How to Open a Clinic in Abu Dhabi: The DoH Facility Licence, Step by Step
Open a clinic in Abu Dhabi: DoH preliminary approval and permanent licence on TAMM, inspections, timelines, extension limits, owner rules and renewal fines.
To open a clinic in Abu Dhabi you need a Department of Health (DoH) facility licence, applied for on TAMM in two stages. First get a trade name from the Department of Economic Development and request DoH preliminary approval (DoH's target is 20 working days). Then fit out the premises, pass the 90% and 100% inspections, connect to Malaffi and apply for the permanent licence (25 working days). The same DoH route covers Abu Dhabi city, Al Ain and Al Dhafra, and you cannot see patients or advertise until the permanent licence is issued.
Last checked: 26 October 2026
Who you deal with
Opening a clinic, or healthcare facility licence (also spelled license), in Abu Dhabi touches several bodies. DoH is the health regulator. Everything health-related runs through TAMM, the Abu Dhabi government services platform, using UAE PASS.
| Body or system | What you need from it |
|---|---|
| Department of Economic Development (DED / ADDED) | Trade name certificate first, then the trade licence |
| Department of Health (DoH), via TAMM | Preliminary approval, drawing review, inspections, permanent facility licence, staff licences |
| Malaffi | Approval of your link to Abu Dhabi's health information exchange (see our Malaffi guide) |
| Monitor and Control Center (MCC) | MCC approval before the permanent licence |
| Insurers and a pest control provider | Medical malpractice insurance and pest control contracts, each valid for 13 months |
The rules below come from DoH's Standard for Healthcare Facility Licensure (version 6, published June 2025, effective September 2025).
Step by step: from trade name to permanent licence
Stage 1: Preliminary approval
- Get a trade name certificate from the Department of Economic Development. The facility name must match the trade name in Arabic and English and describe the services you offer.
- Create the facility account on TAMM with UAE PASS and request PRO access for the person who will file applications.
- Submit "Request Preliminary Approval to Register a Healthcare License" on TAMM and pay the application fee. The decision comes by email. DoH's target is 20 working days.
- Print the preliminary approval certificate. It is valid for six months.
- Register your clinical staff and apply for Super PRO access, which lets you file professional licence requests for your doctors and nurses. Each clinician needs an individual DoH licence; our DoH licence guide covers that process.
While you hold only preliminary approval you may not receive or treat patients, and you may not promote or advertise health services. DoH can cancel the approval if you miss extension requests or periodic reports, or if the project is no more than 10% complete after six months.
Stage 2: Permanent licence
- Upload engineering drawings. Ordinary clinics can use the DoH option, where DoH planning and Healthcare Quality review the drawings. Hospitals, one day surgery, fertility, dialysis, diagnostic, imaging and laboratory, and oncology centres must use a DoH pre-qualified consultant.
- Request the 90% inspection when fit-out is nearly complete.
- Upload the documents: medical malpractice insurance contract, pest control contract and a valid DED trade licence. Contracts must be valid for 13 months (group facility policies excepted).
- Get MCC and Malaffi approvals.
- Request the 100% inspection. Only specialties, services or beds that are ready get activated; suspend the rest through TAMM.
- Pay the final licensing fee and print the permanent licence. DoH's target for this stage is 25 working days.
Your clinicians' licences only become usable once the facility is active, so plan recruitment around the 100% inspection date.
Timelines and validity
| Item | DoH rule |
|---|---|
| Preliminary approval decision | Within 20 working days |
| Permanent licence decision | Within 25 working days |
| Preliminary approval validity | 6 months, extendable in 6-month steps |
| Maximum extension: clinic (general, specialised, general dental, specialised dental) in a dedicated building | Up to 18 months |
| Maximum extension: telemedicine or virtual clinic, home care service | Up to 18 months |
| Maximum extension: centre (one day surgery, primary healthcare, medical, dental, IVF, dialysis) | Up to 2 years in a dedicated building, 3 years for new construction |
| Maximum extension: hospital | Up to 3 years in a dedicated building, 5 years for new construction |
| Extension request | File 2 months before the approval expires |
| Licence renewal | File 2 months before expiry; renew for 1 or 2 years (2 years needs a Health Quality inspection) |
The DoH review clock (about 45 working days in total) is not your real timeline. Fit-out, recruitment and staff licensing usually take far longer, so the preliminary approval extension limits matter more.
Which facility type to apply for
Your licence category decides the drawings route, the extension limit and the staffing DoH expects. The DoH standard groups facilities as hospitals, centres (one day surgery, primary healthcare, medical, dental, IVF, dialysis, stem cell and cord blood), clinics (general, specialised, general dental, specialised dental), telemedicine and virtual clinics, and home care services. Pick the narrowest category that covers your services: adding specialties later is possible, but each one needs the minimum licensed staff registered before DoH activates it.
If you are still choosing between emirates, compare this with opening a clinic in Dubai and Sharjah or the Northern Emirates.
Owners and the medical director
- Owner names must match the Emirates ID in Arabic and English. The owners approved at the permanent licence stage are the primary owners.
- Changing primary owners is treated as a new facility licence, with fees. Adding or removing secondary owners later is free. Decide your shareholding before you file.
- You do not need to be a doctor to own the clinic. Federal rules require a licensed technical director (for a clinic, a licensed physician in a relevant specialty or a qualified specialist professional). See Can a non-doctor own a clinic in the UAE?
- Foreign ownership. In 2021 DoH said the federal foreign direct investment rules allow foreign investors up to 100% ownership subject to DoH regulations, and listed outpatient facilities among the areas it was opening up (Abu Dhabi Media Office). Confirm your activity's current ownership rules with the Department of Economic Development before you sign a lease.
- Tawteen. Licensed facilities must meet DoH Emiratisation targets set by circular.
What it costs
DoH does not publish a single fee table for facility licences. The application fee and the final licensing fee are shown in TAMM when you pay, and they depend on the facility type. Budget separately for the DED trade licence, rent, fit-out, the pre-qualified consultant (if your category needs one), malpractice and pest control contracts, Malaffi integration and staff licences. Our sibling guide on the cost to open a clinic in Dubai shows which cost lines to plan for.
Late renewal is expensive. If you renew more than 30 days after expiry, DoH charges 25% of the licence fee per month for up to six months. Facilities in the health insurance system also pay AED 10,000 per month of insurance renewal delay, for up to six months. A licence still unrenewed six months after expiry is cancelled.
Mistakes that close clinics
In March 2026 DoH temporarily closed five facilities and suspended their staff pending referral to the Public Prosecution (DoH). The violations included selling sick leave certificates without an examination, altering medical records, employing unlicensed practitioners and not using approved record systems. Build your launch plan so that no one treats a patient before their licence is active and every record goes into your approved EMR.
- Do not move premises without DoH approval; a change of location needs an undertaking signed by the owner.
- Keep the medical director, PRO and facility director details current in TAMM.
- Diarise renewal two months before expiry, and keep insurance contracts running without gaps.
Marketing before you open
In Abu Dhabi you cannot promote health services while you hold only preliminary approval, so use that time to build, not publish. Prepare your Google Business Profile, service landing pages, Google Ads campaigns and call and WhatsApp tracking so they can go live the day the permanent licence is issued. Our free launch plan maps this out for your clinic, and the full schedule is in marketing a new clinic: the first 90 days. For local search tactics, see Google Ads for clinics in Al Ain.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to open a clinic in Abu Dhabi?
DoH's own review targets add up to about 45 working days: 20 for preliminary approval and 25 for the permanent licence. Fit-out, recruitment and staff licensing take longer, and a clinic's preliminary approval can be extended to a maximum of 18 months.
Can I advertise my clinic before it opens in Abu Dhabi?
Not health services. The DoH standard bars facilities with only preliminary approval from promoting or advertising health services. Prepare your ads and pages, then launch when the permanent licence is issued.
Do I need a DoH licence for a clinic in Al Ain?
Yes. DoH regulates healthcare facilities across the whole Emirate of Abu Dhabi, including Al Ain and Al Dhafra, and applications go through TAMM.
Can I change the owners after the licence is issued?
Adding or removing secondary owners is free. Changing a primary owner is treated as a new facility licence with fees, so settle the shareholding before you apply.
What documents do I need for the permanent licence?
A medical malpractice insurance contract, a pest control contract and a valid DED trade licence, with contracts valid for 13 months, plus approved drawings, MCC and Malaffi approvals and passed 90% and 100% inspections.
Sources
- DoH: Standard for Healthcare Facility Licensure (DOH/SD/HFL/HCFL/V6)
- DoH: eServices (facility licensing services on TAMM)
- DoH: Five healthcare facilities closed (March 2026)
- Abu Dhabi Media Office: DoH and foreign direct investment in healthcare (July 2021)
- Cabinet Resolution No. 29 of 2020: Executive Regulations of Federal Law No. 4 of 2015 on Private Health Facilities
Published 26 Oct 2026 · Access One
What changed for our clients
UAE clinics, hospitals and home healthcare brands that scaled with Google Ads.
Valiant ClinicPremium clinicNew patients tripled in one quarter.
Rebuilt the account around high-intent searches, each with its own landing page.
Liv HospitalHospitalEvery lead source became easy to measure.
Offline conversions sent back to Google Ads, so the team sees where each booked patient came from.
Justlife Home HealthcareHome healthcareBooked patients per dirham roughly doubled.
Spend moved to Search around urgent needs like post-surgery care and elderly falls.
Doctors For YouHome healthcareClosing rate from under 8% to the high teens.
WhatsApp conversion tracking, Search rebuilt around intent and a new qualifying script.
Clinica RamitaAesthetic clinic, JumeirahWe've seen a real difference, not just with the number of leads, but in the quality of patients coming in.
Infinity DentalDental & aesthetic clinicAfter the Google campaigns were reworked, the leads became much more serious and relevant.
More in Opening a clinic in the UAE
Scale your clinic with Google Ads.
Get a free audit of your Google Ads, your landing page and your tracking. We'll show you exactly where the patients are leaking.