How to Modify a Trade License to Add New Activities in the UAE

Most businesses don’t outgrow their market first, they outgrow their trade license.

It begins with a simple question: “Can you handle this too?” ‍

A new service line that makes sense. A logical extension of what you already do. The kind of opportunity you say yes to, until you realise your trade license hasn’t caught up yet.

In the UAE, your trade license is the legal boundary of what you can invoice, contract, bank, and scale. When operations move faster than licensing, hurdles show up quietly during banking reviews, payment onboarding, renewals, or compliance checks. Founders who set up in digital-first free zones like Meydan Free Zone build in flexibility early. With access to 2,500+ approved business activities and the ability to choose up to three business activity groups under a single trade license, expansion doesn’t require restructuring every time the business evolves.

In this guide, we break down how to add business activities to a trade license in the UAE, when to do it, how pricing works, and how founders design trade licenses that scale with them.‍

When Your Business Evolves, Your Trade License Must Too

Every listed business activity on your trade license tells regulators, banks, and partners exactly what your company is authorised to do. If a business activity isn’t there, it doesn’t matter that you can do the work; legally you shouldn’t be billing for it.

Think of a creative marketing agency founder who starts with brand strategy and design, then says yes to paid media management and performance advertising. The campaigns run smoothly, results come in, and invoices go out, until a bank asks, “Is performance advertising listed on your trade license?”‍

Business activity addition becomes especially important when founders:

• expand from consulting into digital services
• add trading or distribution alongside services
• launch platforms, marketplaces, or cross-border operations
• formalise side revenue streams that started informally

What “Adding a Business Activity” Actually Means in the UAE

Adding a business activity does not mean:

• Creating a new company
• Changing shareholders
• Reissuing visas
• Restarting your setup

It simply means amending your existing trade license to include additional approved business activities from the licensing authority’s official business activity list

Each business activity has a defined scope. Similar-sounding business activities are not interchangeable, and choosing the wrong one can create compliance or banking issues later.

For example: a business licensed for “General Trading” launches a small online shopfront and begins selling directly to consumers. Clearly defining the type of trading activity (for example, clothing, electronics, or consumer goods) and ensuring the correct e-commerce or online trading activity is listed on the license helps avoid issues, as payment gateways or banks may otherwise flag the setup.‍

Meydan Free Zone: Designing a Trade License That Can Grow With You

At Meydan Free Zone, founders have access to 2,500+ approved business activities and they can group up to three business activity groups under one trade license, giving the business room to stretch into new services as demand grows. This means a business can combine complementary verticals such as services, digital operations, or trading, as long as the business activities align and meet regulatory requirements and third-party approvals (if needed).

When the business model evolves further, adding more business activities is straightforward. Each additional activity added (on top of the three business activity groups) is priced at AED 1,000 for each activity, and timing works in your favour. Certain categories, such as manufacturing, healthcare, or food and beverage, may require external approvals or additional processing time. Some activity combinations also attract closer review from banks or regulators, which is why planning upfront matters.

It’s a licensing setup that understands how real businesses grow incrementally, not all at once.‍

Step-by-Step: How to Add Business Activities to a Meydan Free Zone Trade License in the UAE

The good news is this: once your business activity scope is clear, adding activities to a UAE trade license is a process designed to support growth, not slow it down.‍

Step 1: Review Your Current Trade License Carefully

Start by comparing:

• What your company is currently licensed to do
• What your company is actually doing or planning to do next

If the match feels loose, it’s time to amend.‍

Step 2: Select the Right New Business Activities

Each business activity you add should:

• Match how you invoice and receive payments
• Align with your operational model
• Be acceptable to banks and payment providers

At Meydan Free Zone, founders aren’t left to decode business activity lists on their own. With 2,500+ business activities to choose from, expert guidance is built into the process so businesses select what truly fits and avoid getting stuck with a trade license that needs fixing later.

Step 3: Understand How Many Business Activity Groups Are Included

A Meydan Free Zone trade license includes:

Up to three business activity groups under one trade license, included in the base trade license fee‍

Rather than starting narrow and amending six months in, you can combine business activity groups - like marketing consulting, creative advertising, and e-commerce from day one. ‍

Step 4: Know the Costs

• Up to three business activity groups are included in your trade license
• Each additional business activity beyond the three groups = AED 1,000 per business activity

If you are a Fawri license holder, you can amend your business activity free of charge in the first year, keeping growth flexible and cost-efficient.

Smart founders often align expansion with renewal cycles to minimise cost and admin.

Step 5: Check If Different Regulations or Extra Third-Party Approvals Apply

When adding or amending business activities, some sectors require third-party approvals.

For example:

• Education-related activities may require approvals from authorities like the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA)
• Healthcare activities often involve clearances from the Dubai Health Authority (DHA)
• Food and beverage or manufacturing activities may require approvals from the Dubai Municipality

Business activity amendments also go through standard compliance checks, including UBO, AML, and KYC. At Meydan Free Zone, these are coordinated as part of the process to keep your trade license compliant and bank-ready.

Step 6: Submit the Trade License Amendment

Once business activities are confirmed, the amendment is submitted through the Meydan Free Zone portal.

You can upload the required documents, complete payments online, and track the amendment status in one place.

In a fully digital ecosystem like Meydan Free Zone, there’s no resubmission of formation documents, no shareholder changes required, and minimal back-and-forth.‍

Final Thoughts

A trade license should never be the reason growth slows down.

In the UAE, adding business activities is a normal part of scaling when it’s done deliberately. The right business activity mix protects your operations, supports banking, and keeps compliance predictable as your business expands.

This is where Meydan Free Zone adds value beyond the trade license itself. Founders are supported in navigating the business activity list, selecting the most appropriate codes, avoiding overlaps, and understanding how business activities connect to visas and office eligibility. The result is a trade license that works as a foundation, not a constraint.

Set up for where you’re going, not just where you started.