UAE offers immense business opportunities due to its strategic location, investor-friendly policies, Lowest Corporate Tax and growing economy. However, the first step for the entrepreneur is to evaluate the setup in which the investor wishes to start his business.
It is important to acquaint yourself with the legal framework governing foreign ownership of businesses in UAE before you start setting up your business. It offers different legal structures, including mainland companies and free zone companies. Each structure has its own set of advantages and restrictions, so it’s crucial to research and choose the most suitable option for your business.
You can choose:
FreeZone business setup options:
Freezone businesses have limitations when it comes to dealing directly in the UAE market. Especially, they cannot cater to the consumer (B2C) directly but can have B2B transactions. They can trade freely within their free zone and internationally, without any restriction. This is an important factor for businesses to choose the area of their operations depending on their future business.
For businesses operating in free zones, it’s important to know about 0% Corporate tax on Qualifying Income. Our blog details out on what type of activities qualify for Zero corporate tax and what documents needs to be maintained to avail the benefit helping you make informed decisions for your operations. The detailed difference between a Mainland company and Free company is explained in our blog post.
One of the most important criteria to compute the total cost for incorporating a company is to know the VISA requirements.
Why do a company need VISA and why is it so important?
In UAE if the company has to run the day to day operations, then it needs a General manager (can be the investor) to sign customer contracts, liaise with the Banker and government authorities, signing authority on balance sheet and so on. With the VISA, the investor cum General manager can stay in UAE and work for the company.
Therefore, 1 VISA is mandatory to run the company, however if there are more than 1 investor or employee then multiple VISA needs to be applied.
Company can also be incorporated with No VISA, in this case, if the individual has Golden VISA or VISA is sponsored by other entity, then no need to apply for VISA again. The individual can save VISA cost and hence our NO VISA package can be selected.
Skip the hassle. Our seasoned consultants streamline the process, eliminate red tape, and protect you from costly surprises.
Fast-track approvals mean you get your license, visa, and UAE presence ahead of the rest.
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From strategy through setup and beyond, we put your business goals first. We’re not just incorporation agents - we’re long-term partners.
Number of Visa
Total Cost
Company Set-up costs
Security Check
License Fees
Virtual Office
Visa Cost
Normal Medical & Emirates Id
Establishment Card
12,900
500
NA
NA
NA
6,000
1,050
NA
NA
NA
6,000
Not Applicable
NA
NA
NA
6,875
1,050
NA
NA
NA
No Visa
Total Cost
13,400
Company Set-up costs
12,900
Security Check
500
License Fees
Virtual Office
No Visa
Total Cost
7,050
Company Set-up costs
6,000
Security Check
1,050
License Fees
Virtual Office
No Visa
Total Cost
6,000
Company Set-up costs
6,000
Security Check
Not Applicable
License Fees
Virtual Office
No Visa
Total Cost
7,925
Company Set-up costs
6,875
Security Check
1,050
License Fees
Virtual Office
Number of Visa
Total Cost
Company Set-up costs
Security Check
License Fees
Establishment Card
Visa Cost
Normal Medical & Emirates Id
Virtual Office
18,400
500
16,550
1,050
13,131
Not Applicable
16,000
1,050
1 Visa
Total Cost
18,900
Company Set-up costs
17,900
Security Check
1,000
License Fees
Establishment Card
Visa Cost
Normal Medical & Emirates Id
Virtual Office
1 Visa
Total Cost
17,550
Company Set-up costs
16,550
Security Check
1,050
License Fees
Establishment Card
Visa Cost
Normal Medical & Emirates Id
Virtual Office
1 Visa
Total Cost
13,131
Company Set-up costs
13,131
Security Check
Not Applicable
License Fees
Establishment Card
Visa Cost
Normal Medical & Emirates Id
Virtual Office
1 Visa
Total Cost
17,050
Company Set-up costs
16,000
Security Check
1,050
License Fees
Establishment Card
Visa Cost
Normal Medical & Emirates Id
Virtual Office
Number of Visa
Total Cost
Company Set-up costs
Security Check
License Fees
Establishment Card
Visa Cost
Normal Medical & Emirates Id
Virtual Office
25,650
1,000
20,550
1,050
21,212
Not Applicable
23,695
1,050
2 Visa
Total Cost
26,650
Company Set-up costs
25,650
Security Check
1,000
License Fees
Establishment Card
Visa Cost
Normal Medical & Emirates Id
Virtual Office
2 Visa
Total Cost
21,550
Company Set-up costs
20,550
Security Check
1,050
License Fees
Establishment Card
Visa Cost
Normal Medical & Emirates Id
Virtual Office
2 Visa
Total Cost
21,212
Company Set-up costs
21,212
Security Check
Not Applicable
License Fees
Establishment Card
Visa Cost
Normal Medical & Emirates Id
Virtual Office
2 Visa
Total Cost
24,745
Company Set-up costs
23,695
Security Check
1,050
License Fees
Establishment Card
Visa Cost
Normal Medical & Emirates Id
Virtual Office
Gain peace of mind as we guide you in picking names with the best approval odds, avoiding delays and rejections.
We have shortlisted top 5 commonly preferred business activity for your quick reference:
Includes providing technical services and consultancies with respect to information technology and applications like internet, internet and data warehousing to enhance the administrative and technical performance in different corporations. In addition to offering consultancies, to involve proposing the adequate software and handling the surveys and studies to determine the appropriate technology consistent with the nature of the firm, it involve advising on the most proper technical applications for transformation to the platform of the block chain technology, with emphasis on the economic return expected from applying in different domains, these firms are not entitled to market or produce any of the software or products related to said technology.
Includes reselling the set of application software and its documentation concerned with realizing the user’s needs and problems, and is applicable in different domains, medicine, accounting, and engineering, it involves also the application software designed to run on smartphones and mobile devices.
Includes firms specialized in helping businesses and others to promote and market their products and services via social media applications, it involves preparation of plans to attract and retain customers, as well as coordinating to purchase an advertising space and to identify the range of targeted customer segment.
Includes providing administrative consultancies and studies to organizations to help them improve their performance, through the analysis of existing organizational problems and the development of plans for improvement., it involves procedural engineering, laying out flow-charts and related documents circulation, internal policy formulation, organizational restructuring, strategic plans development, innovating work procedures, designing balanced scorecards, such firms are not allowed to conduct field surveys and questionnaire before getting approval from the competent authority, the minimal qualifications required is Bachelor degree in Business Administration, Economics or related discipline, along with three years hands-on experience.
Includes firms and holding companies formed to invest their funds and hold the assets of subsidiary corporations which carry out various commercial, transport, contracting and finance activities, it includes operating and managing said subsidiaries.
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