Real estate - Dubai
Dubai RERA Broker Exam: The AED 700 Fee, the Exemptions Nobody Mentions, and What the AED 3,200 Quotes Actually Are
You cannot broker property in Dubai without a broker card, and you cannot get the card without passing this exam. The government fee for it is AED 700. Most of what you will be quoted is not the government fee.
Card checkout is being set up. Ask here and we send your access link, usually the same day.
In short
The RERA broker exam is a computer-based multiple-choice test run by the Dubai Land Department, and passing it is a condition of being issued a real estate broker card. DLD's own service page prices the exam at AED 700 plus AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees, and the card at AED 500. Certified training is required first and is sold separately by approved institutes. Three groups are exempt from the exam altogether.
Plus AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees.
Dubai Land Department, real estate professional practice card service page, checked 13 October 2026
The same AED 500 applies to the national broker, consultant, mortgage, management and registrar cards.
DLD practice card service page, checked 13 October 2026
Training is bought separately from an approved institute and is not a DLD fee.
Derived from DLD's published fees
DLD lists these as broker exam exemptions on the same page as the fees.
DLD practice card service page, checked 13 October 2026
Confusing the two is an expensive mistake: the broker card is AED 500.
DLD practice card service page, checked 13 October 2026
Who has to sit it
- Anyone who wants a Dubai real estate broker card, since passing the test is listed by DLD as a condition of issuing it.
- Agents joining a brokerage: the card is personal to you, even though its validity is tied to the brokerage's trade licence.
- Brokers returning to the profession after their card has lapsed, unless one of the exemptions below applies to them.
Who does not
- People over 55, who DLD lists as exempt from the broker exam.
- Brokers with five consecutive years in the same office, also listed as exempt.
- Start-up licence holders, the third exemption DLD names.
- Real estate evaluators, who hold a different card at AED 5,000 and whose requirements include two years' valuation experience for citizens and five for expatriates.
The exam at a glance
- Type of test
- Computer-based multiple choice, administered by the Dubai Land Department
- Consistent across training providers; DLD's service page does not describe the format
- Number of questions
- Not published by DLD. Providers say 50, or 50 to 70.
- Third-party training providers, 2026 - treat as indicative
- Duration
- Around 2 hours, per training providers. Not published by DLD.
- Third-party training providers, 2026
- Pass mark
- Not published by DLD. Providers variously state 70%, 75% and 85%.
- Three third-party sources, all 2026, all unsourced
- Language
- No source we could read states which languages the exam is offered in.
- Not established
- Before you may sit it
- Certified Training for Real Estate Brokers, delivered by an approved institute and bought separately
- Consistent across providers
- Also required for the card
- A Dubai Police certificate of good conduct, a personal photo and a copy of your Emirates ID
- DLD practice card service page
- Card validity
- Linked to the validity of the trade licence, rather than a fixed term
- DLD practice card service page
- Service time
- 5 minutes, for issuing the card once the conditions are met
- DLD practice card service page
What it costs
- Broker exam
- AED 700
- Issuing the real estate broker card
- AED 500
- ERES fee
- AED 50 + VAT
- Certified training (approved institute)
- AED 2,000-4,000
- Dubai Police certificate of good conduct
- Priced by Dubai Police
- Real estate evaluator card (different role)
- AED 5,000
Plus AED 10 knowledge fee and AED 10 innovation fee.
Not a DLD fee. Price varies by provider and format; usually about four days.
Required for the card, not for the exam.
Listed here only because it is often quoted as if it were the broker fee.
Figures quoted widely as the exam fee - AED 3,200 for a degree holder, AED 6,300 without one, up to AED 15,750 with no formal qualification - do not appear on DLD's fee schedule in any form. Our reading is that these are training-provider packages with the exam and card bundled in, described as an exam fee. We have not been able to confirm that with DLD, so treat the tiers as unverified and the AED 700 as the published figure.
How to register and book
- 1
Check whether you are exempt first
DLD lists three exemptions from the broker exam: being over 55, five consecutive years in the same office, and holding a start-up licence. If one applies to you, confirm it with DLD before buying training, because the training is the expensive part.
- 2
Complete the Certified Training for Real Estate Brokers
Delivered by an approved institute, typically over about four days, and bought separately from the DLD fees. Providers quote roughly AED 2,000-4,000. Confirm the institute is currently approved before paying: at least one provider states it took over after the Dubai Real Estate Institute was dissolved, while other sources still name DREI as the training body.
- 3
Book and sit the exam
AED 700 plus the AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees, computer-based and multiple choice. DLD does not publish the question count or the pass mark, so prepare to a standard rather than to a number.
- 4
Get your Dubai Police certificate of good conduct
Listed by DLD among the card requirements, alongside a personal photo and a copy of your Emirates ID. It is a separate application with its own fee and timeline, so start it early rather than after the exam.
- 5
Apply for the broker card
AED 500 to issue, plus the ERES fee of AED 50 + VAT. DLD gives the service time as 5 minutes once the conditions are met. The card's validity is linked to the brokerage's trade licence, so a lapsed company licence takes your card with it.
Try 15 practice questions
Original questions written to the published specification, not recalled or leaked exam content. Pick an answer to see why it is right and where the rule comes from.
Sit all 15 as a timed mock →Who issues the title deed for a property in Dubai?
Pick an answer to see the reason.
A non-GCC national asks whether they may buy freehold anywhere in Dubai. What is the correct answer?
Pick an answer to see the reason.
What is the Dubai Land Department transfer fee on a property sale, as a percentage of the sale price?
Pick an answer to see the reason.
A developer selling units off-plan asks a broker where buyer payments should go. What is the correct answer?
Pick an answer to see the reason.
An off-plan unit is sold but the sale is never entered in the interim real estate register. What is the consequence?
Pick an answer to see the reason.
What does registering an off-plan purchase on Oqood actually achieve for the buyer?
Pick an answer to see the reason.
Which RERA form records the agreement between a seller and the broker listing their property?
Pick an answer to see the reason.
Two brokers have introduced a buyer and a seller who have agreed terms. Which form records the sale between the parties themselves?
Pick an answer to see the reason.
What must a person hold before they may lawfully broker a property transaction in Dubai?
Pick an answer to see the reason.
A broker is approached by the buyer of a property they already list for the seller. What does professional practice require?
Pick an answer to see the reason.
How should a broker's commission be established on a sale?
Pick an answer to see the reason.
What must appear on a property advertisement published by a Dubai brokerage?
Pick an answer to see the reason.
A tenancy contract for a Dubai property has been signed. What must happen next for it to be recognised?
Pick an answer to see the reason.
A landlord wants to increase the rent at renewal. How much notice must be given before the contract expires?
Pick an answer to see the reason.
Where is a landlord and tenant dispute over a Dubai residential lease heard?
Pick an answer to see the reason.
Liked those? The full bank has 180 at this standard, with timed mocks at the real length and your weak topics tracked.
Get the full bank - AED 199What you are really paying, and why the quotes differ so much
DLD's own service page for the real estate professional practice card lists the broker exam at AED 700 plus AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees, the broker card at AED 500, and an ERES fee of AED 50 plus VAT. That is a government bill of roughly AED 1,270 plus VAT.
The figures circulating as the exam fee are AED 3,200 for a degree holder, AED 6,300 for a high-school diploma and as much as AED 15,750 with no formal qualification. None of them appears on DLD's fee schedule. Our reading is that they are training packages - course, exam and card together - quoted as though the whole number were the exam. We could not confirm that with DLD, and we are not going to assert it as fact.
What this means practically: when a provider quotes you a single number, ask which part of it is the DLD fee and which part is theirs. The DLD part is published and does not vary with your education.
The exemptions are the most valuable thing on DLD's page
On the same page as the fees, DLD lists exemptions from the broker exam: people over 55, brokers with five consecutive years in the same office, and start-up licence holders.
Almost nothing written about this exam mentions them, which is unsurprising - the pages that rank for it are mostly selling the training that an exempt person would not need.
We cannot tell you how the five-year rule is evidenced, whether the five years must be unbroken on the same trade licence, or what counts as a start-up licence for this purpose. DLD's page states the exemptions without defining them. If you think one applies to you, that is a question for DLD before it is a question for a training provider.
Your card expires when the company's licence does
DLD states that the validity of the card is linked to the validity of the trade licence rather than running for a fixed term of its own.
That has a consequence worth planning around: if the brokerage lets its trade licence lapse, your personal card goes with it, through no act of yours. A lapsed trade licence in the UAE also blocks visa transactions for the staff on it, which is covered in our guide to an expired trade licence.
When you move brokerage, expect the card to follow the new company's licence rather than your original issue date.
Traps, scams and mistakes
- Being quoted AED 3,200 to AED 15,750 as 'the exam fee'. DLD publishes the exam at AED 700. Ask which part of any quote is the government fee.
- Confusing the broker card with the real estate evaluator card. The broker card is AED 500; the evaluator card is AED 5,000 and needs two years of valuation experience for citizens and five for expatriates.
- Paying for training before checking the exemptions. Over 55s, brokers with five consecutive years in the same office and start-up licence holders are listed by DLD as exempt from the exam.
- Leaving the Dubai Police good conduct certificate until after the exam. It is a card requirement with its own timeline and it is the step most likely to delay you.
- Assuming your card runs for a fixed term. It is tied to the brokerage's trade licence, so a company lapse ends it early.
- Booking training with an institute whose approval you have not checked. The status of the Dubai Real Estate Institute itself is unclear in public sources right now.
What we could not confirm
Stated rather than guessed. Check these with the authority before you rely on them.
- The pass mark. Three third-party sources give 70%, 75% and 85%; DLD publishes none. Our practice mock marks at our own bar and says so, rather than inventing an official threshold.
- The number of questions. Providers say 50, or 50 to 70. DLD does not state it.
- The exam duration. Providers say around two hours; DLD does not state it.
- Which languages the exam is offered in. No source we could read says.
- Whether the Dubai Real Estate Institute (DREI) still runs the certified training. One approved provider states it was set up on DREI's dissolution; other 2026 guides still name DREI. No official notice, and no date.
- Whether the AED 3,200 / 6,300 / 15,750 tiers are training packages rather than exam fees. That is our reading of the evidence, not a confirmed fact.
- How the five-year and start-up licence exemptions are evidenced and defined. DLD lists them without definitions.
Frequently asked
DLD's own service page prices the broker exam at AED 700, plus an AED 10 knowledge fee and an AED 10 innovation fee. The broker card is a further AED 500, and there is an ERES fee of AED 50 plus VAT.
Those figures are not on DLD's fee schedule. Our reading is that they are training packages with the exam and card bundled in. Certified training is genuinely required and genuinely costs roughly AED 2,000-4,000, but it is the institute's fee, not the government's.
DLD lists three exemptions: people over 55, brokers with five consecutive years in the same office, and start-up licence holders. It does not define how these are evidenced, so confirm your own case with DLD before paying for training.
DLD does not publish one. Third-party sources give 70%, 75% and 85% - three different numbers, none sourced. Prepare to a standard rather than to a number.
Not published by DLD. Training providers say 50, or between 50 and 70, over about two hours. Treat those as indicative.
DLD says the card's validity is linked to the validity of the trade licence rather than a fixed term. If the brokerage's licence lapses, the card goes with it.
Yes. DLD lists a Dubai Police certificate of good conduct among the card requirements, with a personal photo and a copy of your Emirates ID. It is a separate application, so start it early.
No. The broker card is AED 500. The real estate evaluator card is AED 5,000 and requires two years of valuation experience for citizens and five for expatriates, with trainee evaluators training for a year at a RERA-approved office.
Where these figures come from
Dubai Land Department - Issuance of a real estate professional practice card
Used for: Exam fee, card fees, evaluator card, ERES fee, exam exemptions, good conduct certificate and Emirates ID requirements, card validity tied to the trade licence, service time
Approved training providers (IEREI, DX Broker, ThinkProp), 2026
Used for: Course length and price, the claim about DREI's dissolution, and the unsourced question-count and pass-mark figures
Third-party Dubai real estate guides, 2026
Used for: The AED 3,200 / 6,300 / 15,750 tiered figures, reproduced here only to say they are not on DLD's schedule
Last reviewed 13 October 2026. Fees and rules change without notice; tell us if one is stale and we will check it.
Keep reading
- UAE trade licence costsYour broker card is tied to the brokerage's licence
- When a trade licence expiresWhat a lapse does to the staff on it
- UAE police clearance certificatesRequired for the broker card
- Ejari registration in DubaiThe tenancy registration the exam expects you to know
- Emirates ID for a new residentA copy is required with the card application