How to Setup Business in Dubai Mainland

The process of setting up business in Dubai mainland is quite simple and fast process. The Department of Economic Development is the jurisdiction that issues license to the companies to operate inside and outside UAE. The different types of license issued by are

• Commercial license • Industrial license • Tourism license • Professional license Following are the mandatory requirement to setup business in mainland of Dubai. A. UAE National as shareholder or Service agent

Setting up business in Dubai mainland requires an UAE National to act as 51% shareholder or a service agent depending on type of business activity. In the commercial, Tourism, Industrial license, the UAE National must have minimum of 51% shares. The UAE National must be appointed a service agent in case of Professional license, Branch of a foreign company, Branch of a Free zone company and Representative office. The UAE National shareholder can either be a company or an individual. The company formed by UAE National can also be 51% shareholder for the company and this is termed as corporate shareholder. Anyhow corporate shareholding is not accepted in few activities, to name few are General Trading, Building contracting etc

B. Office space

The office space is another mandatory requirement for the mainland license. The business owner must make a tenancy contract for with the landlord under his company name using the initial approval. Then Ejari must be obtained from the RERA Department which has to be submitted to Department of Economic. The 5% of annual office rent will be added as market fee in the trade license fee Anyways, now the Department of Economic Development has come up with new initiative called Instant license in favor of Business owner those don’t require an office space. Instead of 5% of annual rent, the amount of AED 10,000 must be paid to the Department of Economic Development as a market fee, though this facility is active only for the first year. Upon renewal the business owner must find an office space for their business and submit the Ejari

C. Required Documents Following are the required documents to setup business in Dubai mainland •  Passport copy of the shareholders •  NOC from the sponsors for UAE residence visa holders •  NOC from the Free zone for individual holding Free zone visa •  Tenancy contract and Ejari •  Business plan (Subject to the requirement from Authority) •  Proposed Trade name •  Attested Educational documents (Subject to the requirement for selected activities) •  Attested and Notarized parent company documents, Attested and Notarized Board resolution for Branch of foreign companies and Representative office •  Parent company documents and Board resolution for Free zone companies to act as a shareholder in Mainland license Different types of establishments in Dubai Mainland •  Limited Liability company •  Sole proprietorship •  Civil Business Company •  Simple limited partnership •  General Partnership •  Private Shareholding company •  Public shareholding company •  Branch of Foreign company •  Branch of GCC Company •  Branch of Dubai based company •  Branch of UAE based company Special notes to be considered while forming mainland license • It is mandatory to have the Trade Activity reflected on the Trade Name. • Shareholders presence is required in the court to sign the Memorandum / Local service Agent Agreement. • There is an extra charge applicable for foreign trade name • For each additional partner there will additional AED 1000 per year for owner accommodation fees. • WPS (Wage Protection System) registration is compulsory of each company. • The investor has to open personal bank account and do some monthly transaction. Last six month’s bank statement will be required by immigration department to renew the visa. This blog post is written by Mr. Ananth. Feel free to call our Business Adviser today for a quality consultation relating to your Business queries. Please send inquiry to info[at]flyingcolour[dot]com or call +971 4 4542366.