Ejari and Tenancy Contracts in Dubai Explained

A tenancy contract in Dubai is the agreement between landlord and tenant. Ejari is the official registration of that contract with Dubai Land Department. Without Ejari you cannot connect DEWA, sponsor a family visa, or take a dispute to the rental committee.

Registration is cheap and quick. It is also the single step tenants most often fail to insist on.

Is Ejari the same as a tenancy contract?

No. The tenancy contract is the document you and the landlord sign: rent, term, cheques, maintenance and notice. Ejari is the government registration of that contract. Once it is registered you receive an Ejari number and a certificate, and the registration records the agreed rent. You need both. The contract sets out your rights, and Ejari makes them enforceable.

Ejari is also why you may see listings described as "Ejari ready": the landlord is able to register the tenancy as soon as the contract is signed.

What Ejari is for

You need Ejari to	Why
Connect DEWA	Water and electricity cannot be registered without it
Sponsor a family visa	Immigration requires proof of registered housing
Get a liquor licence	Requires a registered address
File a rental dispute	The Rental Dispute Centre will not hear an unregistered tenancy
Enrol children in some schools	Proof of address

Who registers it

In practice the landlord or the managing agent does it, and the cost is usually passed to the tenant. What matters is that it happens: an unregistered tenancy leaves you without the protections the law gives you.

Ask for the Ejari certificate before you hand over cheques, or make it a written condition of the contract.

How do you register a tenancy contract in Dubai?

You can register online or through a typing centre. The online route is a digital tenancy contract registration, with the contract uploaded and approved on screen.

1. Dubai REST app. Go to Services, then RERA, then Register Contract. The landlord must also be registered on the app and approves the request.
2. The Dubai Land Department website or the Dubai Now app. Both offer the same registration online.
3. A typing or trustee centre. You hand over the documents and fees in person. The certificate usually comes back within a day or two.

Menu names move between app versions, so check the labels you see rather than relying on a fixed path. The Dubai Land Department helpline is 800 4488.

How much does Ejari cost?

Route	Fee
Online, through the app or website	AED 177.75 in total: AED 100 registration, AED 10 knowledge fee, AED 10 innovation fee and a AED 55 service partner fee plus AED 2.75 VAT
Typing or trustee centre	AED 220 in total: the same AED 120 in government fees plus AED 95 in service partner fees, plus VAT
Cancelling Ejari	Free online, about AED 40 at a service centre

These figures come from the Dubai Land Department Ejari service page, read on 16 October 2026. Fees change, so confirm the current figure before you pay.

What you need to register

• The signed tenancy contract
• Tenant's passport, visa and Emirates ID
• Landlord's passport copy and the title deed
• A recent DEWA bill or the premises number

Reading your tenancy contract

The cheque schedule

The number of cheques and their dates are the commercial heart of the contract. A bounced cheque is a serious matter in the UAE, so agree a schedule you are sure of.

Maintenance

The contract should say who pays for what. The common split is major repairs to the landlord, minor ones to the tenant, but the threshold should be written down rather than assumed. See who pays for what in a Dubai rental.

Early termination

Leaving before the end of the term usually costs one to two months rent, but only if the contract says so. Read this clause before signing rather than when you need it.

Renewal and notice

Any change to rent or terms requires 90 days written notice before the contract ends. Without that notice, the tenancy renews on the same terms. See renewing your tenancy in Dubai and how rent increases are calculated.

Can you renew a tenancy contract online?

Yes. Renewal can be done through the Dubai REST app, the Land Department website or a typing centre. You will need the existing Ejari, the new signed contract and the tenant's Emirates ID. Register the renewal, because the new term needs its own registration.

Downloading your Ejari certificate

Once the contract is registered, the certificate is a PDF with a QR code on it, and you can pull your own copy whenever you need one. See our step by step Ejari download and print guide. You do not have to go back to whoever registered it.

The official route is Dubai REST, the Land Department's own app. Sign in with a verified UAE Pass and your registered contracts appear against your Emirates ID; open the tenancy and download the certificate. The same contracts are reachable through the Dubai Now app and the Land Department's website. Menu names move between app versions, so look for your contracts rather than for a button with a particular label.

There is no fee for downloading a certificate that already exists, and either party named on the contract can do it. The QR code is what a counter scans to check it, so a printed PDF is enough. You do not need a stamped original.

If nothing appears at all, the registration was probably never completed. That is a question for whoever handled it, and worth asking before you need the certificate for DEWA. For who does what between the Land Department, RERA and the app, read DLD, RERA and the Dubai REST app.

If something goes wrong

Disputes go to the Rental Dispute Centre, filed for a fee of 3.5 percent of the annual rent. A registered Ejari is required, which is the practical reason to insist on one at the start rather than argue about it later. Our guide to how the Rental Dispute Centre works explains the process.

More on renting

Our complete tenant guide covers costs, cheques and your rights end to end. Browse current apartments for rent or talk to an adviser.

See our where to register Ejari and what it costs.