Buying a Clinic in Dubai: What DHA Licence Transfer Involves

Most clinic deals in Dubai do not fall apart over price. They fall apart over the licence.

A buyer agrees terms, pays a deposit, and then finds out the facility licence cannot be moved to their name — or not in the way they assumed. By then the money is committed and the seller is not moving.

Here is how DHA licence transfer actually works, what blocks it, and what you should check before you sign anything.

There Are Two Ways to Buy a Clinic — And They Are Not the Same

1. Share transfer (you buy the company)

• The company keeps its DHA facility licence
• You apply to change the owners on the existing licence
• The clinic keeps trading throughout
• You also inherit everything else the company owns — including its debts and its history

2. Asset sale (you buy the fit-out and equipment only)

• The licence does not come with it
• You apply for your own facility licence from scratch
• The clinic stops trading until your licence is active
• You inherit nothing from the seller — good or bad

Most buyers assume they are getting option 1. Many sellers are actually offering option 2. Settle this in writing before you talk about price.

Route 1: The Change of Ownership Route

Changing the owner of a DHA-licensed facility is an amendment to the existing licence, not a new licence.

How it works:

• Everything is submitted online through Sheryan, DHA's licensing system. Applications by email or on paper are not accepted.
• You submit the new owners' details, whether the new owner is a person or a company.
• DHA can reject the proposed owner if they do not meet its regulations.
• DET, or the free zone authority, audits the ownership details on their side.
• The clinic can keep operating on the existing licence while the amendment is being processed.
• The change may trigger an inspection, and usually needs the trade licence amended too.
• Once approved, the old licence details become void and the new details take over.

The point buyers miss: a change of ownership does not extend the licence. You inherit whatever time is left on it. If the licence expires in four months, you are renewing in four months.

What Blocks a Change of Ownership

This is where deals stall. DHA will not process an ownership change if any of the following are true:

• The facility licence is expired, cancelled, suspended, revoked, or on hold
• The licence is inactive — an inactive facility cannot apply for an ownership change at all
• There is a pending violation on the facility
• There is a payment under appeal
• There are outstanding fines on the account

All fines and open issues have to be cleared before the application goes in, and that is the existing owner's responsibility, not yours.

What to do about it: make the seller clear every fine and violation before you release any payment. Put it in the MOU as a condition, not a promise.

What to Check Before You Sign

• Licence status and expiry date — pull it up on Sheryan, do not take a screenshot from the seller
• Fines and violations on the account — these block the transfer and they are the seller's to clear
• Medical Director — the clinic must have one. The role cannot sit vacant for more than two weeks without penalties, and the person must hold an active DHA licence
• Whether the Medical Director is staying — if they leave with the seller, you need a replacement lined up before handover
• The specialities actually on the licence — compare them against what the clinic is really billing for
• Group status — if the clinic is part of a licensed facility group, a change of ownership removes it from that group. That matters if staff rotate between branches
• NABIDH connectivity — the EMR system has to be connected and compliant
• Supporting contracts — Ejari, civil defence certificate, waste management contract, malpractice insurance for every licensed professional
• Radiology — if there is x-ray or imaging equipment, FANR approval is part of the picture

Route 2: Asset Sale — You Apply for a New Licence

If you are only buying the premises and equipment, you are a new applicant. That is a two-stage process.

Stage one — new facility licence (inactive):

• Applied through Sheryan
• Needs trade licence or trade name and ownership details, a facility proposal, location details with Makani number and Ejari, and a floor plan drawn by a DHA-prequalified design consultant
• You get an inactive licence valid for one year
• During this stage you cannot treat patients, receive patients, or advertise any health service
• If you do not finish within that year, the application is cancelled and you start again

Stage two — activation:

• Valid trade licence
• Medical Director appointed
• EMR installed and connected to NABIDH
• FANR registration if there is radiology equipment
• Civil defence certificate, waste management contract, third-party insurance, approved policies and procedures, medical equipment list
• Pass the DHA inspection

Once activated, the licence runs for one, two, or three years.

Plan for the gap. An asset sale means the clinic is closed while you go through this. Staff, rent, and marketing still cost money during that period. Price it in.

The Mistake That Kills Clinic Deals

Never let the seller cancel the facility licence before the deal closes.

A cancelled DHA facility licence cannot be reissued. If it is cancelled, there is nothing left to transfer — you are applying as a brand new facility, with the full new licence process, the full timeline, and no trading in between.

Sellers who are tired, leaving the country, or under pressure sometimes cancel to stop the fines running. If you are mid-deal, that single step can wipe out most of what you thought you were buying.

What This Means for the Price

• A clean, active licence with real time left on it, no fines, and a Medical Director who is staying is worth paying for
• An expired or suspended licence is not an asset — it is a project
• A clinic sold as an asset sale should not be priced like a going concern, because you are buying a room full of equipment and a lease, not a trading business
• If the seller cannot show current licence status on Sheryan, treat every other number they give you with the same caution

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a DHA facility licence be transferred to a new owner? Yes — through a change of ownership amendment on Sheryan, as long as the licence is active and there are no unpaid fines, pending violations, or payments under appeal. The licence stays with the facility; the owner details change.

Does the licence get a new expiry date after the ownership changes? No. The validity does not extend through a change of ownership. You take over whatever term is left, unless the facility category itself changes.

Can I change ownership if the licence is inactive? No. An inactive facility can only apply to amend certain details or to activate the licence. Ownership changes are specifically excluded.

What happens if the clinic has unpaid DHA fines? The application will not go through. All outstanding fines must be cleared before a change of ownership can be submitted, and the existing owner is responsible for clearing them.

Can a cancelled clinic licence be brought back? No. A cancelled facility licence cannot be reissued. The facility has to apply as a new facility and meet every new-licence requirement again.

How long does the process take? It depends on the file — the cleanliness of the record, whether an inspection is triggered, and how fast the trade licence side moves. Anyone who quotes you a fixed number without seeing the licence is guessing.

Buying or Selling a Clinic in Dubai?

BFS Commercial Brokers handles clinic, polyclinic, and medical centre sales across Dubai. We check licence status, fines, and speciality scope before a listing goes live, so buyers are not finding surprises after the deposit.

We have active clinic and polyclinic listings in Al Manara, Jumeirah, and Business Bay.

Full financials and licence details are released after a signed NDA. Serious enquiries only.