IVF and Fertility Clinic Setup in Dubai (2026): The Federal Law, DHA Licensing, Lab and Staffing Rules, and Tax

A fertility centre in Dubai needs three permissions before it treats anyone, where a general clinic needs two. On top of the company licence and the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) facility licence, DHA's own design guideline states that "all Fertilisation Centres are licensed by The Fertilisation Centres Oversight and Control Committee and must adhere to its laws and regulations" [1]. That committee layer, and the federal law behind it, is what separates an IVF clinic licence in Dubai from every other clinic licence.

The stakes are measured in square metres and salaries. DHA's schedule of accommodation for the unit totals 806 square metres of net floor area before circulation, with two operating rooms and three laboratories [1], and DHA's Standards for Fertility Centers, issued in December 2024, set a minimum clinical team of 12 to 13 licensed people before the first cycle [2]. A founder who signs a lease or a hiring plan built for a general clinic ends up redoing both.

This guide covers the federal law and what changed in 2023, the licensing chain in order, the rooms and laboratories the premises must contain, the staffing minimums, the clinical limits DHA sets, accreditation, ownership, corporate tax and VAT, and the cost structure. BusinessDubai.ae has registered UAE companies since 2013, and its part of this job is the company formation layer. The clinical rules below come from published DHA and Department of Health Abu Dhabi documents, not from case files. This guide is not legal advice, and a founder should confirm the current text of the law and any emirate rule with DHA and the oversight committee before designing a service line.

What licences does an IVF or fertility centre need in Dubai?

A fertility centre in Dubai needs a company licence carrying the activity Assisted Fertilization Center (DET code 8620024, a Professional licence), a Dubai Health Authority facility licence in the category Fertilisation Centre, and licensing by the Fertilisation Centres Oversight and Control Committee named in DHA's guideline. DHA then requires approved international accreditation within three years [1][2][3].

Each layer answers a different question. The company licence, issued by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), proves the business exists. The DHA facility licence is the permission to run clinical premises. The committee layer exists because of what DHA's guideline calls "the highly sensitive nature of this Unit" [1], and it is the layer a general clinic never meets.

The activity matters because the facility application has to sit on a company licensed for the right thing. BusinessDubai.ae's copy of the DET activity register lists three activities a founder might reach for, and only one of them is a fertility centre [3].

A gynaecology clinic that wants to offer assisted reproduction therefore needs the fertility activity, the Fertilisation Centre facility category and the committee licence. That is a new licensing project, not a room added to an existing one.

The company layer is also the cheap layer. BusinessDubai.ae's Dubai mainland package is AED 18,200 in year one without a visa and AED 24,400 with one visa, and it covers company formation only [12]. Our mainland company setup page itemises what that package includes, so you can see where the DET layer ends and the health regulator's layer begins.

Pro Tip: Check the exact activity wording on the live DET list on the day you apply. The code and name above come from a copy of the register, and DET renumbers and renames activities from time to time. If the company is licensed under the gynaecology clinic activity, code 8620010, expect to amend it to 8620024 before a fertility facility application can rest on it, and an amendment costs fees and weeks you did not budget.

Which laws govern assisted reproduction in the UAE, and what changed in 2023?

Three federal instruments govern a UAE fertility centre: Federal Decree-Law No. 7 of 2019 on medically assisted reproduction, its executive regulation Cabinet Decision No. 64 of 2020, and the amending Federal Decree-Law No. 17 of 2023. DHA's Standards for Fertility Centers cite the 2020 and 2023 instruments by name, plus Ministerial Decision No. 236 of 2022 on records [2].

A plain statement about sourcing comes first, because it changes how you should use this section. The official texts of the two decree-laws and the cabinet decision could not be read directly for this guide. What follows is taken from three regulator documents that were read in full, which are DHA's Health Facility Guidelines for the IVF Unit (2019), DHA's Standards for Fertility Centers (issued December 2024) and the Department of Health Abu Dhabi's standard (2023), and, for the 2023 changes, from one named legal analysis. This guide is not legal advice. Confirm the current text and any emirate rule with DHA and the oversight committee before you design a service line.

What the regulator documents themselves cite

DHA's Standards for Fertility Centers anchor their storage and disposal rule in "Federal Decree No. (17) of 2023" and Cabinet Decision No. 64 of 2020. They prohibit moving eggs, sperm and embryos across the border except as that cabinet decision allows, and they require records that follow "Ministerial decision No. (236) of 2022 Concerning Records of Operations in Assisted Reproduction Centers" [2]. DHA's facility guideline marks rooms in its schedule as "Mandatory as per UAE Fertilization Legislation" [1]. In Abu Dhabi, the Department of Health makes a licence conditional on "the federally mandated technical conditions and specifications as per UAE Federal Law on Assisted Reproduction" [4].

The federal law, in other words, reaches a founder through the health authority's standard, and the standard is the document an inspector holds.

What BSA Law says the 2023 amendment changed

The published account this guide relies on for the amendment is BSA Law's analysis, "Further liberalisation of UAE fertility law", by James Clarke, dated 9 November 2023 [5]. BSA Law's analysis says: "Non-Muslim couples, whether or not in a marital relationship may now, under Article 8(2) of the new law, access any of the lawful assisted conception and reproduction services within the country, including surrogacy."

It adds a condition, "An application must be made for the approval of the relevant regulator", and a limit that did not move: "It remains unlawful for eggs or sperm to be used from any party other than the couple concerned, so egg and sperm banks will remain illegal for both Muslim and non-Muslim couples." The article numbers in those sentences are BSA Law's references, not something this guide read in the law.

The table below sets out only the points that BSA Law's analysis or the DHA documents support, with the source of each [2][5].

Two things follow for a business plan. On BSA Law's account, the patient base a UAE centre may lawfully serve is wider than it was before 2023, but an application for the relevant regulator's approval is part of that route. And the service list did not widen to donor programmes or gamete banking.

Real Talk: Do not build a surrogacy service line into a Dubai business plan in 2026 on the strength of the amendment. As BSA Law summarises it, the law "leaves the regulation of surrogacy to each Emirate", and at the date of that analysis "no specific safeguards or other criteria have yet been published" [5]. This guide found no published Dubai rule to cite. Until the emirate publishes one and DHA confirms it in writing, surrogacy is a question to put to the regulator, not a revenue line to finance.

One boundary on this section. The rules for any particular group of patients are stated here only as far as the DHA and Abu Dhabi documents state them, for example the marriage certificate DHA requires with an embryo-freezing request. Anything beyond that is a question for DHA and for a UAE-qualified lawyer.

In what order do you license a fertility centre in Dubai?

A Dubai mainland fertility centre is licensed in this order: a location check with DHA, the DET company licence with activity 8620024, DHA layout approval against the IVF Unit guideline, the oversight committee's licence, fit-out and equipment, a DHA professional licence for every clinician, then inspection and activation. Accreditation follows within three years [1][2].

The table shows each step, the authority that owns it and what it needs.

Steps 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 are the DET and DHA process every Dubai clinic goes through, and this guide does not repeat it. Our guide to which authority licenses a Dubai clinic covers Sheryan, location pre-approval, layout approval and the verification and exam route for clinicians. Our dental clinic setup guide shows the same sequence with a second regulator added on top. What is specific to fertility is step 4, the size of step 5 and the length of the staff list in step 6.

There is an honest gap at step 4. DHA's guideline establishes that the committee licenses every fertilisation centre [1]. The committee's own application procedure, fee and timing were not found in a document read for this guide, and neither was a fertility-specific licensing timeline, so this guide gives none.

Pro Tip: Put one question to DHA in writing before you commission drawings: at what point in the facility application is the Fertilisation Centres Oversight and Control Committee file submitted, and what does it need? The answer decides whether your architect, your lawyer or your medical director is on the critical path first. Keep the reply in the project file, because step 4 is the one step no general clinic guide can sequence for you.

What changes inside Dubai Healthcare City?

Inside Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), the facility and every practitioner in it are licensed by Dubai Healthcare City Authority Regulatory (DHCR), not by DHA, and a DHA professional licence does not carry across. Our guide to the best free zones for a healthcare business explains why DHCC is the only Dubai free zone with its own health regulator.

DHCR's fertility standard was not read for this guide. Do not assume the DHA room schedule and staffing minimums below apply unchanged inside the zone. Ask DHCR for its current standard and fee schedule first, and ask how the oversight committee's licence is handled there. The company layer inside the zone is a free zone registration, and our free zone company setup page explains what that structure does and does not change.

How does Dubai compare with Abu Dhabi and the northern emirates?

The UAE bases differ in regulator and in the accreditation clock, and the table shows what was confirmed for each from a document read for this guide [2][4].

Abu Dhabi runs the shorter accreditation clock, 6 to 12 months against Dubai's three years, and its standard applies that clock to existing centres as well as new ones [4]. If Abu Dhabi is a serious option, our business setup in Abu Dhabi page covers the company layer there. MOHAP licenses health facilities in the northern emirates, and no MOHAP fertility standard was read for this guide, so a founder weighing Sharjah on rent should confirm the clinical rules with MOHAP before using our business setup in Sharjah page for the company side.

What rooms and laboratories must a Dubai fertility centre contain?

DHA's Health Facility Guidelines for the IVF Unit provide for two operating rooms, a 40 square metre andrology laboratory, a 50 square metre IVF and ICSI embryology laboratory, a 20 square metre genetics laboratory, a cryopreservation room, a sterile stock store and one consult room per physician. The full schedule totals 806 square metres net [1].

The table lists the rooms in DHA's schedule of accommodation with the areas the guideline gives. The clinical rooms in the first seven rows are among those the schedule marks "Mandatory as per UAE Fertilization Legislation" [1].

The schedule's sub-total is 806 square metres of net area. With the 35% circulation allowance the schedule applies, the total is 1,088.1 square metres [1].

What the laboratories need beyond floor area

The air is regulated as closely as the floor plan. The guideline requires HEPA-filtered air in the IVF, ICSI and andrology laboratories, with controlled humidity, which the guideline puts at 20%, and a controlled temperature of 22 to 24°C [1]. DHA's 2024 standard describes a Grade A environment against a Grade D background, built with clean-room materials for walls, floors and furniture that minimise the release of volatile organic compounds and toxicity to embryos [2].

One rule surprises designers who know general clinics. Alcohol-based hand rubs are banned in the operating rooms and laboratories, because they are toxic to embryos [1]. The wall-mounted dispenser that a general clinic fits beside every door has no place in these rooms, so the hand-hygiene plan has to be designed for this unit and not copied across.

The equipment list sits in the appendices to DHA's standard [2]. It includes at least two tri-gas or CO2 incubators, with numbers scaled to cycle volume so that doors are not opened too often; three Class II biosafety hoods, two for embryology and one for andrology, with one backup; three stereomicroscopes matched one to one with the hoods, with a backup; a phase contrast microscope; an inverted microscope, a micromanipulator, a centrifuge and an oxygen and carbon dioxide gas analyser, each with a backup; two freezing tanks with a backup; and an antivibration table. A laser system with a backup is required where embryo genetic testing is offered. A founder who also plans to import and resell this equipment needs a separate trading activity, which our medical equipment trading company guide covers.

Common Mistake: Leasing a unit before checking it can take these rooms. A unit that suits a general clinic is unlikely to hold two operating rooms of at least 35 square metres each, three laboratories totalling 110 square metres and a 25 square metre cryopreservation room, with HEPA-filtered air to the laboratories. Check the address with DHA and get the layout approved first, and make the lease conditional on that approval. A signed lease on a unit that cannot pass is rent paid on a problem.

Quick Math: The clinical core alone is two operating rooms at 42 square metres, four recovery bays at 12, three laboratories at 110 together and a 25 square metre cryopreservation room: 84 + 48 + 110 + 25 = 267 square metres before a single consult room. The whole DHA schedule is 806 square metres net, and 806 x 1.35 = 1,088.1 square metres with circulation [1]. Treat 1,088 as the guideline's worked schedule, and ask DHA in writing which lines are a hard floor for your planned volume.

Who must a Dubai fertility centre employ before it opens?

DHA's Standards for Fertility Centers require at least one full-time reproductive medicine consultant or specialist with three years' experience, one andrologist, one full-time anaesthesiologist, a full-time laboratory director who is an embryologist with six years' experience, two full-time embryologists, one anaesthesia technologist, two sonographers and five registered nurses, all DHA-licensed [2].

The table sets out each role in Standard Three of that document, with the minimum and whether the standard allows it to be outsourced [2].

The standard adds that only DHA-licensed fertility specialists may perform assisted reproductive procedures [2]. Every person in the table needs an individual DHA licence, and that process is the same one any Dubai clinician goes through. Our medical clinic setup guide covers how clinicians are licensed with DHA, and the same mechanics apply to the aesthetic clinic and physiotherapy clinic categories. What differs here is the number of licences that must be in place on the same day.

Quick Math: Count the in-house lines: 1 reproductive medicine consultant, 1 anaesthesiologist, 1 laboratory director, 2 embryologists, 1 anaesthesia technologist, 2 sonographers and 5 nurses is 13 licensed people on the payroll, 8 of them explicitly full-time in the standard. If DHA counts the laboratory director as one of the two embryologists, the figure is 12. Add the andrologist and the four support roles that may be outsourced and the organisation chart has 18 named roles before a receptionist is hired [2].

Real Talk: The hire that sets your opening date is the laboratory director. The standard asks for an embryologist with six years' experience who is full-time and DHA-licensed [2], which on its face rules out sharing a director with another centre. Sign that person and the reproductive medicine consultant before you sign a lease. A fitted laboratory without its licensed director does not meet the standard, and no amount of equipment changes that.

No verified salary data for these roles was found, so this guide does not quote any. Price each role from written offers through a healthcare recruiter before you fix the budget, starting with the laboratory director and the two embryologists, the hardest roles to fill.

What clinical limits does DHA set on a fertility centre?

DHA's Standards for Fertility Centers cap oocyte retrievals at six per patient per year and embryo transfers at two embryos per transfer, set a five-year renewable preservation period, and prohibit moving eggs, sperm or embryos into or out of the UAE except under Cabinet Decision No. 64 of 2020. Appendix 5 of the standard lists the approved procedures [2].

These limits shape the service list, the consent forms and the storage contract, so they belong in the business plan and not only in the clinical manual. The table gives each rule and the DHA document it comes from [1][2].

Genetic testing also carries a staffing condition: the standard requires a multidisciplinary team that includes a reproductive medicine specialist, an embryologist and a genetic counsellor [2].

The approved procedures list

Appendix 5 of the standard is the list of what a licensed Dubai fertility centre may offer [2]. The core procedures are ovulation induction and stimulation, conventional IVF, ICSI and IUI. The associated procedures include embryo biopsy, embryo transfer and frozen embryo transfer, freezing and thawing of gametes and embryos, IMSI, in vitro maturation, assisted hatching, artificial oocyte activation, polar body biopsy, cryopreservation of ovarian and testicular tissue, surgical sperm retrieval (PESA, TESA, TESE and Micro-TESE), varicocele repair and surgical correction of obstructive azoospermia, and preconception, preimplantation and prenatal genetic services. If a procedure is not on that list, keep it off your price list until DHA has confirmed it in writing.

One point where the two DHA documents read differently

DHA's 2019 facility guideline says egg and sperm freezing does not need the embryo-freezing request and can continue indefinitely [1]. DHA's 2024 standard, the later document and the one written as an inspection checklist, speaks of unfertilised eggs and frozen sperm being left to perish on request or where preservation is not renewed [2]. Treat the renewable period in the 2024 standard as the working rule, write storage contracts with a renewal date, and ask DHA to confirm how it reads the two together.

Common Mistake: Designing the service menu from a clinic in another country. Three lines that are routine elsewhere do not transfer. A donor egg or sperm programme is out, because BSA Law's analysis says the use of third-party eggs or sperm "remains unlawful" [5]. Importing or exporting frozen material is prohibited except under Cabinet Decision No. 64 of 2020 [2]. Open-ended storage contracts conflict with a preservation period of five years that has to be renewed. Write the Dubai menu from Appendix 5 first, then price it.

What accreditation does a Dubai fertility centre need, and by when?

DHA's Standards for Fertility Centers require a fertility centre to be accredited by a DHA-approved international accreditation body within three years, and require the assisted reproduction laboratory to be accredited under DHA's clinical laboratory accreditation policy. Abu Dhabi's Department of Health sets a shorter clock of 6 to 12 months for laboratory accreditation [2][4].

Accreditation is a second project that starts the day the first one ends. The facility licence lets the centre open. The accreditation requirement then runs in the background for up to three years, and it applies to two things: the centre as a whole, and the laboratory specifically, which DHA's standard treats under its laboratory accreditation policy and the standards specific to assisted reproduction laboratories [2].

In Abu Dhabi the comparison is sharper. The DoH standard, published in March 2023, requires new and existing centres to hold laboratory accreditation from CAP Reproduction, ISO or UK NEQAS within 6 to 12 months [4]. That standard's own revision date of March 2026 has passed, so check for a newer version before relying on any Abu Dhabi figure in this guide. DHA's standard was issued on 9 December 2024 and is due for revision on 9 December 2027 [2].

Pro Tip: Choose the accreditation body before the laboratory is built, not in year three. Ask DHA for its current list of approved accreditation bodies, pick one, and give its laboratory standard to the fit-out designer together with DHA's guideline. Designing once to both documents is far cheaper than rebuilding a finished clean room to satisfy an accreditor, because a closed laboratory in a fertility centre is a closed business.

Can a foreign investor own a Dubai fertility centre outright?

BusinessDubai.ae's live clinic guides state that since Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020 took effect on 1 June 2021, 100% foreign ownership has been available for mainland Dubai companies across most activities, including clinics. The owner need not be a clinician, but the centre must have a DHA-licensed medical director. Confirm activity 8620024 with DET at application.

Ownership and clinical control are separate questions. An investor can hold the shares. The clinical responsibility sits with a medical director, a role our clinic guides describe as carrying clinical and governance responsibility apart from the owner. For a fertility centre the role is operational and frequent: DHA's guideline makes the medical director the person who signs every embryo-freezing request sent to DHA [1].

Two points were not settled by the documents read for this guide. The fertility activity itself was not separately confirmed against the ownership rule, which is why the capsule tells you to confirm it with DET. And nothing read says whether a fertility centre's medical director must be the reproductive medicine consultant or may be another DHA-licensed physician. Ask DHA before you write the employment contract, because the licence depends on a person you employ, and the contract should cover notice periods and a named deputy.

Whether the centre sits on the mainland or inside Dubai Healthcare City changes the regulator, the practitioner licences and the address, but not the ownership percentage and not the tax rate on patient income. The table compares the two routes on the factors that differ for this business.

Our mainland company setup and free zone company setup pages itemise each company route, so the choice between them can be made on regulator and location, which is where the two really differ.

Can a free zone fertility centre get the 0% corporate tax rate?

A free zone fertility centre does not get the 0% rate on patient income. Treating patients is a transaction with natural persons, an Excluded Activity under Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025, so the centre pays 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above, or uses Small Business Relief at revenue of AED 3,000,000 or less [6][7].

The reasoning runs through Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025, which sets the Qualifying Activities and Excluded Activities for a Qualifying Free Zone Person. Transactions with natural persons are an Excluded Activity, with narrow carve-outs for ship activities, fund and wealth management, and aircraft financing and leasing [6]. Healthcare delivered to individual patients is not one of the carve-outs. A fertility centre's patients are natural persons, and their fees are the business.

The de minimis allowance does not rescue the position. Non-qualifying revenue is tolerated only up to the lower of 5% of total revenue or AED 5,000,000 [6], and a centre whose core income is patient fees is far above 5% from its first month. A company that fails a Qualifying Free Zone Person condition is taxed at the ordinary rates, 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above, from the start of that tax period, and cannot be a Qualifying Free Zone Person for the next four periods. In plain terms, a free zone fertility centre is an ordinary taxable person with the ordinary AED 375,000 band. Our Qualifying Free Zone Person guide sets out the conditions in full.

Be precise about the strength of this reading. No published decision names fertility centres. What exists is an excluded-activity rule that plainly captures patient fees, so confirm the position on your own facts with a tax adviser before a financial model assumes anything else.

Small Business Relief is the relief a new centre can use. A company whose revenue is at or under AED 3,000,000 can elect to be treated as having no taxable income, for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, under Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026, issued on 29 July 2026 [7]. Our Small Business Relief guide covers the election and what it switches off. Corporate tax registration is still required, and late registration carries a penalty of AED 10,000.

Real Talk: A Dubai Healthcare City address does not buy a 0% rate on patient fees. If a free zone location appeals for its cluster, its referral network or its positioning, those are real reasons. Tax is not one of them for a centre that treats patients, so compare the two routes on rent, regulator and location and leave a 0% assumption out of the model. A plan that only works at 0% on patient income is a plan that does not work.

Quick Math: Small Business Relief ends at AED 3,000,000 of revenue. Using an advertised aggregator range of AED 25,000 to 40,000 per cycle, which is unverified, that is 3,000,000 / 40,000 = 75 cycles at the top price and 3,000,000 / 25,000 = 120 cycles at the bottom. DHA's own staffing ratio is written around 150 cycles a year [2], and 150 cycles at the bottom advertised price is AED 3,750,000. A centre running near the volume its minimum laboratory team is sized for is probably past the relief, so model 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000 from the year volume builds.

Is IVF treatment zero-rated for VAT in the UAE?

The VAT treatment of IVF is not settled. Article 41 of the VAT Executive Regulation, Cabinet Decision No. 52 of 2017, zero-rates preventive and basic healthcare that is medically necessary and supplied by a licensed provider, and standard-rates elective work at 5%. No Federal Tax Authority guidance naming fertility treatment was found, so get a written view before pricing [8].

The test is medical necessity, not the name on the door. Under Article 41, healthcare services generally accepted in the medical profession as necessary for treatment, supplied by a licensed provider, are zero-rated together with related medicines and medical equipment, and elective procedures with no clinical necessity are standard-rated at 5% [8]. It is the same test our clinic guides apply to dental and aesthetic work.

What is missing is a ruling. No Federal Tax Authority clarification or sector guide naming IVF or fertility treatment was found for this guide. On the Article 41 test, treatment of diagnosed infertility by a licensed provider is the stronger candidate for zero-rating, and an elective service with no medical indication is the weaker one. That is an inference from the general rule, not a statement of how the FTA treats any specific procedure.

The practical consequences are three. A fertility centre should plan for a mixed profile until it has a written view, which means being ready to split supplies on every invoice and apportion input VAT. Registration is a separate question from the rate: it is mandatory once taxable supplies pass AED 375,000 and voluntary from AED 187,500, and our VAT registration and compliance guide covers the mechanics. And the written view has to come before the price list, because a published price either includes VAT or it does not.

Common Mistake: Publishing one price list as VAT-free because the business is healthcare. If even part of the menu turns out to be standard-rated, the centre owes 5% on fees it has already collected at a price that did not include it, and that 5% comes out of margin. Ask a tax adviser for a written position on each line of the Appendix 5 menu you intend to sell, and price after you have it.

Is there an investor case for a new fertility centre in Dubai?

The verified evidence for a new Dubai fertility centre is thin. No DHA-published count of Dubai fertility centres or cycle volumes was found. A figure attributed to the Department of Health Abu Dhabi reports more than 6,180 IVF cycles there in 2024, and acquisitions of two UAE fertility groups were announced in 2021 and 2025.

The general backdrop is solid. Dubai had about 5,800 licensed healthcare facilities in 2025, up from 5,340 in 2024, according to the Dubai Media Office [9]. That is a figure for all healthcare, not for fertility.

The fertility-specific numbers are weaker, and each carries its label:

• The Abu Dhabi figure of more than 6,180 IVF cycles in 2024 is reported by secondary sites and attributed to DoH. The DoH release itself was not located for this guide.
• Directory sites publish counts of Dubai fertility centres. None is a DHA count, so none is repeated here.

The stronger signal is who has been buying. Mediclinic Middle East announced in November 2021 that it was acquiring Bourn Hall Fertility Centre in the region from TVM Capital Healthcare [10]. NMC Healthcare's sale of its stake in Fakih IVF, announced in February 2025, was reported by Forbes Middle East and other trade press, with Blue Ocean Health named as the buyer [11]. Both buyers are healthcare groups, not single practitioners.

That fits the cost base the DHA documents describe. A centre carries 12 to 13 licensed staff, three laboratories and two operating rooms before its first patient, and then an accreditation programme [1][2]. Those are fixed costs that suit a group able to fund the months before volume arrives. A single-doctor centre is possible on the rules, but the investor case has to be built on your own referral base and funding, because no public dataset will build it for you. This guide makes no claim about treatment outcomes, and no official UAE dataset of them was found.

What does it cost to set up a fertility centre in Dubai?

No verified source publishes a total setup cost for a Dubai fertility centre, so this guide does not give one. The one firm figure is the company layer: BusinessDubai.ae's Dubai mainland package is AED 18,200 in year one without a visa and AED 24,400 with one visa. Every clinical line needs a quote [12].

The table shows the cost structure, with a figure where a verified one exists and the driver of the quote where it does not [1][2][12].

The first three rows are the only ones a setup company can price from a list, and they are the smallest numbers in the model. The lines that decide the budget are the premises, the laboratory and the payroll, and each depends on a decision only you can make: how many cycles a year the centre is built for.

Two figures are deliberately absent. The general clinic cost range published elsewhere on this site is not reused, because a fertility centre's laboratory, equipment and staffing load is of a different order. And the only fertility-specific setup range found in research came from a single consultancy's advertisement with no second source, so it is not repeated as if it were a market figure.

Patient prices are a separate matter from founder costs, and the only ones found are advertised. One directory aggregator, reviewed in April 2026, advertises basic IVF at AED 15,000 to 25,000, IVF with ICSI at AED 18,000 to 35,000 and a typical total of AED 25,000 to 40,000 per cycle. Those figures were not verified against any clinic's price list and vary widely between sites. Use them to sense-check a revenue assumption, never to set one.

If you want the company layer priced exactly and the clinical quotes organised into one budget, get an itemised setup quote→

What do fertility centre founders get wrong before they open?

The published rules make six mistakes predictable for a Dubai fertility centre: licensing the wrong DET activity, leasing before layout approval, treating the oversight committee as a formality, hiring the laboratory director last, copying a foreign service menu, and assuming 0% tax or zero-rated VAT. Reading DHA's two documents before spending money avoids each one [1][2].

1. Licensing the gynaecology clinic activity, code 8620010, when the business is a fertility centre, code 8620024. The fix is an amendment before the facility application.
2. Signing a lease before DHA has approved the layout. The schedule needs two operating rooms and three laboratories, and a unit built for a general clinic may not have the space.
3. Treating the Fertilisation Centres Oversight and Control Committee as a formality. DHA's guideline says the committee licenses every centre, and its procedure was not something this guide could read, so it is the least predictable step.
4. Hiring the laboratory director last. The standard requires a full-time embryologist with six years' experience, and the minimum team has to be in place for the centre to meet it.
5. Copying a service menu from another country. Donor programmes, cross-border shipment of frozen material and open-ended storage each conflict with a rule set out above.
6. Assuming 0% corporate tax in a free zone, or zero-rated VAT on the whole menu. Neither is supported by a published ruling for this business.

None of the six is exotic. Each comes from reading a general clinic checklist and assuming it covers this unit.

What has to be kept up every year after the licence is issued?

A licensed Dubai fertility centre carries a yearly stack: the DET licence renewal at about AED 15,000 a year on BusinessDubai.ae's mainland package, the DHA facility licence and each clinician's licence, records under Ministerial Decision No. 236 of 2022, storage renewals on the five-year clock, accreditation, the corporate tax return and VAT returns [2][12].

Three items in that stack are specific to fertility. Records of assisted reproduction operations have to follow Ministerial Decision No. 236 of 2022, which is its own federal instrument and not the general clinic records rule [2]. Every stored sample sits on a five-year preservation period that someone has to diarise, renew on request or close out as the standard describes. And every embryo-freezing request to DHA needs the medical director's signature, a marriage certificate and a valid Emirates ID, which makes document collection part of the clinical workflow [1].

The rest is the compliance calendar every licensed company carries: licence and visa renewals, payroll, the corporate tax return and VAT filings with any zero-rated and standard-rated split apportioned correctly. Our post-setup services team runs the corporate side of that calendar, so the clinical team's attention stays on the DHA side.

Banking belongs on the same list. A regulated clinical business should expect full know-your-customer checks and a signatory present in person, and our corporate bank account guide explains what banks ask for and why applications stall.

Which route fits your situation?

The right route for a Dubai fertility centre depends on what you already hold. A new stand-alone centre goes to the mainland under DHA with DET activity 8620024, one inside Dubai Healthcare City goes through DHCR, a gynaecology clinic adding fertility needs the full fertility licence, and a buyer inherits an existing centre's licences, staff and stored material.

The table matches six common starting points to a route and to the first thing to settle.

For most new entrants the first row is the default, because the DHA documents for it are published and current. The other rows each start with a question to a regulator that this guide could not answer from a document. If you want the company layer handled while you take those questions to DHA, talk to a setup expert→

Real Client Stories

These are composite examples built from the situations fertility centre investors most often face. Names and details are illustrative, and the only figures used are published regulator requirements and BusinessDubai.ae's package prices.

The investor who signed the lease first (Dubai mainland)

An investor planning a stand-alone fertility centre signs a five-year lease on a medical unit that suited a polyclinic, then commissions drawings. DHA's schedule for the IVF Unit asks for two operating rooms, three laboratories totalling 110 square metres, a 25 square metre cryopreservation room and four consult rooms, inside a worked schedule of 806 square metres net. The unit cannot take them without losing the waiting areas. The company itself, formed on BusinessDubai.ae's mainland package at AED 18,200 in year one without a visa, was never the constraint. Lesson: get DHA layout approval for the address before the lease, and make the lease conditional on it.

The gynaecology clinic that planned one extra room (Dubai mainland)

The owner of a licensed gynaecology clinic wants to add IVF and budgets for a procedure room and one embryologist. DHA's guideline says all fertilisation centres are licensed by the Fertilisation Centres Oversight and Control Committee, and its 2024 standard sets a minimum team that includes a full-time reproductive medicine consultant, a full-time laboratory director with six years' experience, two full-time embryologists and five nurses. The DET activity also changes, from the gynaecology clinic activity to Assisted Fertilization Center, code 8620024. The owner reprices the plan as a second facility. Lesson: adding fertility is a new licence with its own rooms and staff, not an extension.

The overseas group that brought its home menu (Dubai Healthcare City)

An overseas fertility group plans a branch inside Dubai Healthcare City on three assumptions carried from home: a donor egg programme, shipment of frozen embryos between its clinics, and a 0% free zone tax rate. BSA Law's analysis says the use of third-party eggs or sperm "remains unlawful". DHA's standard prohibits cross-border movement except under Cabinet Decision No. 64 of 2020, and the group has not yet asked DHCR for its own rule. Patient income is a transaction with natural persons, so the ordinary rates of 0% to AED 375,000 and 9% above apply. Lesson: write the Dubai service list from the regulator's approved procedures, then build the model.

Start your Dubai fertility centre on the right footing

Three decisions carry most of the risk in a Dubai fertility centre, and none of them is the trade licence. The first is the address, because DHA's schedule of two operating rooms and three laboratories rules out any unit that cannot hold them, and that has to be known before a lease is signed. The second is the laboratory director and the reproductive medicine consultant, because the minimum team cannot be assembled around a gap at the top. The third is the service list, which has to be written from DHA's approved procedures and the federal law as it stands, with surrogacy and donor programmes left out of the model.

BusinessDubai.ae has completed 700+ company registrations across the UAE since 2013, with itemised pricing and no hidden fees. Our part of a fertility centre is the company layer and what follows it. We will set up the DET company with the correct activity through our mainland company setup service, compare a free zone structure against it through free zone company setup, and run visas, renewals and the corporate tax and VAT registrations through post-setup services. The DHA facility file, the oversight committee and the clinical standards remain with your medical director and DHA, and this guide is not legal advice on any of them.

Get a free consultation→ for a company setup plan built around the address and the team you have in mind.

Worth reading next: DHA, DHCR or MOHAP: Which Authority Really Licenses a Clinic in Dubai

Frequently Asked Questions

Which authority licenses a fertility clinic in Dubai?

On the Dubai mainland, the Dubai Health Authority licenses the facility in the category Fertilisation Centre, and DHA's guideline states that all fertilisation centres are also licensed by the Fertilisation Centres Oversight and Control Committee. Inside Dubai Healthcare City the regulator is DHCR. The company licence comes from DET, under activity 8620024.

Is a fertility centre the same licence as a general medical clinic in Dubai?

No. A Dubai fertility centre has its own DET activity, Assisted Fertilization Center (8620024), its own DHA facility category, Fertilisation Centre, and its own DHA standard issued in December 2024. It also needs the oversight committee's licence, which a general clinic does not.

Do I need a separate approval on top of the DHA facility licence to open an IVF clinic?

Yes. DHA's Health Facility Guidelines for the IVF Unit state that "all Fertilisation Centres are licensed by The Fertilisation Centres Oversight and Control Committee and must adhere to its laws and regulations". The committee's own procedure and fee were not read for this guide, so ask DHA how the committee file is sequenced with the facility application.

What is the DET activity code for an IVF clinic in Dubai?

The DET activity for an IVF clinic is Assisted Fertilization Center, code 8620024, in the Medical Clinic group, on a Professional licence, as listed in BusinessDubai.ae's copy of the DET activity register. Confirm the wording on the live DET list on the day you apply, because codes are renumbered from time to time.

Can a foreigner own 100% of a fertility clinic in Dubai?

BusinessDubai.ae's live clinic guides state that 100% foreign ownership has been available for mainland Dubai companies across most activities, including clinics, since Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020 took effect on 1 June 2021. The fertility activity was not separately confirmed for this guide, so confirm activity 8620024 with DET at application.

Does the owner of a fertility centre have to be a doctor?

No, on the pattern BusinessDubai.ae's clinic guides describe for DHA facilities: the owner of a Dubai clinic can be a non-clinical investor, but the facility must have a DHA-licensed medical director. DHA's IVF Unit guideline makes the medical director the signatory of every embryo-freezing request, so the role is operational and not nominal.

How many embryologists does a Dubai IVF laboratory need?

A Dubai IVF laboratory needs at least two full-time, DHA-licensed embryologists working under a full-time laboratory director, under DHA's Standards for Fertility Centers issued in December 2024. The standard ties the figure to volume: a centre doing up to 150 retrieval and cryopreservation cycles a year needs at least two.

What experience does an IVF laboratory director need in Dubai?

DHA's Standards for Fertility Centers require the laboratory director to be a full-time, DHA-licensed embryologist with at least six years' experience. The reproductive medicine consultant or specialist needs at least three years' experience in fertility treatment, and the andrologist at least two years.

How many nurses and sonographers must a Dubai fertility centre employ?

DHA's 2024 Standards for Fertility Centers set a minimum of five DHA-licensed registered nurses, including nurses with operating room experience, and two full-time radiographers or sonographers. The standard also requires one full-time anaesthesiologist and one full-time anaesthesia technologist or technician.

Can unmarried couples have IVF in Dubai?

BSA Law's analysis of Federal Decree-Law No. 17 of 2023, dated 9 November 2023, says non-Muslim couples "whether or not in a marital relationship may now" access the lawful assisted reproduction services in the country, and that "An application must be made for the approval of the relevant regulator". This guide did not read the law itself, so ask DHA what it currently requires.

Is surrogacy legal in the UAE?

Surrogacy is not something a Dubai fertility centre can plan on in 2026. As BSA Law summarises the 2023 amendment, "The new law leaves the regulation of surrogacy to each Emirate", and at 9 November 2023 "no specific safeguards or other criteria have yet been published". This guide found no published Dubai rule, so confirm the position with DHA.

Can a Dubai clinic use donor eggs or donor sperm?

No, on the analysis available. BSA Law's analysis of the 2023 amendment says "It remains unlawful for eggs or sperm to be used from any party other than the couple concerned, so egg and sperm banks will remain illegal for both Muslim and non-Muslim couples". DHA's standard separately restricts moving eggs and sperm across the border.

How long can embryos be frozen in Dubai?

DHA's Standards for Fertility Centers, issued in December 2024, work on a preservation period of five years that can be renewed on request. The standard ties that rule to Federal Decree-Law No. 17 of 2023 and Cabinet Decision No. 64 of 2020.

Do you need a marriage certificate to freeze embryos in Dubai?

Yes, under DHA's Health Facility Guidelines for the IVF Unit. Embryo freezing in Dubai needs a separate request to DHA signed by the centre's medical director, accompanied by a marriage certificate and a valid Emirates ID. The same guideline says egg and sperm freezing does not need that request.

What happens to embryos when the storage period expires in Dubai?

Under DHA's 2024 standard, fertilised eggs that have not been implanted are left to perish, not actively destroyed, when the five-year preservation period expires without an extension request. The standard applies the same outcome on the death of a spouse, the end of the marriage or the spouses' request.

How many embryos can be transferred at once in Dubai?

No more than two embryos per transfer, under DHA's Standards for Fertility Centers. Abu Dhabi's Department of Health standard of 2023 words its rule differently: single embryo transfer is the preferred choice there, and double transfer is for cases that are clinically justified.

How many egg retrievals are allowed per year in Dubai?

DHA's Standards for Fertility Centers cap oocyte retrieval at six procedures per patient per year, subject to the physician's assessment of patients who respond poorly. A centre's booking system should count retrievals per patient, because the cap is a licensing standard and not a preference.

Is genetic testing of embryos allowed in Dubai?

Yes, within limits. DHA's 2024 standard permits genetic screening of gametes and embryos with a licensed specialist's approval and consent, "for the purpose of identifying and preventing hereditary diseases", with a team that includes a reproductive medicine specialist, an embryologist and a genetic counsellor. HLA matching needs a physician's report of medical necessity.

Can a Dubai fertility centre offer sex selection?

This guide could not confirm a rule either way. DHA's 2024 standard describes genetic testing for identifying and preventing hereditary diseases and for medically justified HLA matching, and it does not describe a pathway for sex selection without a medical reason. Do not advertise it until DHA has confirmed the position in writing.

Can a Dubai clinic ship frozen eggs, sperm or embryos abroad?

Not freely. DHA's Standards for Fertility Centers prohibit moving fertilised or unfertilised eggs and frozen sperm into or out of the UAE except as Cabinet Decision No. 64 of 2020 allows, and refer to a "Request of Frozen Specimen Transfer". Treat every transfer as a regulator approval, not a courier booking.

What is the minimum size of an IVF operating room in Dubai?

DHA's Health Facility Guidelines set a minimum of 35 square metres for a fertility centre operating room and show 42 square metres in the schedule of accommodation. The schedule provides two operating rooms and four recovery bays of 12 square metres, two per operating room.

What equipment must a Dubai IVF laboratory have?

DHA's 2024 standard lists, among other items, at least two tri-gas or CO2 incubators, three Class II biosafety hoods with a backup, three stereomicroscopes matched to the hoods, an inverted microscope and a micromanipulator with backups, two freezing tanks with a backup, a gas analyser and an antivibration table. A laser system is required where embryo genetic testing is offered.

Can staff use alcohol hand rub in an IVF laboratory in Dubai?

No. DHA's Health Facility Guidelines for the IVF Unit ban alcohol-based hand rubs in the operating rooms and laboratories because they are toxic to embryos. The same guideline requires HEPA-filtered air and a controlled temperature of 22 to 24°C in the IVF, ICSI and andrology laboratories.

Does an IVF clinic in Dubai need international accreditation?

Yes. DHA's Standards for Fertility Centers require accreditation by a DHA-approved international accreditation body within three years, and separate accreditation of the assisted reproduction laboratory under DHA's clinical laboratory accreditation policy. Ask DHA for its current list of approved bodies before choosing one.

How is a fertility centre licensed in Abu Dhabi?

The Department of Health Abu Dhabi licenses a fertility centre under the facility category Fertilization Center. Its 2023 standard requires DoH facility and professional licensure plus "the federally mandated technical conditions and specifications as per UAE Federal Law on Assisted Reproduction", and laboratory accreditation through CAP Reproduction, ISO or UK NEQAS within 6 to 12 months.

Does MOHAP license fertility clinics in Dubai?

No. The Ministry of Health and Prevention licenses health facilities in the five northern emirates, not in Dubai. A Dubai mainland fertility centre is licensed by DHA, and one inside Dubai Healthcare City by DHCR. No MOHAP fertility standard was read for this guide.

Does a Dubai Healthcare City fertility clinic pay 0% corporate tax?

Not on patient income. Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 lists transactions with natural persons as an Excluded Activity, and patient fees are a fertility centre's core revenue. The centre is taxed at the ordinary rates, 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above, unless Small Business Relief applies.

Can a fertility centre claim Small Business Relief?

Yes, if it qualifies. Small Business Relief is available where revenue is at or under AED 3,000,000, for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, under Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026. A fertility centre still has to register for corporate tax and file a return to elect the relief.

Is IVF zero-rated for VAT in the UAE?

The VAT treatment of IVF is not settled. Article 41 of Cabinet Decision No. 52 of 2017 zero-rates medically necessary healthcare from a licensed provider and standard-rates elective work at 5%, but no Federal Tax Authority guidance naming fertility treatment was found for this guide. Get a written tax view on each service before you publish prices.

How much does it cost to open an IVF clinic in Dubai?

No verified source publishes a total, so this guide does not give one. The company layer is AED 18,200 in year one without a visa, or AED 24,400 with one visa, on BusinessDubai.ae's Dubai mainland package. The DHA licence, fit-out, laboratory equipment, accreditation, staff and insurance each need a quote.

How much does an IVF cycle cost in Dubai?

There is no official price for an IVF cycle in Dubai. One directory aggregator reviewed in April 2026 advertises a typical total of AED 25,000 to 40,000 per cycle, with basic IVF at AED 15,000 to 25,000. Those are advertised patient prices that were not verified against any clinic's price list.

How long does it take to license a fertility clinic in Dubai?

No fertility-specific licensing timeline was found in a regulator document. BusinessDubai.ae's general DHA clinic guide gives 3 to 4 months for a general clinic when every track runs in parallel. A fertility centre adds the oversight committee, two operating rooms, three laboratories and a larger licensed team, so plan for longer and ask DHA for dates.

Can a gynaecology clinic add IVF to its existing licence?

Not as an extra room. Fertility treatment in Dubai sits under its own DET activity, Assisted Fertilization Center (8620024), its own DHA facility category and the oversight committee's licence, with a minimum team that includes a laboratory director, two embryologists and five nurses. Treat it as a second facility licence.

References

[1] Dubai Health Authority. Health Facility Guidelines 2019, Part B, Functional Planning Unit 210, IVF Unit (Fertilisation Centres), Version 1.0. Used for the oversight committee statement, the schedule of accommodation and room areas, the laboratory air and temperature rules, the ban on alcohol-based hand rubs and the embryo-freezing request. DHA IVF Unit guideline

[2] Dubai Health Authority. Standards for Fertility Centers, inspection checklist CP_9.6.03_F53, Issue 01, issued 9 December 2024. Used for the staffing minimums, the equipment appendices, the clinical limits, the preservation and cross-border rules, records, genetic testing, accreditation and the approved procedures in Appendix 5. DHA Standards for Fertility Centers

[3] Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism. Business activity register, activities 8620024 Assisted Fertilization Center, 8620010 Obstetric & Gynecology Clinic and 8610004 Gynecology & Obstetric Hospital, as held in BusinessDubai.ae's copy of the register. invest.dubai.ae

[4] Department of Health Abu Dhabi. Standard for Assisted Reproductive Technology Services and Treatment, DOH/SD/ART/V.4/2022, Version 4, published March 2023. Used for the facility category Fertilization Center, the federal law licensing condition and the 6 to 12 month laboratory accreditation deadline. DoH ART standard

[5] BSA Law. "Further liberalisation of UAE fertility law", James Clarke, 9 November 2023. The legal analysis used for what Federal Decree-Law No. 17 of 2023 changed; the official text of the law was not read for this guide. BSA Law analysis

[6] UAE Ministry of Finance. Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 Regarding Qualifying Activities and Excluded Activities. Used for transactions with natural persons as an Excluded Activity and the de minimis threshold of the lower of 5% of revenue or AED 5,000,000. MD 229 of 2025

[7] UAE Ministry of Finance. Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026 amending Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023 on Small Business Relief, issued 29 July 2026. Used for the AED 3,000,000 revenue threshold and tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029. MoF financial legislation

[8] Federal Tax Authority. Cabinet Decision No. 52 of 2017, the VAT Executive Regulation, Article 41 on the zero-rating of healthcare services. Used for the medical-necessity test; no FTA guidance naming fertility treatment was found. Cabinet Decision 52 of 2017

[9] Dubai Media Office. Dubai's healthcare ecosystem posts record growth in 2025. Used for about 5,800 licensed healthcare facilities in 2025, up from 5,340 in 2024, a figure for all healthcare. Dubai healthcare growth 2025

[10] Mediclinic Middle East. Press release on the acquisition of Bourn Hall International, November 2021. Used as a dated signal of group acquisitions in UAE fertility. Mediclinic press release

[11] Forbes Middle East. NMC Healthcare to sell stake in fertility clinic Fakih IVF, 2025. Used as a dated signal of group acquisitions in UAE fertility. Forbes Middle East report

[12] BusinessDubai.ae. Dubai mainland company setup package prices: AED 18,200 in year one without a visa, AED 24,400 with one visa and renewal at about AED 15,000 a year, covering company formation only, with the corporate tax and VAT reference figures used alongside them. businessdubai.ae