Everything You Need to Know About Liquor Buying in the UAE

Everything You Need to Know About Liquor Buying in the UAE

First of all, please remember that every premise that you visit whilst in the UAE that is selling alcohol should have a license, if you get the slightest suspicion that it is operating without a license then it is best not to continue purchasing at this establishment, hopefully though with current legislation in place there will not be too many places operating in that nature. Venues serving alcohol are required to attach somewhere in the building their licensing laws. Note it is illegal to drink liquor in the street or other public spaces.

The legal drinking age is 21 and you will need to have obtained an alcohol license to purchase alcohol from a store, these are provided for non-Muslim residents. If you need to find out the process of getting an alcohol license and to see if you meet existing criteria, make sure to do some thorough research online, there are plenty of websites that provide you with the details you will require. But do not try to purchase alcohol from a store with no license, this is an offence. It is only recently visitors to the UAE became able to purchase alcohol from stores at all, up until then it was only residents who were allowed to purchase.

You may be wondering about what the situation regarding duty-free alcohol is. Well, you first need to know that limits are in place. The amount you can purchase must not exceed 4 litres worth of alcoholic beverages, or 2 cartons of beer (each consisting of 24 cans, not exceeding 355ml for each can or its equivalent). The passengers would need to be over 18 years of age if carrying the alcoholic drinks into the country.

A very important point now, and within the UAE, driving under the influence of alcohol or being in an intoxicated state in the UAE is a crime The UAE has a zero-tolerance policy in place when it comes to drunk driving and those committing the offence cannot just expect to face a fine of a maximum totalling Dh20,000 but also a potential jail term which would be decided by the court, 23 black points and confiscation of their vehicle for 60 days. If you are buying liquor in the UAE, do not then proceed to drive, it is just not worth the punishment and of course, potential dangers that drink driving commands.

So, if you are after purchasing liquor in UAE, and you do not fancy applying for a buying license, then you are better offer enjoying what is on offer in the restaurants and hotels, especially as that way you won’t run the risk of purchasing some drinks and forgetting that you can not drink them in public, and then facing trouble as a result. If you are after a drink or two, do remember that not all restaurants and hotels serve alcohol, generally, they do, but some refrain from doing so. With this in mind, it is best to do a bit of research when choosing hotels and restaurants before committing to one.

Now, if you are looking to buy alcohol in Dubai or even apply for a liquor license in Dubai, or in any other part of the UAE, the above things you should know which we looked at in this article today.

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