Business Setup in the UAE.

The licence itself is typically issued within 5–10 working days once documents are complete. Residence visas add 7–15 working days. A corporate bank account is the slow step — expect 2 to 6 weeks, depending on the bank and your business profile.

If your customers are outside the UAE or inside a free zone, a free zone licence is usually cheaper and faster. If you sell to UAE mainland customers, take government contracts, or run a retail or F&B operation, you need a mainland licence. The tax consequences differ too, which is why we model both before recommending one.

Yes, for most commercial and professional activities. The requirement for a local Emirati partner was removed for the majority of activities, though a limited list of strategic activities still carries restrictions. We check your specific activity before you commit.

Most free zones accept a flexi-desk. A mainland licence requires physical premises with a registered Ejari tenancy contract. The visa quota you can obtain is tied to the space you hold.

UAE corporate tax applies at 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000, and 0% below that. A free zone company can achieve 0% on qualifying income if it meets the Qualifying Free Zone Person conditions — adequate substance in the UAE, qualifying activities, and the de minimis limit on non-qualifying revenue. These conditions are tested every year, not once at setup.

Registration is mandatory once your taxable supplies exceed AED 375,000 over twelve months, and voluntary from AED 187,500. Registering voluntarily sometimes makes sense — for example, when you incur significant recoverable input VAT. We assess it rather than defaulting either way.

Often yes, but banks apply stricter compliance to non-resident shareholders and to certain nationalities and activities. What decides the outcome is the quality of the compliance file — business rationale, source of funds, expected transaction flow. We prepare it before the application, which is why our accounts open. The full document list is in our guide: Documents required for UAE company registration.

No. You can own a company without holding a residence visa. A visa becomes necessary if you want to live in the UAE, sponsor family, or in some cases to satisfy a bank’s requirements or to claim UAE tax residency.

For most free zones, yes — documents are signed remotely or under a power of attorney, and the licence is issued without you leaving home. You will normally need one trip for your visa medical, biometrics and Emirates ID, and most banks want to meet you in person. We plan the trip so everything happens in a single visit, usually three to four working days.

We take it over. A large share of our clients come to us after a setup that technically works but doesn’t hold up — activity codes that don’t match the invoices, no bookkeeping, a missed CT registration. We review what you have, tell you what needs fixing, and price the fix before we start.

Corporate tax registration, VAT registration where relevant, UBO and ESR filings, bookkeeping, and an annual filing calendar. This is where the relationship really starts: we keep the structure compliant year after year, so nothing has to be retrofitted later.