Ejari registration in Dubai: documents, fees and the process.
Updated August 2026
Ejari is the Dubai Land Department register that turns a private tenancy agreement into a lease the government recognises. Registering it requires the signed contract, the tenant's Emirates ID and passport, the title deed reference and the DEWA premise number. As of August 2026 it costs around AED 155 plus VAT through the Dubai REST app and about AED 220 at a trustee centre, and is issued the same day or within two working days.
What is Ejari and why does it matter?
Ejari — Arabic for "my rent" — is the Dubai Land Department's register of tenancy contracts. Until a lease is registered there, it is a private agreement between two people. After registration it becomes a contract the government recognises, with a number attached to it.
That number is what unlocks everything else. DEWA connection, a residence visa application for family members, a trade licence at a commercial address, and any dispute filed with the Rental Dispute Centre all depend on a valid Ejari. A tenant without one is exposed, and so is the agency that arranged the lease.
Who is responsible for registering it?
Legally the responsibility sits with the landlord, but in practice the managing agency almost always does it — because the agency is the one holding the documents and the one the tenant calls when DEWA refuses to connect.
For a brokerage this matters operationally. If you manage forty tenancies, you are carrying forty registration dates, forty renewal dates and forty sets of documents. That is an administrative load, and it is the load that quietly turns into a problem when one person handles it in a spreadsheet.
Which documents do you need?
The set is short but strict — a missing item sends you back to the counter:
The signed tenancy contract in original. Tenant's Emirates ID, front and back. Tenant's passport copy with the visa page. Title deed reference for the property. DEWA premise number for the unit. Security deposit receipt. If the tenant is a company, add the trade licence.
Landlord identification is also needed, and if an agency is signing on the landlord's behalf, the power of attorney or management agreement that authorises it.
What does it cost in 2026?
It depends on the channel. Filing yourself through the Dubai REST app is the cheapest route at roughly AED 155 plus VAT. A trustee centre is about AED 220 including fees and VAT. Online intermediaries and property managers charge more — typically AED 300 to 500 — for handling it on your behalf.
The official portion is made up of a registration fee plus small knowledge and innovation fees; the rest is service charge. Fees are reviewed periodically, so confirm the current figure on the Dubai Land Department channel before quoting it to a client.
How do you actually register it?
Through the Dubai REST app: open the app, choose the Ejari service, enter the contract details, upload the documents, pay, and the certificate is issued — usually immediately.
Through a trustee centre or typing centre: bring the same documents in person, they file it for you, and the certificate arrives within one to two working days.
Either way the output is the same: an Ejari contract with a registration number that the tenant can use for DEWA, visa and any official process.
What happens when the lease renews?
A renewal is not automatic. When the tenancy is extended, the Ejari record has to be renewed too, otherwise the tenant is holding an expired registration — which surfaces at exactly the wrong moment, usually when a visa is being processed.
Renewal follows the same route with the renewed contract. The practical difficulty is not the process, it is remembering: the renewal date sits twelve months away from the day nobody was thinking about it.
Where this goes wrong for agencies
Almost never at the counter. It goes wrong in the tracking. A contract renews and nobody renews the Ejari. A post-dated cheque is due and the file is on a laptop that is on leave. A landlord asks for last year's contract and it takes two days to find.
The fix is not more discipline, it is putting the contract, the Ejari number, the documents and the cheque schedule on one record with dates that announce themselves. That is exactly what our leasing and cheque tracking module does — contracts approaching renewal are listed in advance, and cheques appear on a calendar as cleared, pending or bounced.
Frequently asked
Can I register Ejari without an Emirates ID? +
No. A valid Emirates ID for the tenant is required. If the ID is still being processed, registration has to wait until it is issued.
How long is an Ejari certificate valid? +
It covers the term of the tenancy contract it was registered against. When the lease is renewed, the Ejari must be renewed too.
Is Ejari needed for a DEWA connection? +
Yes. DEWA asks for the Ejari registration when activating a new tenancy, which is why registration usually happens immediately after the contract is signed.
Does the landlord or the tenant pay the fee? +
There is no rule that fixes it, so it comes down to what the tenancy contract says. In practice it is most often paid by the tenant or absorbed by the managing agency as part of its service.
What if the tenancy is commercial? +
The process is the same, with the company trade licence added to the document set. Commercial tenancies also need a valid Ejari for licence issuance and renewal at that address.
Fees and procedures are reviewed periodically. Confirm current figures on the official channel before quoting them to a client. Sources: Dubai Land Department · Dubai REST app — Dubai Land Department