How to Download Ejari Certificate in Dubai (2025 Guide)

If you're a Dubai tenant trying to renew a visa, set up DEWA, or enrol your kid in school, someone has asked you for an Ejari certificate. The good news: you can download Ejari online in about five minutes if your contract is already registered. The bad news: most people hit a wall on the first try because they're looking in the wrong place.

Let me walk you through it properly.

Quick answer

To download Ejari in Dubai, log into the Dubai REST app or the Dubai Land Department (DLD) portal using your UAE Pass, go to "Services" then "My Properties" or "Ejari," select the active contract, and tap "Download Certificate." The PDF is free if your landlord already registered the tenancy. If no contract appears, your landlord (or their agent) hasn't filed it yet — that's where the delay usually sits, not with you.

What Ejari actually is, and why everyone wants it

Ejari means "my rent" in Arabic. It's the tenancy registration system run by the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), which sits under the Dubai Land Department. Every residential and commercial lease in Dubai has to be registered under Law No. 26 of 2007 on Regulating the Relationship between Landlords and Tenants and its amendments. The registered contract gets a unique Ejari number and a barcoded certificate.

Without that certificate, you can't:

Activate DEWA (water and electricity) in your name
Get a new residence visa or sponsor a family member
Enrol children in most Dubai schools
File a case at the Rental Disputes Centre if your landlord misbehaves
Apply for a liquor licence

So yes, it matters. Frankly, most clients only think about Ejari when something else is blocked.

How to download Ejari step by step

There are two official routes. Both work. Pick the one that matches the device you have in front of you.

Route 1: Dubai REST app (fastest)

Download the Dubai REST app from the App Store or Google Play.
Log in using UAE Pass. If you don't have UAE Pass set up, do that first — it takes 10 minutes at any Emirates ID kiosk or via the UAE Pass app itself.
Tap "Services" → "Tenant" → "My Contracts" (or "My Properties" if you're the landlord).
Find the active tenancy. Tap it.
Hit "Download Ejari Certificate." The PDF saves to your phone.

Route 2: DLD website

Go to dubailand.gov.ae.
Click "Services" → "Real Estate Services" → "Ejari Services."
Sign in with UAE Pass.
Select "Print Ejari Certificate."
Download the PDF.

That's it. No fee for downloading a certificate that's already registered in your name. If a third party — a typing centre, a "PRO service" on Instagram — is charging you AED 200 to download it, they're charging you for two minutes of their time.

Watch out: The certificate has a QR code on the bottom right. Government desks scan it. If you've been handed a PDF by a landlord and the QR code doesn't resolve to the DLD verification page, it's either expired or fake. I've seen both.

What to do if no contract shows up

This is where 70% of the questions land. You log in, you see nothing, you panic.

Calm down. Three possible reasons:

Your landlord hasn't registered it yet. Legally, the landlord (or their appointed agent) is responsible for Ejari registration. In practice, many push it onto tenants. Either way, until someone files the contract at an approved Ejari typing centre or through the Dubai REST app, no certificate exists to download.

It's registered under a different Emirates ID number. If you renewed your Emirates ID and got a new number, or if the landlord's agent typed it wrong, the system won't link the contract to your profile. You'll need to call DLD on 800 4488 with your contract reference number and ask them to fix the linkage.

The contract is in your spouse's name. Ejari only shows on the named tenant's account. Family members can't see each other's contracts even on the same UAE Pass household.

If your landlord is dragging their feet on registering, you have leverage. You can register the contract yourself at any Ejari-approved typing centre by bringing the signed tenancy contract, your Emirates ID, the landlord's title deed copy, a passport copy of the landlord, and the most recent DEWA bill. The fee is AED 220 (AED 120 Ejari fee + AED 100 knowledge and innovation fees, as of 2025), plus the typing centre's service charge of roughly AED 40-60.

Once registered, the certificate is downloadable instantly through the routes above.

Renewal, cancellation, and what changes when

An Ejari certificate is valid for the term of the tenancy contract. Renew the lease, you renew the Ejari — it's not automatic. Every renewal triggers a fresh registration and a new certificate with a new reference number. The old one becomes inactive in the system the day the new one is filed.

If you're moving out mid-contract or at the end of the term, the landlord should cancel the Ejari. They'll need the final DEWA clearance, your signature on the cancellation form, and a copy of your Emirates ID. Until they cancel it, you technically remain the registered tenant of that unit on government systems — which can cause headaches if you're trying to register a new Ejari elsewhere and the system flags a duplicate.

Costs at a glance (2025):
- Ejari registration: AED 220 government fees
- Typing centre service: AED 40-60
- Download of existing certificate: free
- Ejari cancellation: free (landlord-initiated)

Push your landlord to cancel on the day you hand back keys. Get a copy of the cancellation receipt. Don't leave the country assuming they'll handle it — they often don't.

When the Ejari you downloaded won't be accepted

A few situations where the certificate exists but the receiving party refuses it:

Expired certificate. Your lease ended three months ago and you're trying to use an old Ejari for a visa renewal. Won't work. Government desks check the validity dates printed on the certificate against the system in real time.

Mismatched address. If you moved units within the same building and the Ejari still shows the old apartment number, school registrations and DEWA transfers will bounce. Re-register with the corrected address.

Sub-lease without authority. If you're sub-letting from another tenant who isn't authorised by the landlord to sub-let, your "Ejari" might actually be a fabrication. Real Ejari is always between the registered landlord (or their licensed agent) and the tenant — not tenant-to-tenant. RERA does not recognise informal sub-leases, and the Rental Disputes Centre will throw out your case if it ever comes to that.

Free-zone or off-plan oddities. Some master developers (DIFC, for example) have their own registration systems that sit alongside or replace Ejari. DIFC properties register through the DIFC Registrar of Real Property, not RERA. If you live inside DIFC and someone asks for "Ejari," you may need to explain — or get the DIFC equivalent registration certificate instead.

For more on tenant rights and how Ejari fits into the bigger picture, see our tenancy law category.

A blunt closing thought

Ejari is one of those quiet pieces of UAE bureaucracy that does nothing for you until it does everything for you. The day you need it is never the day you have an hour to spare. Download a fresh copy now, save it to your cloud, and forget about it until the next government desk asks.

Need this checked for your situation? Talk to a UAE-licensed lawyer →

Citations:

[1] Dubai Land Department, Ejari Services overview — dubailand.gov.ae [2] Law No. 26 of 2007 Regulating the Relationship between Landlords and Tenants in the Emirate of Dubai, as amended by Law No. 33 of 2008 [3] RERA, Tenancy Registration Requirements (Ejari) — published guidance [4] Dubai REST app, official Dubai Land Department platform [5] UAE Pass, Federal digital identity service — uaepass.ae [6] Rental Disputes Settlement Centre, jurisdiction and filing requirements — rdc.gov.ae