In short
- The order is fixed: activity, route, legal form, name, initial approval, address, license, visas, bank account, tax.
- DET charges AED 620 for the trade name, AED 120 for the initial approval and AED 12,000–15,000 a year for the license.
- A free-zone license is issued remotely in 1 to 5 working days, and you travel once, for the medical test and the fingerprints.
- A new company registers for corporate tax within 3 months, and for VAT once sales pass AED 375,000 in 12 months.
In this guide
How to start a business in Dubai: ten steps in order
Each authority asks for the document the one before it issued, so the order is fixed. It holds for a mainland company licensed by DET, Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism, and for a free-zone company licensed by its zone.
- Choose the activity that goes on the license.
- Choose the route: mainland, a free zone or offshore.
- Choose the legal form and who holds the shares.
- Reserve the trade name.
- Obtain the initial approval and sign the memorandum of association.
- Take an address: an office lease registered in Ejari, or a flexi-desk in the zone.
- Receive the trade license.
- Obtain the establishment card, the residence visas and the Emirates IDs.
- Open the business bank account.
- Register for corporate tax, and for VAT once sales pass the threshold.
We agree steps 1 and 2 with you and run steps 3 to 10 from your account. Our packages and the fee of each Dubai zone are on our page for setting up a company in Dubai.
Steps 1 and 2: the activity sets the license, your customers set the route
The license type, the approvals and the fee follow from the activity. DET issues a commercial license for trade, a professional license for services and an industrial license for manufacturing. Unrelated goods on one license need a general trading company, AED 15,000 a year at JAFZA. Health, transport and telecoms activities pass their regulator first.
List what you will invoice in the first year. IFZA prices three activities into its license and charges AED 1,000 for each further one, and an activity added later is an amendment: the authority's fee plus ours of AED 1,450.
The route follows your customers:
| Route | Choose it when | What the company gets |
|---|---|---|
| Mainland, licensed by DET | Customers in the UAE, premises, government tenders | Sales anywhere in the UAE; visas by office floor space |
| Free zone, licensed by the zone | Customers abroad or in other free zones, a desk is enough | A flexi-desk in the fee; visas by package; mainland Dubai work under DET's permit, AED 5,000 for six months |
| Offshore, registered by RAK ICC or JAFZA | Holding shares or property, no trade in the UAE | Registration in 3 to 7 working days; no visas |
We set up a mainland company in Dubai and a free-zone company in Dubai and the UAE. Tax and cost of the two are set side by side in our comparison of the two routes.
Step 3: the legal form, the owners and the capital
On the mainland most founders register a limited liability company, an LLC, with one owner or more. DET also registers a sole establishment for one professional, a civil company for partners in a profession and the branch of an existing company. A Dubai free zone registers an FZE for one shareholder and an FZCO for two or more.
A foreigner owns 100% of a free-zone company and, since 2021, of a mainland company in most commercial and industrial activities. Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020 ended the rule of an Emirati majority partner, so the 51% local share still quoted in places is the old law. Defence, banking and telecommunications keep their own conditions. Where a professional activity names a local service agent, the agent holds 0% of the shares.
Most activities carry no minimum share capital: the memorandum states the amount the owners choose. A company that becomes a shareholder brings its certificate of incorporation, memorandum and board resolution, attested by the UAE embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and translated into Arabic. We start that file on day 1.
Steps 4 and 5: trade name and initial approval
We reserve the name. DET confirms a mainland trade name in 10 minutes for AED 620 when it meets the rules of the UAE Government portal:
- the name ends with the acronym of the legal form, such as LLC
- it carries no religious name and no name or logo of an authority or another body
- it offends neither public morals nor public order
- no other business has registered it
The initial approval follows, AED 120 at DET, also in 10 minutes. It lets you sign a lease and apply to a regulator, with no right to trade yet. A foreign investor needs the approval of GDRFA, the residency authority, before DET's initial approval.
DET then issues the memorandum of an LLC, which you sign before a notary. A free zone runs both steps online. It checks the name and the owners in 1 to 2 working days, and you sign the memorandum and the desk lease electronically in 1 to 2 more.
Steps 6 and 7: an address, then the trade license
A mainland license needs an address of 100 square feet or more anywhere in Dubai: an office, a shop or a warehouse. The lease goes into Ejari, the Dubai Land Department's tenancy register, for AED 220 at a trustee centre or AED 177.75 online. Mainland visas follow the floor space, so lease for the team you plan.
DET's Instant License, for an activity with no outside approvals, is issued in five minutes on a virtual address, and the real one is due at the first renewal. A free-zone company takes a flexi-desk, a shared desk priced into the zone's license fee.
With the approval, the memorandum and the address on file, the license follows. A free zone issues it in 1 to 5 working days, DET in 1 to 2 weeks from the start. The fee is paid within 30 days of the payment voucher, or the application is cancelled. DET charges AED 12,000–15,000 a year, Meydan Free Zone AED 12,500 with the desk. Each license carries a Dubai Unified License number that banks use to look the company up, and the license types and renewal are on our license service page.
Step 8: establishment card, residence visas and Emirates ID
First comes the establishment card, the company's file with immigration, which GDRFA Dubai issues in 48 hours. A mainland company also opens a file with the labour ministry before it hires. Then each visa takes five steps:
- We apply for your entry permit, or change your status when you are already in the UAE. GDRFA charges AED 500 for an application from inside the country.
- You take the medical fitness test, required from the age of 18.
- On the same trip you give your fingerprints for the Emirates ID, the identity card of every resident.
- GDRFA issues the 2-year residence permit within 48 hours, for AED 240 with the knowledge, innovation and delivery fees.
- We open the files of your family and your staff in the same order.
The owner's visa comes 1 to 3 weeks after the license. A free-zone package sets the number of visas, the mainland office its floor space. A zone bills its own lines for the first visa: at Meydan the establishment card from AED 2,000 and the medical test with the Emirates ID from AED 2,250. Our fee is from AED 1,450 a visa, and the routes for owners, staff and family are on the visa service page.
Steps 9 and 10: the bank account, corporate tax and VAT
We send the bank application once the license exists, and a bank opens the account in 2 to 4 weeks from a complete file. It identifies the company and its beneficial owners, sets the license against the invoices you expect and asks where the first deposit comes from. A UAE residence visa widens the choice of banks, so where the plan allows we obtain it first. We choose the bank and prepare the file for your company's account.
Banks ask for the tax registration, so we file it that week. A company incorporated since 1 March 2024 registers for corporate tax with the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) within 3 months. Registration is free and takes 20 business days, and a late one costs AED 10,000, waived when the first return is filed within 7 months of the first tax period's end.
The tax is 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above. Revenue of AED 3 million or less can take Small Business Relief for periods ending by 31 December 2029. The first return is due 9 months after the first year ends. We register the company through our corporate tax service for AED 1,850, or within the Business package.
VAT registration becomes compulsory once taxable sales and imports pass AED 375,000 in 12 months, and the application is due within 30 days. From AED 187,500 of sales or costs a company may register by choice and recover the VAT on its setup costs. The rate is 5%, and our VAT service registers the company for AED 1,300, or within VIP.
Timeline and cost: who does what, how long, what it costs
The table follows one company through the ten steps. Its fees are the authorities' own, at cost.
| Step | Who acts | Time | Authority's fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3. Activity, route, legal form | You decide, we check | Day 1 | None |
| 4. Trade name | DET or the zone | 10 minutes at DET; 1 to 2 working days in a zone | AED 620 at DET |
| 5. Initial approval, memorandum | DET; you sign | 2 to 4 days | AED 120 at DET |
| 6. Address | You lease; the Dubai Land Department registers | 2 to 5 days | AED 220 for Ejari; a zone desk is in the license fee |
| 7. Trade license | DET or the zone | 1 to 2 weeks; 1 to 5 working days in a zone | AED 12,000–15,000 at DET; AED 12,500 at Meydan |
| 8. Establishment card, visa, Emirates ID | GDRFA or the zone; you travel once | 1 to 3 weeks | AED 240 for the permit at GDRFA, with the knowledge, innovation and delivery fees |
| 9. Bank account | The bank; we file | 2 to 4 weeks | From AED 0 a month |
| 10. Corporate tax, then VAT | The FTA; we file | Within 3 months; 20 business days | AED 0 |
The bank application and the tax registration run while the visas are processed. On either route the license, the owner's visa and the account stand 3 to 6 weeks after the first step. Our Smart package is AED 2,150 for the company, AED 1,450 a visa and AED 1,800 for the bank account, AED 5,400 together, before VAT. Rent, accounting and the renewal complete the first-year budget, set out line by line on the Dubai company setup page, where you order the company.
Starting a business in Dubai as a foreigner: what you need and when you travel
A foreigner takes the same ten steps as a resident, with three differences:
- Before the license. A free-zone license is issued remotely, with online identity checks and an electronic signature. DET asks a mainland applicant for a UAE entry permit or a residence visa.
- For the visa. You come to the UAE once, for the medical test and the fingerprints, and we book both for the same visit.
- When you already work in the UAE. You bring a no-objection letter from your current sponsor.
Each owner and manager sends a passport copy, a photo on a white background and proof of address from the last 3 months, and a corporate owner its attested papers.
