Law No. (17) of 2026 creates a new mandatory Permit for longevity activities in Dubai. It applies across the emirate including free zones, it sits on top of existing healthcare licensing rather than replacing it, and the framework that defines its scope has not yet been published.
Law No. (17) of 2026 Establishing the Dubai Longevity Authority was issued in Dubai on 6 June 2026 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai. Under Article 27 it comes into force on the day it is published in the Official Gazette.
Two decrees set the leadership. Decree No. (14) of 2026 appoints His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, as President of the DLA. Decree No. (15) of 2026 appoints His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, as Chairman of its Board of Directors.
Three instruments, three numbers. Any reference to a single decree establishing the authority is incorrect.
This distinction matters, because the two are not interchangeable and the difference determines what an operator actually has to obtain.
The Law defines a Permit as a document issued by the DLA authorising an Establishment to conduct the Activity, subject to compliance with the conditions and procedures adopted in that regard. An Establishment is defined as a company or sole proprietorship licensed by the competent commercial licensing authority in the emirate and authorised by the DLA to conduct the Activity.
The Permit is therefore an activity authorisation layered on top of a commercial licence. It is not a facility licence and it does not replace one.
Article 8(a) and 8(b) are explicit on this point. The Law applies without prejudice to the functions vested in the Concerned Entities under the legislation applicable to them, and in exercising its functions the DLA must do so without prejudice to the powers vested in those entities under the legislation regulating the health sector. Concerned Entity is defined to include the DHA, the Dubai Academic Health Corporation, the Department of Economy and Tourism and Dubai Municipality.
A longevity clinic does not choose between a DHA licence and a DLA Permit. On the face of the Law it will need both.
Under Article 7(a), no natural or legal person may conduct the Activity in the emirate, including in Special Development Zones and free zones such as the Dubai International Financial Centre, unless that person holds a Permit issued by the DLA.
Free zones are inside the requirement, and the DIFC is named. For a regulatory obligation in Dubai healthcare, that is unusual and it removes the free zone route as a way around the Permit.
Under Article 7(b), the DLA issues the Permit in coordination with the Concerned Entities through the Unified Digital Window regulated under Decree No. (13) of 2024, according to the classification and type of Activity.
The definition of Activity is correspondingly broad. It covers developing, evaluating and disseminating advanced medical treatments or applied therapies; conducting research and development and laboratory and clinical trials; providing therapeutic, preventive and medical services and interventions; and promoting, marketing, selling or distributing products related to Longevity, including Advanced Therapeutic Products. A further category may be added by resolution of the Board of Directors.
The fourth limb deserves attention. Promoting, marketing, selling or distributing longevity products is itself an Activity. That reaches businesses which are not clinics at all.
The Law splits the two authorities by subject rather than by geography.
Under Article 8(c), the DHA is vested with the competence to supervise, regulate and issue the necessary Permits to natural persons to conduct the Activity and provide services related to Longevity, in accordance with Executive Council Resolution No. (49) of 2024 and in coordination with the DLA.
Under Article 8(d), the DLA will issue its approval to natural persons to conduct the Activity prior to their obtaining the necessary permits from the Concerned Entities.
In short: the DLA permits Establishments, the DHA permits practitioners, and DLA approval for a practitioner comes before the DHA permit rather than after it. That sequencing is a practical scheduling point for anyone planning a clinical hiring timeline.
Article 8(e) anticipates friction. Where functions overlap or conflict, the matter is referred to the Board of Directors, which examines it and submits recommendations to the competent entities in the emirate.
Article 14 requires the DLA and the DHA to jointly prepare and approve a Unified Protocol covering the management and protection of individuals' data, media briefing procedures, health awareness programmes and digital systems support.
Article 19 provides that the Chairman of the Executive Council will issue a resolution determining violations and fines. In addition to a fine, the DLA may suspend a Permit for a period not exceeding six months, or revoke the Permit and coordinate with the competent commercial licensing authority to cancel the commercial licence.
Revocation reaching through to cancellation of the commercial licence is a significant exposure. It is not confined to the longevity service line.
Article 20 gives the DLA further latitude. For reasons related to serving the public interest or regulating the sector, it may suspend Permit issuance altogether, suspend an Establishment's authorised Activity in exceptional circumstances or upon the occurrence of any event that may affect operational continuity, and coordinate with the DHA on suspending Permits issued to professionals.
Under Article 21, DLA employees nominated by the Executive Director hold law enforcement capacity to record breaches, and that capacity may be extended to employees of the Concerned Entities.
Article 22 sets the grievance route: a written grievance to the Executive Director within thirty days of notification, determined within fifteen days of referral to a committee, whose decision is final.
The Law creates the framework. It does not yet contain the detail an operator needs, and anyone presenting a DLA Permit pathway today is describing a process that does not exist publicly.
Still outstanding: the classification and definition of Activities, which under Article 6(8) and Article 12(a)(3) the DLA and its Board will approve in coordination with the Concerned Entities; the standards, requirements and procedures governing Permit issuance, which under Article 13(3) a supporting committee will propose and under Article 7(a) the Board will approve; and the schedule of violations and fines, which under Article 19(a) the Chairman of the Executive Council will issue.
Until the classification is published, no one can state with certainty which existing services fall inside the definition of Activity. That uncertainty is itself the planning problem.
Regulatory pathway determination now has to precede commercial commitment. A lease signed and a fit-out designed against a single-authority assumption is expensive to unwind, and the Permit requirement applies wherever in the emirate the premises sit.
The sequence that holds up is business concept, then facility category, then location, then regulatory pathway. Where a concept sits near the longevity boundary, that fourth step now carries materially more weight and should be tested before the third.
Concept definition has also become a regulatory act. The line between a wellness service and a longevity Activity was previously a marketing distinction. Under this Law it determines whether a Permit is required.
Start with what is settled. Under Executive Council Resolution No. (49) of 2024, healthcare facilities and professionals cannot transfer their licences without prior approval from the DHA, subject to conditions set by the Director General. That has not changed and it remains on the critical path of any acquisition.
On DLA Permits, the Law is silent regarding assignment or transfer. There is no published provision addressing what happens to a Permit on a change of ownership, and it would be wrong to assume either that a Permit transfers with the business or that it does not.
The correct diligence question is therefore not whether a DLA transfer approval exists. It is whether the target conducts any Activity as defined, whether it will require a Permit once the classification is published, and what continuity, re-approval or change-of-control requirements attach once the implementing framework appears.
Two further items belong in diligence. Article 19 revocation reaches the commercial licence, so the downside is not ring-fenced to the longevity service line. And Article 20 allows suspension of an Establishment's Activity on events affecting operational continuity, which is broad enough that a buyer should understand it before pricing longevity revenue as stable.
The wider point is constructive. Revenue delivered under a defined regulatory framework can be insured, financed and diligenced, and therefore valued. Revenue delivered outside one cannot be priced, which is why longevity revenue in this region has largely stayed in small owner-operated hands. A regulator arriving is what makes institutional participation possible.
A public corporation established by Law No. (17) of 2026, issued in Dubai on 6 June 2026. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed is President under Decree No. (14) of 2026 and Helal Saeed Almarri is Chairman of its Board of Directors under Decree No. (15) of 2026.
On the face of the Law, yes. Article 7(a) requires a DLA Permit to conduct the Activity, and Article 8(a) and 8(b) preserve the functions of the DHA and other Concerned Entities. The Permit is an activity authorisation, not a substitute for healthcare licensing.
Yes. Article 7(a) states that no person may conduct the Activity in the emirate, including in Special Development Zones and free zones such as the Dubai International Financial Centre, without a Permit issued by the DLA.
Under Article 8(c) the DHA is vested with competence to supervise, regulate and issue Permits to natural persons under Executive Council Resolution No. (49) of 2024, in coordination with the DLA. Under Article 8(d), DLA approval is issued before the practitioner obtains permits from the Concerned Entities.
Article 2 defines it as developing, evaluating and disseminating advanced medical treatments or applied therapies; research, development and laboratory and clinical trials; providing therapeutic, preventive and medical services and interventions; and promoting, marketing, selling or distributing products related to Longevity. The detailed classification has not yet been published.
The Law contains no published provision on Permit assignment or transfer. Until the implementing framework is issued, neither transferability nor non-transferability should be assumed.
Under Article 19, in addition to a fine the DLA may suspend the Permit for up to six months, or revoke the Permit and coordinate with the commercial licensing authority to cancel the commercial licence.