How to register your Ejari in Dubai

The process is in place to avoid any potential issues between landlord and tenant.

What is EJARI?

Ejari is Arabic for ‘my rent’. More importantly, it is the name of the system that handles the registration of each tenancy contract within Dubai, which is why questions like “where do I register my Ejari?” or “how much will my Ejari cost?” come up pretty often in housing-related conversations.

Ejari was launched in 2007 through a Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) initiative, under the provisions of “Law 26 of 2007 by RERA”.

Ejari Registration is mandatory — the system is in place to make sure all private rental contracts are drafted into legally binding documents and structured in the government-approved format. The purpose of Ejari is to protect the interests and legal rights of all people involved in the tenancy contract and avoids any potential disputes between landlord and tenant.

In addition to the legal protections, the Ejari system offers, registering your Ejari is an important first step in being able to open your DEWA account for water and electricity, which we will discuss further below.

HOW TO REGISTER EJARI

Offline Registration

The responsibility to register Ejari rests with the tenant and landlord, but it is most common for the tenant to complete the process and pay the required fees. The registration can be done through one of the approved typing centres listed here.

Processing your contract will cost you AED 195 (registration cost of AED 160 plus AED 35 service fee charged by the typing centres).

You will need to fill out a registration form when you arrive, so make sure you have your new address and tenancy contract number with you along with copies of the following documents.

Online Registration

On 14th March 2010, RERA officially announced that all rental contracts for Dubai properties are able to be registered through its new Ejari online registration portal.

Online registration costs are AED 585 (inclusive of VAT) as of March 2018. While the online registration system is more expensive, it provides you with a faster service. It generally takes 1-2 days to process your registration online once the documents are successfully transmitted.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED TO REGISTER EJARI

• Original tenancy contract from the agency
• Security deposit receipt
• Tenant’s Passport (for non-GCC countries nationals)
• Tenant’s UAE Visa (for non-GCC countries nationals)
• Tenant’s Emirates ID
• Copies of landlord’s passport (if individual)
• Copy of title deed of the rented property
• DEWA Premises Number (or copies of recent DEWA bills/Green bill accepted)
• DEWA bill and previous Ejari if you are renewing
• Trade license (in the case of commercial properties)

Once the registration is complete, you will receive the official Ejari contract, which includes a unique Ejari ID number. You will use this number to register for your DEWA account, which you can now conveniently do online.

Keep in mind that if you intend to renew your contract for the same place next year, you must complete an Ejari registration for the new contract. We recommend that you become familiar with the system as it is used for all rental transactions including renewals, cancellations, transfers and terminations.