This guide explains how to get a gambling license for an online casino. It is written from the regulators’ own published pages, so you can see what each one asks for and in what order. It is general information, not legal advice. Anyone applying should read the regulator’s current pages and take advice from a lawyer in that jurisdiction.
UK fees are on our UK gambling licence page, taken from the Gambling Commission’s fee pages. We leave Malta’s fees out here. The Curaçao fees below come straight from the regulator’s own fee document.
First decide what you need
Three questions come before any form.
- Who are your players? Most regulators license the activity aimed at players in their market. The UK Gambling Commission says you need an operating licence “if you want to provide gambling facilities to players in Great Britain” (Apply for a licence to operate a gambling business, Gambling Commission, read 2026-10-28).
- Are you a casino operator or a supplier? Regulators separate B2C (you serve players directly) from B2B (you supply software, platforms or services to operators). The paperwork and fees differ.
- Which channel? Remote (online), land-based, or both. Remote applicants usually owe extra technical documents.
Choosing a regulator is a business decision with tax, banking and market-access consequences. This guide covers only the process.
The UK Gambling Commission
The process, from the Commission’s own pages (read 2026-10-28):
- Apply online. You start in the Commission’s online application service. The application is based on the activities you want to provide, and you upload supporting documents as you go.
- Pay the application fee. The page says to pay by credit or debit card when you submit.
- Get a caseworker. The application is assigned to a caseworker, who gives an indicative timescale for processing. Processing times are published on a separate page.
- Pay the first annual fee if licensed. “Your first annual fee is due 30 days after your licence is issued to you.”
You must be 18 or over to apply.
What to send
The Commission publishes a list of what you need to send us when you apply for an operating licence. Some items apply to everyone, for example:
- a business plan, shorter for small businesses and more detailed for larger ones
- certificate of incorporation and constitutional documents for limited companies
- a group structure chart where relevant
- a management structure showing key positions and who holds them
- policies and procedures covering the licensing objectives
- rules of play and terms and conditions
- bank statements for the last six months
- source of funds evidence, assessed case by case
- forecasts: 12 months for small businesses, three years for medium to large ones
Remote applicants must also send:
- written policies showing compliance with the remote gambling and software technical standards
- details of gambling software suppliers
- an operational model map showing where systems and activities sit and who provides them
- a system diagram of third-party outsourcing
- an end-to-end system diagram from registration to payout
- testing strategy procedures
For what the licence means once you hold it, see UKGC: what the UK Gambling Commission licence means for players.
The Malta Gaming Authority
The MGA’s application process guidance note (version dated February 2023, so check for a newer one) describes these stages:
- Application accepted or incomplete. An application counts as submitted only when it is complete and all required information is uploaded. An incomplete application is set to “Incomplete” once for sixty days. If it is not completed within that period it is rejected and closed. Ultimate beneficial owners, directors and key persons must each submit a Personal Declaration Form.
- Application review. The MGA assesses whether the applicant is fit and proper, has a viable business strategy, meets statutory requirements and has the operational capacity, and has correctly implemented what it applied for on a technical environment before going live.
- Fit and proper review. This covers shareholders, beneficial owners, relevant key persons and the business’s viability. The MGA also runs probity investigations with other national and international regulators.
- Funding review. The MGA assesses the source of funds and the source and extent of the beneficial owners’ wealth. It confirms the owners are fiscally stable enough to sustain the licence and that the sources are legitimate.
- Business plan and policies review. A detailed analysis of the proposed operation, its funding and forecast financials, plus incorporation documents and operating policies.
- Technical set-up and system audit. After the technical documentation is reviewed, the applicant has 60 days to implement the systems on a technical environment. At any point in that window it can request an external system audit by an independent provider from a pre-approved list.
- Clarifications. The MGA can ask for more information and set the application to “amendments required”.
- Approved or rejected. The guidance note says an approved applicant is issued a gaming licence valid for 10 years.
The note also says the same review process applies to B2B and B2C licences, with different documents. It advises reading the System Documentation Checklist before starting.
On the MGA’s current B2C page, applications go through the Licensee Portal: you choose “Gaming Licence Application”, then the B2C type and the channel (remote, land-based or both). The 2023 note names an older system, so treat the portal as the current route (MGA, Remote Gaming Services, read 2026-10-28).
The guidance note also covers share capital, which depends on the game type. Check the current figures on the MGA site before relying on any of them. For the regulator’s profile, see Malta Gaming Authority (MGA): licences, registers and player help.
The Curaçao Gaming Authority
Curaçao publishes its fees in a single document, License Fees under the National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK), Version 2.0 (Curaçao Gaming Authority, 2025-10-15). From it:
- A B2C (casino operator) licence application costs a one-time, non-refundable EUR 4,592, plus EUR 150 for each ultimate beneficial owner (p. 4).
- A B2B (supplier) licence carries a single EUR 24,490 annual supervisory fee and no Treasury licence fee (p. 5).
- Adding a main domain to a licence costs a one-time EUR 250 (p. 6).
For all the fees in one place, see how much a gambling license costs. The B2B-versus-B2C difference is the point to take away. A supplier pays one supervisory fee. An operator pays an application fee, then separate annual fees, and then pays again each time it adds a domain. The domain fee also explains why each site a casino runs should be on the register: the domain is part of the licence.
After approval, the licence appears on the CGA’s public register. How to read the register statuses is covered on the Curaçao Gaming Authority page.
Side by side
| Step | UK Gambling Commission | Malta Gaming Authority | Curaçao Gaming Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where you apply | Online application service | Licensee Portal | Not covered here |
| Completeness rule | Fee paid on submission | Incomplete applications get one 60-day window | Not covered here |
| Who is checked | Ownership and management documents | Shareholders, beneficial owners, key persons | Beneficial owners are charged per person |
| Technical step | Remote technical documents sent up front | 60 days to implement; optional external audit | Not covered here |
| First annual fee | Due 30 days after licence issue | Check the MGA site | See the CGA fee document |
Common reasons applications stall
The regulators’ pages point to a few recurring problems.
- Incomplete paperwork. Malta rejects an application that is not completed within its 60-day window. The UK regulator lists a long set of documents, and missing items slow a case.
- Unclear ownership. Both regulators ask for the ownership structure and who controls the business. The MGA runs fit and proper checks on shareholders and beneficial owners and probity checks with other regulators.
- Unexplained money. Source of funds is asked for by the UK Commission and reviewed in depth by the MGA, including the source of the owners’ wealth.
- Technical set-up not ready. Remote applicants have to show how the systems work, who supplies them and how they are tested.
Who applies and who does not
Players do not apply for anything. The applicant is the company. That is why the licence belongs to a company name, and why we ask you to search by company, not brand. A single group can hold several licences, in different countries, for different brands. Our check in how to check a gambling license starts from that point.
Affiliates, which includes review sites like ours, do not hold a gambling licence. The operators we promote do.
What a licence does not do
Getting the licence is the start. The conditions after approval run for as long as you hold it: reporting, player protection, advertising rules and fees. That is why the regulators ask so much about owners and funds at the beginning. They want to know who is behind the business before it takes players’ money.
For a player, the process shows why a register entry means something. A casino with a UK or Malta licence has been through ownership, funding and policy review. Check it for yourself with how to check a gambling license.
What we left out
We did not include fee schedules for the UK or Malta, processing times, or the Curaçao application steps beyond the fee document. We could not confirm those from a document we could open, and a wrong figure in a process guide is costly for anyone who plans around it.