The RERA Broker Card in Dubai
How Agents Get Licensed, What It Costs, and How to Check the One Advising You
Every person who brokers a property deal in Dubai must hold a card issued by the Dubai Land Department. It is the single cheapest piece of due diligence available to a buyer or seller — and the one most people never do. Here is what the card is, what DLD charges for it, who is exempt from the exam, and how to verify a broker in about two minutes.
What the Broker Card Actually Is
Dubai regulates real estate brokerage on two levels, and it helps enormously to keep them separate in your mind. The first level is the company: the brokerage firm holds a trade licence and a registration with the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, the arm of the Dubai Land Department that supervises the sector. The second level is the individual: the person who actually shows you the property, negotiates on your behalf and puts a contract in front of you must personally hold a real estate activity practice card — what the market universally calls the RERA broker card.
Both levels have to be in place. A licensed firm does not make an unlicensed individual legitimate, and a carded individual working outside a licensed firm is equally a problem. This is why the DLD service page ties the point together in a single line: the validity of the card, it states, “is linked to the validity of the trade license”. The individual’s authority to act expires with the company’s licence. A card that was valid last year tells you nothing if the firm behind it has since lapsed.
The card is not limited to sales brokers. DLD issues practice cards across a range of real estate activities — broker, consultant, mortgage broker and valuer among them — and charges for them separately. Most carry the same AED 500 issuing fee; the real estate evaluator card is the outlier at AED 5,000, reflecting the far heavier experience requirement attached to valuation work.
For anyone buying or selling, the card matters for a practical reason rather than a bureaucratic one. It is the thread that connects the person in front of you to a regulated firm, to a DLD-registered advertisement, and ultimately to a transaction the registration trustee office will accept. Break that thread at any point and the deal becomes far harder to complete and far harder to complain about if it goes wrong.
The Broker Card at a Glance
As published by Dubai Land Department
What DLD Charges for a Practice Card
These are the fees published by the Dubai Land Department on its own service page for issuing a real estate activity practice card. They are the regulator’s charges only — training delivered by third-party institutes is priced separately and is not included below.
| Item | Fee as Published by DLD | Notlar |
|---|---|---|
| Real estate broker card | 500 AED | The core card |
| Broker exam | AED 700, plus AED 10 knowledge fee and AED 10 innovation fee | Per sitting |
| ERES fee | AED 50 + VAT | Small add-on |
| Real estate consultant card | 500 AED | Separate activity |
| Mortgage broker card | 500 AED | Separate activity |
| Other practice cards | AED 500 each | Per activity |
| Real estate evaluator card | AED 5,000 | Valuation only |
| Stated service delivery time | 5 dakika | DLD published figure |
Source: Dubai Land Department, “Request for issuing a real estate activity practice card” e-service page, dubailand.gov.ae, retrieved 3 September 2026. Fees are the regulator’s own published charges and exclude third-party training costs and any VAT not shown. Confirm current fees with DLD before applying.
Six Checks on the Agent Advising You
None of these takes more than a few minutes, and together they close off most of the ways a Dubai property introduction goes wrong.
Not sure the agent you are dealing with is licensed?
Send TruHauz the name and the listing. We will tell you what the public record shows before you sign anything or transfer a deposit.
Three Things Most People Get Wrong
The licensing regime has some specific features that surprise both agents entering the industry and clients trying to check one.
Not Everyone Sits the Exam
DLD’s service page sets out exemptions from the practice exam: individuals over 55 years of age, brokers who have spent five or more consecutive years in the same office, and holders of a start-up licence. So “did you pass the exam?” is not a reliable test of legitimacy. The card itself is what matters, and the exemptions are part of the rules rather than a way around them.
The Card Expires With the Firm
Because DLD ties card validity to the trade licence, an agent can hold a genuine card that is nonetheless no longer live because the brokerage behind it has lapsed or the agent has moved on. This is the most common way a check gives a falsely reassuring answer. Verify the current firm and the current card together, at the time you are dealing, not from an old business card.
A Card Covers One Activity
Practice cards are issued per real estate activity, each at its own fee. Brokering a sale, advising as a consultant, arranging finance as a mortgage broker and valuing a property are distinct regulated activities. Someone carded as a broker is not thereby a licensed valuer. If a number is being put on your property, ask whether it is a marketing opinion or a regulated valuation.
Sıkça Sorulan Sorular
The questions buyers, sellers and prospective agents ask most often about broker licensing in Dubai.
Deal With a Licensed Team
TruHauz is a RERA-registered brokerage and every adviser you deal with holds a current DLD practice card. Ask us for the numbers — we expect you to check them.
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