The permit is never the interesting part of an event and it is one of the few parts that can stop the whole thing. A drone that cannot fly, a band that cannot work, a container that has not cleared, a beach that turns out to need three approvals and you have one.
Here is what needs approval across the markets we work in, how long it takes, and the items that catch people out.
The rule that covers most of it
Inside a hotel or a licensed venue, running a standard programme, the venue holds what is needed. Their licence covers the space, the food, the alcohol and the gathering.
Your own approvals start the moment any of these are true:
- The event uses public space: a beach, a park, a street, a heritage site
- Alcohol is served outside a licensed venue
- Anything flies: drones above all
- Anything burns: fireworks, pyrotechnics, open flame, sky lanterns
- Foreign performers, entertainers, speakers being paid, or foreign technical crew are working
- Material is imported: stands, product, gifts, printed graphics
- Filming or photography with professional equipment in public space
- The gathering is large enough to trigger a public-safety threshold
Read that list against your creative in week one, not week eight. Most permit crises are creative decisions taken without a permit conversation.
| Market | Lead time | The item that catches people | Calendar to check first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai and the UAE | 4 to 6 weeks, longer in the October to April peak | Drone approval near airports, close to impossible, and Dubai has a lot of airspace under that constraint | Ramadan. The dates move each year |
| Singapore | 4 to 6 weeks, and the published timelines hold | Temporary structures above certain sizes, plus food safety and public entertainment rules that are enforced | Nothing that stops a build |
| Thailand | 4 to 6 weeks | Foreign performers and foreign technical crew working on a tourist entry | Songkran and the major holidays |
| Bali and Indonesia | 6 weeks minimum, 8 for anything on public land | The local village authority sits alongside the formal one, and both matter | Nyepi closes the island and the airport. Galungan and Kuningan hit staffing and access |
| Vietnam | 6 to 8 weeks | Content review. Material shown in public can need approval by subject matter | Tet closes the country for a week and slows it for two either side |
| India | 4 to 8 weeks, and it varies by city more than by category | Music licensing, which organisers assume the venue covers | Local, so ask city by city |
Dubai and the UAE
A mature and well-documented system, and the approvals are real. Hotel events are covered by the venue. Outside that, expect approvals for public-space events, alcohol served outside licensed premises, drones, fireworks, filming and imported material through customs.
Two specifics worth knowing. Drone approval near airports is close to impossible and Dubai has a lot of airspace under that constraint. And the authorities differ between Emirates, so a Dubai process does not carry to Abu Dhabi. See the comparison for how the two differ.
Ramadan changes what is approvable and how entertainment is handled. Its dates move each year. Check them before you set yours.
Lead time: four to six weeks for most categories, longer in the October to April peak. Our Dubai page covers the wider market.
Singapore
The most predictable system in the region, which is part of what you pay for. Processes are documented, timelines are held, and an application that meets the requirements gets processed.
Approvals apply for public-space events, temporary structures above certain sizes, drones, pyrotechnics, foreign performers and imported goods. Food safety and public entertainment rules are enforced rather than nominal.
Lead time: four to six weeks, and the published timelines are reliable. See Singapore.
Thailand
Workable, and it rewards a local partner. Hotel-based programmes are straightforward. Beach events, public space, fireworks, drones and foreign performers all need approvals, and the process is more relationship-led than in Singapore.
Foreign performers and foreign technical crew are the item that catches people most often here. Working on a tourist entry is a risk to the individual as well as to the event.
Lead time: four to six weeks, and add time around Songkran and the major holidays. See Thailand.
Bali and Indonesia
The one that surprises people, because the island feels relaxed and the paperwork is not.
Beach and public-land events need permissions, and in Bali that often means the local village authority alongside the formal one. Both matter. Drones, fireworks, foreign performers and imported material all need approvals.
Nyepi, the day of silence, closes the island and the airport. Galungan and Kuningan affect staffing and access. Check all three before setting a date. The Bali offsite guide covers the calendar.
Lead time: six weeks minimum, eight for anything on public land.
Vietnam
Longer timelines than Thailand or the UAE, and content review is a real category. Material shown in public can require approval depending on subject matter, and that is not something to discover in the final week.
Outdoor events, imported material, drones and foreign performers all carry approvals. A partner who has filed in Vietnam will tell you which of your content needs review. One who has not will tell you it is fine.
Lead time: six to eight weeks. Tet closes the country for a week and slows it for two either side. More in the Vietnam guide.
India
Approvals are local rather than national, which means the answer changes by city and sometimes by neighbourhood. Police permission for gatherings, fire clearance for temporary structures, music licensing for recorded and live performance, and excise approvals for alcohol are the standard set.
Music licensing catches out international organisers who assume the venue covers it. Budget it and get it in writing.
Lead time: four to eight weeks, and it varies by city more than by category.
The five that catch people out
1/ Drones. Assumed to be a camera. Treated as aviation. Near airports, often refused outright.
2/ Foreign performers. A band, a DJ, an MC, a paid speaker. Work documentation, not a tourist stamp.
3/ Imported material. Backdrops, gifts, product, stands. Duties, a clearing agent and documentation that has to be right before it ships. Build in-market where you can, as covered in exhibition stands in Asia.
4/ Alcohol outside a licensed venue. The villa dinner, the beach party, the rooftop that is not a bar.
5/ Fireworks. Approval plus a licensed operator plus a safety distance that may not fit the venue you chose.
What to ask your partner
Ask for one document: the list of approvals your event needs, who is filing each, the submission date, and the expected date. Four columns.
A partner who has run events in that market produces it in a day. A partner who has not will answer in general terms about how these things are handled. That difference is the whole ground-team test, and it shows up here before it shows up anywhere else.
Where this bit us
We planned a beach segment in Bali and secured the formal permission with time to spare. What we had not done was engage the local village authority early enough, and the conversation that should have happened in week three happened in week seven.
It resolved. It resolved because a local partner spent two days on it that nobody had budgeted, and because we had a fallback venue we had held on to. Had we not held the fallback, we would have been moving a beach dinner with ten days to go.
Since then, every outdoor element in our plans carries a named fallback venue held until the permit is in hand. It costs a small holding fee. It has paid for itself more than once.
Insurance, and what it does not cover
Permits and insurance get conflated and they are separate problems. A permit says you may. Insurance says who pays when it goes wrong.
Three covers worth confirming before an event travels. Public liability, at a level the venue will accept, because many venues set a minimum and will not let you load in without a certificate. Employer liability for your own people and clarity on whether contracted crew are covered by you or by their employer. Cancellation and abandonment, which is the one that matters and the one most programmes skip on cost.
Read what cancellation cover excludes. Communicable disease, government action and adverse weather are the three most often carved out, and they are the three most likely causes of an event not happening. A policy that excludes all three is a policy protecting you from the one thing you were not worried about.
The one-page approvals tracker
Keep it simple enough that it stays current. Four columns, one row per approval: what it is, who owns it, the date it was submitted, the date it is expected. A fifth column for the fallback if it does not land.
Review it weekly from week one, in the same meeting each time. Permits fail because nobody looked at them for three weeks, not because they were refused. Almost every permit crisis in this business is a diary failure wearing a regulatory costume.
Who signs, and what they are signing for
Permits carry named responsibility. Somebody’s name goes on the application, and in most of these markets that person carries a legal duty for what happens under it.
Know whose name it is. If it is your local partner’s, understand that you are asking them to take a personal risk on your event running as described, and expect them to be firm about what the creative can include. If it is yours, or your company’s local entity, get advice before you sign rather than after.
This is also why a partner who pushes back on an element of your brief is often doing their job rather than being difficult. The pushback is cheaper than the alternative.
Three rules
1/ Read the permit list against the creative in week one. Design inside what is approvable.
2/ Hold a fallback for every outdoor element. Release it when the permit lands.
3/ Get the four-column list. Approval, owner, submission date, expected date.
We handle permits and licences as part of running events across Asia and the Gulf.
Tell us what you are planning and we will tell you what it needs and how long it takes.
What did I miss? Lemme know what you think.
PS: rules change, and they change without much notice. Everything here is the shape of the system rather than a substitute for checking the current requirement in the market and the season you are working in.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a permit for a corporate event in a hotel?
For a standard programme inside a hotel or licensed venue, the venue holds what is needed. Your own approvals begin the moment you step outside that: public space, alcohol outside a licensed venue, drones, fireworks, foreign performers, filming, and imported material through customs.
How long do event permits take in Asia and the Gulf?
Four to six weeks for most categories in Dubai, Singapore and Thailand. Six to eight in Vietnam and Indonesia. Longer in every market during peak season and around public holidays. Start the paperwork before you finalise the creative, because the creative may have to change to fit what is approvable.
What needs a permit that planners forget?
Five things, in order of how often they catch people out. 1/ Drones for filming. 2/ Foreign performers and entertainers, who need work documentation. 3/ Fireworks and open flame. 4/ Imported branded material through customs. 5/ Filming or photography in public space with professional equipment.
Do foreign performers need work permits?
In most markets across Asia and the Gulf, yes. A band, a DJ, a speaker being paid, an MC flown in, or a technical crew working on site can all require work documentation depending on the country and the arrangement. Entering on a tourist visa to perform is a real risk to the individual and to your event.
Who should handle event permits, us or the agency?
The party with people in that market, which is almost always the agency or their local partner. What you should retain is visibility: ask for the list of approvals needed, who is filing each, the submission date and the expected date. A partner who cannot produce that list has not done this in that market.
