- Yes. DMCC requires member companies, including Service licence holders, to submit audited financial statements prepared by a firm on DMCC's own Approved Auditor list, not any audit firm a company may already use elsewhere.
- How many visas come with a DMCC Service licence?
- DMCC ties visa eligibility to the office space taken rather than the licence category itself, so a flexi-desk or co-working seat allows fewer visas than a leased office. DMCC confirms the exact number at application stage rather than publishing a fixed figure.
Sources
Official sources
Check where this activity can be licensed
Velarozone's advisers can check a planned set of activities against DMCC's current Service register, and flag any outside approval it needs, before an application is filed.
This page is general information about UAE business setup, not legal, tax, immigration, or banking advice. Rules, fees, permitted activities, and bank policies can change. Final eligibility depends on your facts and the applicable rules at the time of application.