The UAE Advertiser Permit, explained for businesses

The NMA states the rule plainly: "An Advertiser Permit is required for individuals who engage in advertising activities on social media platforms, whether for financial compensation or not." Its guide covers advertising content produced on social media "or any modern technological means from within the UAE", for any product, service, event or activity in the country. Payment is not the test. This is the permit people mean when they search for an influencer licence in the UAE.

The Media Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 55 of 2023 on Media Regulation) defines an advertisement as content shown to the public by any means to market a product or service, for or without compensation. Article 12(2) of the same law is the basis for the individual permit.

The NMA lists 2 exemptions, in these words:

• "Individuals advertising their own products or services or those of a company they own via their personal accounts"
• "Individuals under the age of 18 who engage in educational, sports, cultural, or awareness-related activities, in line with the age classification stipulated in the relevant legislation"

Neither the NMA nor the Media Law gives any other exemption, so there is none for small accounts or unpaid posts.

An applicant must be at least 18, with age exceptions at the NMA's discretion, and of good conduct with no past breach of the media content standards. The service page adds 4 conditions: no felony or dishonesty conviction unless legally rehabilitated, completion of the NMA's training programme, no previously cancelled permit and no money owed to the authority.

Citizens and residents also need a trade licence for an electronic media activity, and a minor may operate under a guardian's licence. The guide lists the activities each licensing authority accepts:

• Dubai (DET): Blogging or Marketing Management, under a Sole Establishment / Professional Trader licence.
• Abu Dhabi (DED): Advertising services via websites, Social Media Account Management, Social Media Marketing Services or E-commerce via Social Media.
• Sharjah (EDD): Advertising services via websites, E-commerce through social media, Marketing Operations Management or Social Media Account Management.
• Ajman and Umm Al Quwain (DED): the Sharjah list without the e-commerce activity.
• Ras Al Khaimah (DED) and Fujairah (Municipality): Advertising services via websites.
• Any free zone: a licence for the electronic media activity, issued as a sole establishment, under names such as Content Creator or Online Advertising Services.

Applicants aged 15 to 18 can apply under extra conditions, among them medical fitness and age-appropriate ads, and a guardian oversees the minor's compliance under the Wadeema child rights law.

Applications go through the NMA's e-services portal, in the steps its service page lists:

• Log in and select the service.
• Complete the data and upload the documents.
• Submit, then follow the status to approval or rejection.
• On approval, pay any fee due.

The service page asks for 4 documents: digital ID, passport, personal photo, commercial licence.

The NMA reviews an application within 3 working days of receiving every required document, and the applicant hears the decision within 3 working days of its issue. With no decision within 15 working days of submission, the application is deemed rejected.

For citizens and residents the permit is free for the first 3 years, which the NMA describes as support for advertising content creators. It runs for 1 year and is renewable, and renewal from the 4th year costs AED 1000 for 1 year. Questions about an application go to the NMA's call centre on 800971 or to info@nma.gov.ae.

The holder must display the permit number clearly on their social media accounts, although neither the NMA's page nor its guide says where it goes or in what format. The NMA's page lists the holder's other duties, and the guide adds the last 2:

• Comply with the media content standards.
• Check that the advertiser is a genuine company or person, and that the deal did not run through a bank account in a false identity.
• Publish ads only through accounts registered with the NMA and linked to the permit, and let no one else advertise through them.
• Get any approval the law requires before publishing.
• Submit an annual report of published ads at renewal, or when the NMA asks.
• Register for tax and obtain a Tax Registration Number.

The second duty points back at the business, since the creator has to satisfy themselves that the company paying them is real.

The guide requires prior approval for specialised ads, naming real estate, healthcare, finance, education and food, and Article 33(10) of the Executive Regulation (Cabinet Resolution No. 68 of 2024) lists the same sectors. Clinic ads are one such case, covered in our page on healthcare advertising approval, and food ads shape every restaurant campaign we run in Dubai. For a sale or an event in Dubai, read our guide to Dubai promotion permits as well.

The NMA can cancel a permit for breaches of its rules or for false application data, and it can suspend one in the public interest. Article 23 of the Media Law sets 4 kinds of penalty: a warning, a fine, closure or the cancellation of a licence or permit. The fine runs from AED 1000 to AED 1000000, and a repeat doubles it up to AED 2000000. Cabinet Resolution No. 42 of 2025 sets the fine for each violation, and a repeat within 1 year doubles it. Breaching the advertising conditions in Article 33 of the Executive Regulation, for example, costs AED 20000 the first time and AED 50000 the second.

When a business contracts a person to advertise, the guide gives it 5 obligations:

• Contract only with a permit holder listed in the NMA's public database.
• Make sure the permit holder complies with all the conditions.
• Avoid unauthorised visiting advertisers.
• Sign a written agreement with the advertiser, and give the NMA a copy on request.
• Use Emirati talent or people fluent in the Emirati dialect, to preserve national identity.

Advertising and talent management agencies must also keep organised records for 3 years, covering the permit holders they contract and copies of the ads those holders publish, along with details of each client, such as its commercial licence.

The NMA's verification page, Verify Advertiser Permit, takes an account name or a permit number. We check every creator's permit there before a brief goes out, and the permit number goes into the agreement. That is how we run creator partnerships, and creator posts reshared on brand accounts we manage keep their label. Both sit within our wider digital marketing work.

A creator in the UAE on a visit visa needs the Visitor Advertiser Permit, and applications go "exclusively through licensed advertising or talent management agencies in the UAE". The NMA lists its accredited agencies on the Visitor Advertiser Permit page. The permit costs AED 500 for 3 months, and renewal at the same fee takes it to the 6-month maximum. The client's contract is with the agency, which represents the visitor and, under the guide, carries the legal responsibility.

The labelling duty falls on the advertiser as well as the creator. Article 20(2) of the Media Law says: "All advertisers must include in all advertising materials something that explicitly and clearly indicates that it is advertising material." Article 33 of the Executive Regulation adds that ads must be clearly identified and kept distinct from editorial content, and that the advertiser must disclose any material return within a commercial relationship.

No current primary source fixes the wording, and we found no NMA document that prescribes a hashtag or a set phrase. So we label every paid post in plain words, such as "Advertisement" or "Paid partnership", because a plain word meets an explicit and clear test better than a vague one. That is our practice, and the law sets no wording.

The rules leave 4 questions open, and we do not guess at them:

• The wording of the label.
• Where the permit number goes, and in what format.
• Whether a company's own brand account needs a permit. The exemption names an owner's personal account, and the NMA pages do not address brand accounts.
• Which row of the penalty schedule applies to a creator posting without a permit. That is a legal question.

The content rules every advertisement must meet are set out in our page on UAE advertising law.