Where do you check a VARA licence?

You check a VARA licence in the public register on vara.ae. It is free, needs no account, and as of September 2026 it lists every licensed virtual asset service provider (VASP) in Dubai with its licence number, permitted activities and status.

VARA covers the whole emirate of Dubai outside the DIFC, so a desk in JLT, DMCC or DIFC's neighbour districts sits in its perimeter. Firms inside the DIFC answer to the DFSA, and firms in Abu Dhabi's ADGM to the FSRA — each keeps its own register. Our entry is linked from the licence section of our main page if you want a worked example while reading.

How do you check a VARA licence, step by step?

Checking a VARA licence takes five steps: open the register, search the legal entity name, match the licence number, confirm the status, and compare the licensed activities with what you are buying. On screen the register is one table, with columns for the entity, licence type, licence number, activities, issue date and status.

1. STEP 1

   Open the register yourself

   Type vara.ae into the browser and go to Licences and Register, then Public Register. Do not follow a link the desk sends you — a lookalike page costs a scammer an afternoon to build.

2. STEP 2

   Search the legal entity name, not the brand

   Register rows read "Legal Entity FZE (Brand)". Ask the desk for its exact legal entity name — it appears in the website footer, the account agreement and any invoice. Searching the brand alone can miss the entry or land on the wrong one.

3. STEP 3

   Match the licence number digit by digit

   VARA licence numbers follow the format VL/YY/MM/NNN, such as VL/24/04/001. Compare the full string with the register row, not just the "VL" prefix — invented numbers often copy the format of a real one.

4. STEP 4

   Confirm the status is Active

   The status column is the one field that matters most. Active means licensed today; anything else — suspended, revoked, or an in-principle approval still awaiting its final stage — is not permission to take your money.

5. STEP 5

   Compare activities with what you are buying

   A desk executing a USDT trade with you needs Broker-Dealer Services on its licence at minimum. If the row lists only Advisory Services, the firm may talk to you about crypto but may not execute the trade.

What does each field in a register entry mean?

A VARA register entry has five fields that carry information for a client: the legal entity name, the licence number, the licensed activities, the issue date and the status. Read all five; each catches a different failure mode.

Which activities should a desk's licence cover?

VARA's 2023 Regulations define seven regulated activities: Advisory, Broker-Dealer, Custody, Exchange, Lending and Borrowing, Management and Investment, and Transfer and Settlement. An OTC desk that sells you USDT or buys it from you as principal needs Broker-Dealer Services; a venue matching buyers and sellers needs Exchange Services.

Many firms hold several activities on one licence — as of September 2026 the register shows entries with four activities listed together. Category 1 VA Issuance appears on some licences and covers token issuance, not dealing. If you want to see what a properly licensed Broker-Dealer trade looks like end to end, we documented how a licensed desk settles a USDT sale step by step.

Who are the people behind the licence?

VARA's rulebooks require every licensed firm to appoint accountable senior officers, including a compliance officer and a money-laundering reporting officer. The public register, as of September 2026, lists entities and their licensed activities rather than named individuals, so this part of the check happens by email, not on the site.

Ask the desk to name its responsible officers and confirm who signs the account agreement. A licensed firm answers in one message — the names are filed with the regulator and are no secret. An unlicensed operation changes the subject, and a desk that has passed this far will also run full identity checks on you; the document list is in our onboarding section and any licensed competitor's list will look much the same.

What if the company is not in the register?

If a firm claiming a Dubai VARA licence does not appear in the register, treat it as unlicensed until it proves otherwise. Rule out the boring explanations first: you searched the brand instead of the legal entity, the firm sits in the DIFC and belongs on the DFSA register, or the licence was issued in the last few days.

If none of those applies, walk away. The pattern that follows a missing register entry is consistent: a rate slightly better than market, a countdown on the quote, and a wallet address sent over a messenger. The wider route for staying inside the regulated perimeter is in our guide to cashing out crypto in Dubai legally.

• A licence number that does not resolve, or resolves to a different entity.
• "Licence pending" presented as if it were a licence — in-principle approval is not permission to serve clients.
• A DIFC or offshore address quoted to explain the absence from VARA's register, with no DFSA or FSRA entry behind it.
• Pressure to fund before the account agreement names the licensed entity.

You can report a firm trading on a false VARA claim through the contact form on vara.ae. Reports from clients are one of the ways unlicensed operators get noticed.

The bottom line on checking a VARA licence

One minute in the VARA public register answers the only question that matters before you wire anything: is this firm licensed, today, for the activity it is selling you. Check the entity name, the VL number, the status and the activities — and treat a missing entry as an answer, not a mystery.

This guide is informational and is not legal, tax or investment advice, nor an invitation to buy or sell any virtual asset. Rules and figures are as of September 2026 — re-check the sources before acting. Virtual assets may lose their value in full or in part and are subject to extreme volatility.