Business Setup in Dubai & the UAE

Three ways to set up in the UAE

Almost every UAE company starts with one decision: mainland, free zone or offshore. It determines who you can sell to, what you pay, how many visas you get and how your profits are taxed. Choosing wrong is expensive to undo, so this is where we start every engagement.

Read the detail on mainland setup, free zone setup or offshore structures.

What the process actually involves

1. Activity and jurisdiction

Your business activity drives the licence type, which drives the authority, which drives the cost. We map your real commercial plan — who you invoice, where they are, how many people you need on visas — before recommending a jurisdiction.

2. Trade name and initial approval

Name reservation with the authority, then initial approval to proceed. UAE trade-name rules are strict: no abbreviations of personal names, no religious or governmental references, nothing implying an activity you are not licensed for.

3. Documents and licence issue

Passport copies, photographs, the Memorandum of Association where applicable, and the activity list. Free-zone licences can be issued within days once documents are complete; mainland adds the tenancy contract and Ejari registration.

4. Establishment card and visas

Then the immigration file: establishment card, entry permit, medical fitness test, Emirates ID and visa stamping — for you, your family and your staff.

5. Corporate bank account

The step that stalls most new companies. Banks apply full compliance review to every new business. See how we prepare bank files.

6. Tax registrations

Corporate Tax registration is required of UAE businesses in most cases even when no tax is payable, and VAT registration becomes mandatory once you cross the turnover threshold. Getting this right at setup is far cheaper than fixing it after a penalty. See Corporate Tax and VAT.

What it costs

Entry-level free-zone licences are advertised in the region of AED 5,500–6,000 per year for zero-visa packages, rising once you add visas and office space. A Dubai mainland setup carries government fees in the region of AED 16,500 plus a mandatory office tenancy, which is why realistic first-year mainland budgets typically land far higher.

Why founders use a consultant

You can file most of this yourself. People use us because the failure modes are expensive: the wrong licence activity blocks your bank account, an unconsidered free-zone structure loses 0% tax treatment, a missed registration deadline costs a fixed penalty, and a poorly prepared bank file gets declined and is harder to re-submit than to get right first time.

Frequently asked questions