Who can become a broker in Dubai
The requirements are simple, and most adult UAE residents already meet them:
- age 21 or older;
- a high school certificate; a university degree is not required, but it affects the exam cost, more on that below;
- a valid UAE residence visa and Emirates ID;
- a Good Conduct Certificate from Dubai Police.
Citizenship, prior real estate experience and Arabic are not required. The exam is taken in English or Arabic. There are thousands of Russian-speaking brokers in Dubai, and most deals with CIS clients are done in Russian.
The one requirement newcomers trip over: without a residence visa you cannot get past step one. A tourist visa does not qualify.
Why you cannot work "on your own"
Dubai's property market is regulated by the Dubai Land Department (DLD) through its agency RERA. The system has two levels:
- The company. A brokerage obtains a trade licence from the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) and registers with RERA, receiving an ORN (Office Registration Number).
- The broker. An individual passes the exam and receives a broker card with a BRN (Broker Registration Number). The card is always issued under a specific company.
In the regulator's eyes a broker without a company does not exist. You cannot get a card "for yourself", you cannot advertise properties and you cannot receive commission without being attached to an agency with an ORN. This is a rule, not a recommendation.
The practical consequence: choosing an agency means choosing the terms you will work on. Some join the first agency that agrees to sponsor a visa and then hand over half of every commission for years. Others do the maths first.
And there is a second path that standard guides never mention. The rule about the card being tied to an agency is correct, but it does not mean you can only close deals through the agency where you are registered. There is a partner model: you manage the client, while a licensed partner agency conducts the deal legally through its own licence and its own brokers, and your share is fixed by agreement before the deal. Nobody joins anyone's payroll, and your card, if you have one, stays where it is. More on this in the section about the fork.
Step 1. Residence visa
There are four workable scenarios.
Employment visa from the agency. The most common route: the agency hires you, arranges the work permit and residence visa, you receive an Emirates ID and then take the course and the exam. Agencies usually cover the visa and Emirates ID costs, but in practice most do so after a probation period, not immediately. The same goes for the RERA card: many agencies reimburse the course and exam once the broker has closed the first deals.
Your own company or a freelance permit. A visa through your own free-zone company or a freelance permit. It gives independence from an employer, but the broker card still has to be issued under someone's agency: a free-zone company does not grant the right to broker property in Dubai.
Spouse or sponsor visa. If you already hold a family-based visa, working as a broker usually requires a work permit from the sponsor and an NOC. Check with the agency you are joining: practice varies.
Golden Visa. Property investors from AED 2 million and some professionals receive a ten-year visa with no employer tie. For a broker this is the freest option, but not the fastest.
Processing an employment visa in 2026 usually takes two to four weeks from filing. You can enrol in the course in parallel; there is no need to wait for the visa.
Step 2. The DREI course
The mandatory course is called Certified Training for Real Estate Brokers, delivered by the Dubai Real Estate Institute (DREI) and accredited training centres. It runs four days, in person or online.
In 2026 accredited providers charge between AED 2,400 and 3,500, most often around AED 3,000. The programme covers Dubai property law, broker rights and duties, ethics, contract types (Form A, Form B, Form F), working with Trakheesi, and the basics of mortgages and off-plan.
The course is not hard, but the material is dense and most exam questions come straight from it. Do not listen with half an ear: a retake costs money and time.
Step 3. The RERA exam
After the course you sit the exam at DLD. It is a written multiple-choice test in English or Arabic, covering legislation, procedures and ethics. The pass mark is not published officially, so prepare with practice tests rather than "on luck": questions are worded close to the course materials.
Exam pricing in public sources is confusing, and you should know that in advance. The DLD fee per attempt is around AED 700. But the total cost of the path depends on education: holders of a bachelor's degree are quoted around AED 3,200, while those with only a school certificate around AED 6,300, because additional training is required for them. Some sources quote even higher figures for applicants without formal education. Confirm the exact amount with the training centre or DLD on the day you apply; prices are revised.
The exam can be retaken, but every attempt is paid again. Results are usually known within a few days.
Step 4. Broker card and BRN
Having passed the exam, you apply for the broker card through the Trakheesi system. The application is usually filed by the agency you are joining. You will need:
- passport, residence visa and Emirates ID;
- a photograph;
- the course certificate and exam result;
- the Good Conduct Certificate;
- an attested education certificate;
- an NOC from your employer if your visa is not from this agency.
The Good Conduct Certificate is obtained on the Dubai Police website, costs around AED 200 and takes two working days. The card issuance fee is around AED 500. The card is valid for one year.
Once approved, you receive a BRN. This number must appear on every listing, on Property Finder and Bayut, in advertising and in your signature. An advert without a BRN is a violation that gets both the broker and the agency fined.
Timeline and budget in one place
| Stage | Time | Cost, AED |
|---|---|---|
| Residence visa (if arranged by the agency) | 2–4 weeks | usually covered by the agency |
| Good Conduct Certificate | 2 working days | about 200 |
| DREI course | 4 days | 2,400–3,500 |
| RERA exam | 1 day, result within a week | from 700 per attempt; full path 3,200–6,300 depending on education |
| Broker card and BRN | a few working days | about 500 |
If you already have a visa, the whole path from course enrolment to card realistically takes three to four weeks and fits into roughly AED 4,000–7,000. Without a visa, add a month and the visa costs, or find an agency that sponsors the visa at its own expense.
Annual renewal
The broker card is issued for one year, and renewal is a separate procedure, not a formality. You will need:
- a valid visa and an updated Emirates ID;
- completed continuing professional development (CPD) hours;
- an annual test: DLD has announced that renewing the card requires an annual knowledge check;
- the renewal fee, quoted between AED 510 and 1,000 depending on category.
A new rule for 2026: if a broker has unresolved complaints in DLD's system, renewal may be delayed or a hearing scheduled before approval. Your reputation in Trakheesi now directly affects your right to work.
Missing renewal means losing the right to sign contracts and receive commission until the card is restored. Set a reminder two months ahead.
What you can and cannot do without a card
While you have no card, you can study, learn the market, attend viewings with a licensed colleague and talk to clients as an assistant. You cannot:
- publish listings in your own name;
- sign DLD forms (Form A with the seller, Form B with the buyer, Form F for the transaction);
- receive commission: by law only a broker with a valid card is entitled to it, and a court will not side with an unlicensed intermediary;
- call yourself a broker or agent in advertising.
Where to go after the card: the fork that decides your income
This is where most brokers' paths turn the wrong way. The card is issued under an agency, and that agency's terms become your working terms, if you close deals only through it.
The standard split in Dubai: the agency takes 30 to 50 percent of the broker's commission. The 50/50 scheme is still the most common, especially for newcomers. In exchange the agency provides a desk, a visa, portal access and, in theory, leads. In practice the leads go to the veterans, and not everyone needs a desk.
Do the maths on one deal. An apartment for AED 2 million, 2 percent commission, that is AED 40,000. At a 50/50 split the broker receives 20,000. At 88/12 the broker receives 35,200. That is AED 15,200 of difference on a single deal, and a working broker closes five or more a year.
That is why brokers who already have their own client flow increasingly choose the partner model: not joining a payroll, but closing deals through a partner agency. The licence, lawyers, commission account, developer agreements and deal registration stay with the partner agency; the broker manages the client and keeps almost the whole commission. At FOR YOU REAL ESTATE a partner receives 88 percent of commission on off-plan deals up to AED 5 million and 90 percent above, with no subscription, no entry fees and no RERA card transfer: you do not join our payroll, you stay wherever you are registered. How it works is described on the page for brokers, with a calculator.
This is not the only option, and it does not suit everyone: a newcomer without clients is sometimes better off working a year at half commission but with a lead flow. What matters is that the choice is deliberate, not "the first agency that replied".
Five mistakes that cost months
- Waiting for the visa and doing nothing. The course, the certificate and exam prep can all start in parallel with the visa.
- Joining the first agency. A year at 50 percent instead of 88 is tens of thousands of dirhams lost for nothing.
- Sitting the exam "from memory of the course". A retake costs from AED 700 and a week. Do the practice tests.
- Forgetting renewal. The card lives one year. Without it you can neither sign nor get paid.
- Not checking the agency's licence. The ORN is verified in the Dubai REST app in a minute. An agency licence about to expire is your card about to stop.
