The permit number in a listing is not decoration. The Land Department issues advertising permits across fourteen types, and for twelve of them a broker must produce a marketing contract with the owner. An ordinary permit costs AED 1,000, a project launch AED 5,000, and the service takes one working day.
Checked against the official source on 17 September 2026: the Dubai Land Department service card "Real Estate Ad Permit". The page was read in its raw form; every figure carries its source link, and the source is listed at the end.
That you should ask a listing for its permit number and check it in Trakheesi we covered separately. That article was about the verification service. This one is about the issuing service: what the permit is, who obtains it, what they must produce, and what they pay.
Fourteen types of advertising, not "advertising" in general
The card names the types the permit is issued for, one by one: newspaper advertisements, SMS advertisements, outdoor advertisements, vehicle advertisements, printed advertisements, electronic advertisements, billboards, promotional campaigns, open house events, classified advertisements, organising real estate exhibitions, project launch events, real estate promotion platforms and real estate seminars.
What the list means in practice: an open house and a seminar are also permitted advertising, not merely "a gathering". If a broker invites you to an open viewing or an investment seminar, that event either does or does not have its own permit — and that is a checkable fact, not a matter of trust.
What it costs and how long it takes
| Line | Value | Where it is stated |
|---|---|---|
| Project launch event permit | AED 5,000 | DLD card |
| Other permits | AED 1,000 | DLD card |
| Knowledge and innovation fee | AED 20 | DLD card |
| Service time | 1 working day | DLD card |
| Channel | Department website, Trakheesi system | DLD card |
Note how the tariff is built: it does not depend on reach. A billboard on Sheikh Zayed Road and a classified ad cost the same — AED 1,000. Exactly one event is singled out: a project launch, five times more expensive.
An exhibition is priced on a different scale
For organising a real estate exhibition the card gives a separate set of lines, built like a booking rather than a duty:
| Line | Value | Where it is stated |
|---|---|---|
| Preliminary booking of the exhibition date | a mandatory request | DLD card |
| Preliminary booking fee, non-refundable | AED 10,200 | DLD card |
| Participation fee per exhibitor | AED 1,020, via a single cheque from the organising company | DLD card |
| Offset | the booking fee is deducted from the final permit fee | DLD card |
Two details sit next to each other here and are easy to confuse: the booking fee is called non-refundable — and, in the same breath, deducted from the final fee. There is no contradiction: the money is not lost if the exhibition takes place, and not returned if the organiser changes their mind. We reproduce both phrases as printed.
The conditions that matter more than the tariff
For a broker — a marketing contract with the owner. The card requires a copy of the marketing contract with the property owner, and lists which permits it applies to: newspaper, SMS, outdoor, vehicle, print, online advertisements, billboards, promotional campaigns, open house events, classified ad permits, promotion platform, seminar. Twelve items.
This is the answer to why a listing without a permit is a bad sign. The permit is issued after the contract with the owner has been produced. No permit means no contract was produced — and who authorised the advertising of that property is unknown.
For an exhibition — four conditions, one of them about off-plan. Documents are submitted no later than one month before the date; there must be a 30-day gap between exhibitions from the same country; sales during the exhibition are not allowed, only preliminary reservations; and for Dubai properties it is not allowed to showcase off-plan not registered with the Escrow Account Department.
That last condition joins up with the escrow rule and with project registration: a project outside the escrow circuit cannot even be put on a stand.
The procedure and who takes part in it
The steps are named briefly: log in to the Trakheesi system and select the service; fill in the details and upload documents; an employee reviews and approves; choose a payment method; receive the electronic permit certificate.
As service partners the card names three authorities: RTA, DM and DET — the roads authority, the municipality and the Department of Economy and Tourism. That matches the list of types: vehicle and outdoor advertising involve more than the Land Department. The same DET is also the first link in the activity licensing chain.
A discrepancy inside the card that we do not smooth over
In the description the service is addressed to individuals — "allows individuals to apply". Under applicant status the card says Company. Two lines on one page say different things, and the card does not explain which one describes your case. We give both and do not decide for the Department: that question is asked in Trakheesi at submission.
The second discrepancy is smaller but of the same kind: in the description the sixth type is electronic advertisements, while in the conditions the same line reads online advertisements. Whether these are one thing or two, the page does not say.
What follows for a buyer or a tenant
- Ask for the permit number before the viewing. Checking it is a free government service.
- The permit belongs to the property, not to the agency. A valid practice card does not stand in for a permit on a specific listing.
- An open house and a seminar are permitted formats too. The question is fair there as well.
- A stand at an exhibition is not proof that a project is registered, but showing off-plan that is not in escrow is expressly prohibited by the conditions.
What we are not claiming here
- How long a permit is valid. The card does not state it at all — neither in days nor by reference to the marketing contract.
- Whether AED 1,000 is charged per advertisement or per package. The fee line does not clarify this.
- What happens if you advertise without a permit. Sanctions belong to the violations regulations, not to this card; we do not reproduce third-party accounts of fine amounts.
- Whether the marketing-contract requirement extends to the remaining two types — organising exhibitions and project launches. They are absent from the conditions list, but the card does not say a contract is unnecessary there: those two have their own document sets.
Sources
- Real Estate Ad Permit — Dubai Land Department service card: the list of fourteen advertising types, fees (AED 5,000 for a project launch, AED 1,000 for other permits, AED 20 knowledge and innovation), exhibition charges (non-refundable booking AED 10,200, exhibitor AED 1,020 via a single cheque, booking offset), service time of 1 working day, broker conditions (marketing contract across twelve types) and exhibition conditions (one month to submit, 30 days between exhibitions from the same country, no sales, no showing of off-plan outside escrow), five steps through Trakheesi, partners RTA/DM/DET, applicant status — Company.
