Four obligations begin the day your UAE company is licensed. None are optional. Each one carries money, and the first deadline is 60 days away.
These are easy to miss because nothing arrives in the post. There is no reminder. The deadline runs from the date on your licence.
Every figure below is the published amount. UBO penalties run on three strikes: notice, then a fine, then double. On the third violation the Registrar may suspend the trade licence and close the premises until the matter is paid and corrected.
| Obligation | Deadline | Penalty if missed |
|---|---|---|
| Create and keep the UBO register | Within 60 days of registration | Notice with 30 days, then AED 50,000, then AED 100,000 |
| Create the partners or shareholders register | Within 60 days of registration | AED 50,000, then AED 100,000 |
| Update the UBO register | On any change | Notice with 15 days, then AED 15,000, then AED 30,000 |
| Update the shareholder register | Within 15 days of a change | Notice with 30 days, then AED 15,000, then AED 30,000 |
| Provide data requested by the Registrar | Within 14 days | Notice with 30 days, then AED 15,000, then AED 30,000 |
| Name a UAE-resident authorised discloser | With the register | Notice with 30 days, then AED 10,000, then AED 20,000 |
| Provide manager or nominal director data | On request | Notice with 30 days, then AED 40,000, then AED 80,000 |
| Emiratisation target, 2024 | Measured 30 June and 31 December | AED 96,000 per Emirati not appointed, collected from January 2025 |
| Emiratisation target, 2025 | Measured 30 June and 31 December | AED 108,000 per Emirati not appointed, collected from January 2026 |
| Genuine Emiratisation, not a paper hire | Ongoing | Up to AED 500,000 for circumventing the targets, plus referral |
| Pay wages through WPS | Within the first 15 days of the due date | Service suspension on day 17; AED 1,000 per worker capped at AED 20,000 on a repeat within 6 months |
| Employee health insurance | Before any visa application | No residence permit issued or renewed without it |
| Hand the registers to the liquidator | Within 30 days | Notice with 30 days, then AED 5,000, then AED 10,000 |
At 50 or more employees you owe 2% annual growth of Emiratis in skilled positions, building to 10% by 2026. Between 20 and 49 employees you are in scope only if you operate in one of 14 sectors. Under 20 employees you are not currently targeted. Over 12,000 companies were notified in the 20 to 49 bracket.
WPS rests on Ministerial Resolution 598 of 2022 and its amendments, updated by a new WPS decision in June 2026. Health insurance became mandatory nationwide on 1 January 2025.
Print it, tick it, keep it with the licence. Each line is either done or it is a deadline.
| Item | When |
|---|---|
| UBO register created, chain traced to natural persons | Within 60 days of registration |
| Partners or shareholders register created and lodged | Within 60 days of registration |
| UAE-resident authorised discloser named | With the register |
| Process in place to update within 15 days of any ownership change | Now, then ongoing |
| Corporate tax registration | Now |
| VAT registration if over the threshold | Now |
| goAML registration if you are a DNFBP | Now |
| Headcount and sector checked against the Emiratisation rules | Now, then at every renewal |
| Next Emiratisation measurement date diarised | 30 June and 31 December |
| WPS live | Before the first payroll run |
| Employee health insurance in place | Before any visa application |
| Auditor engaged if the zone requires it, or if claiming QFZP | Per your zone |
| Licence, establishment card and lease renewals diarised | Now |
Send us the licence and we will tell you which deadlines have already passed and which are still ahead.
Tell us the licence date, the emirate and your headcount, and we will map the deadlines against your dates.
Tell us your situation and a consultant replies with what actually applies to you, what it costs and what we need from you to start.