UAE Advertiser Permit: What Brands Must Check Before Hiring Influencers

Planning an influencer campaign in Dubai or Abu Dhabi? Good call. Instagram alone reaches about 8 million people in the UAE (DataReportal), and shoppers here buy what creators they trust recommend.

There's one rule to get right first. Since 1 February 2026, every creator who advertises from inside the UAE needs an Advertiser Permit.

The good news for brands? The creator gets the permit, and for residents it's free. Your job is to book permit holders, put the deal in writing and label the ads.

It's part of our guide to influencer marketing in the Gulf.

What is the UAE Advertiser Permit?

The Advertiser Permit (تصريح معلن, "Mu'lin") is a federal licence for individuals who publish advertising on social media. It lets a creator post sponsored content legally from anywhere in the UAE.

It sits under Federal Decree-Law 55 of 2023 on Media Regulation. The detailed permit rules come from a 2025 Media Council decision. A separate Cabinet resolution (42/2025) sets the fines.

Who issues it? The UAE Media Council launched the permit in July 2025. Its services are now moving to the National Media Authority (NMA), and the visitor permit is already applied for on nma.gov.ae.

Who needs an Advertiser Permit?

Anyone who publishes advertising for a product, service, event or activity on social media from inside the UAE. That covers citizens, residents and visitors alike.

Payment doesn't matter. The rule covers ads "whether for financial compensation or not", so a creator posting your gifted PR box needs a permit too.

Two groups are exempt:

• Business owners promoting their own products or their own company on their personal account.
• Under-18s posting educational, sports, cultural or awareness content. Teens aged 15–18 can still apply for a permit, with a guardian's approval.

So the founder of a Dubai abaya label can post her own collection freely. The moment she promotes someone else's perfume, she needs a permit.

Resident permit vs visitor permit

There are two versions. Which one applies depends on where the creator lives.

Resident creators also need a certificate of good conduct, no previous media violations and the authority's awareness training. From year 4, the renewal costs AED 1,000 a year (Al Suwaidi Advocates).

None of this costs the brand anything directly. It does mean a new creator may need a couple of weeks to get licensed, so plan that into your launch date.

What do brands have to do?

The Advertiser Guide puts three duties on any business that hires individual advertisers:

1. Book only permit holders listed in the authority's public database.
2. Don't use unauthorised visiting advertisers. Foreign creators must come through an accredited agency.
3. Sign a written agreement for every collaboration and produce it if the authority asks.

There's a fourth duty that's easy to miss. Specialised ads need sector approval before they run. That covers real estate, healthcare, finance, education and food.

For example, a supplement brand needs its health claims cleared before any creator talks about them. The creator must hold those approvals, but in practice the brand supplies them.

What should the contract say? Put these clauses in every creator agreement:

• Permit number and expiry, with a promise to keep it valid for the whole campaign.
• The posting accounts, which must be the accounts registered to the permit.
• The ad label you expect on each post.
• Approval rights over scripts and claims, plus take-down within 24 hours if the authority asks.
• Usage rights if you plan to boost the post as a paid ad.

How should influencer ads be labelled in the UAE?

Clearly, and up front. UAE rules require ads to be clear about what they are and to contain no false product information.

Use both layers on every post:

• The platform's own tool. Instagram's "Paid partnership" label, TikTok's commercial content toggle or Snapchat's paid partnership tag.
• A plain-words label in the caption or on screen, such as "Ad" or "إعلان", in the post's language.

Gifted content needs the same label. If the creator got something for free, it's still an ad.

Writing captions for UAE audiences? Our guide to Gulf consumer preferences covers the tone and trust signals that work here.

How do you check a creator's permit?

It takes about five minutes per creator. Run the same check every time:

1

Ask for the permit number

Licensed creators display it on their accounts. Get it in writing, with the expiry date.

2

Look it up in the public database

Search the number in the authority's public permit database. Check the name, status and expiry.

3

Match the account

The account that will post your ad must be one registered to the permit. A creator can't lend their permit to a second or shared account.

4

For visitors, check the agency

Ask the agency for the visitor permit and its own accreditation. Make sure the visit dates cover your posting dates.

Keep a screenshot of each check with the signed contract. If the authority ever asks, you can show you did your part.

What are the fines?

Cabinet Resolution 42/2025 sets the penalties. Most fall on the person who publishes the ad.

Repeat offences can double, up to AED 2 million. The authority can also cancel the creator's permit.

What about the brand? Your legal duties are the three in the guide. The bigger cost is practical: a pulled campaign, wasted fees and a brand name linked to a breach.

Worked example: a Dubai skincare launch

Say a skincare brand books five creators for a Dubai launch, one Instagram post each. Fees follow Tikit's Dubai price guide: AED 2,000–8,000 for micro creators (10,000–50,000 followers) and AED 10,000–50,000 for macro creators.

So compliance adds AED 500 to a AED 33,000 campaign, about 1.5%. Add an hour of checks.

Skip it and one unlicensed post costs the creator AED 10,000. Your launch content comes down with it.

Creator D is the trap. Gifted nano creators often think the rule doesn't apply to them, so check every name, not just the paid ones.

The skincare claims need care too. Keep medical claims out unless the product holds the right health approval.

How do you book foreign creators?

Through an accredited UAE advertising or talent-management agency. It's the only route for a visitor permit.

The agency applies for the visitor permit, and its contract with the creator makes the agency legally responsible. It must keep records for 3 years.

That works in your favour. A good agency handles the permit, the visit dates and the paperwork, so your team just approves content.

Before you sign, ask the agency for proof of accreditation and a sample visitor permit. Compare more options in our directory of UAE influencer marketing agencies.

Notes for Dubai and Abu Dhabi

The permit is federal, so the rules are identical in all seven emirates. What changes is the trade licence the creator holds underneath it.

• Dubai. Creators hold an e-media or freelance licence from the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) or a Dubai free zone.
• Abu Dhabi. The National Media Authority, which now runs the permit, is based in the capital. Creators here get their licence from the emirate's economic department or a free zone.
• Other emirates. Each emirate's economic department and free zones issue the e-media licences that creators need before they apply.

Setting up your own UAE entity first? See how to sell online in the UAE.

Notes for brands also selling in Saudi Arabia

A UAE permit doesn't cover Saudi Arabia. Creators who advertise to Saudi audiences need a Mawthooq licence from Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Media Regulation (GAMR).

Running one creator across both markets? They need both licences if they target both audiences. Read our Mawthooq licence guide for the Saudi side.