Business setup in Dubai mainland: an LLC from $8,000

We register your mainland LLC with its DET license in 1 to 2 weeks, from $8,000, and your business sells to any customer in Dubai and across the UAE.

Three ways to set up a company in the UAE

Free zonefrom $7,000license in 1 to 5 working days
Mainlandfrom $8,000license in 1 to 2 weeks
Offshorefrom $3,000registered in 3 to 7 working days

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A founder with keys at the door of his new showroom

What a mainland company in Dubai is

DETThe authority that licenses it

A mainland company holds its license from the economic department of its emirate. In Dubai that is DET, the Department of Economy and Tourism, which founders still call by its old name, DED. Such a company trades with any customer in the UAE and abroad, supplies government bodies and rents premises wherever it likes in the city.

LLCThe form most founders register

Most founders register an LLC, a limited liability company, with one owner or more. DET also registers a sole establishment for one professional, a civil company for partners in a profession and a branch of a company from another emirate or country.

1,000Activities a foreigner owns in full

Since 2021 a foreigner owns the whole company in more than 1,000 commercial and industrial activities. Activities with a strategic impact, defence, banking and telecoms among them, follow ownership rules of their own, and we check yours before anything is filed.

The law sets no standard minimum share capital: the memorandum of association states the amount the owners choose.

Who needs a mainland license

A business with premises and walk-in customers trades under a mainland license, in any district of Dubai.

What clients write about Legarithm

4.8 on Google from 26 reviews.

We had long been looking for someone to register a company in the UAE and help with the account. With Legarithm it went as it should: a clear process, help with the documents, no red tape.

Julia But Google review

Everything is well coordinated and clear. Half an hour of the first meeting was more useful than two weeks of trying to work it out myself.

Octavian Wellspring Google review

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What mainland company setup in Dubai costs

Our prices are before VAT. The fees of DET and the other authorities follow in the next section, line by line.

Mainland company with its license

from $8,000Get a quote

Office with its lease registered in Ejari: in your quote
Residence visa, each: from AED 3,000
Accounting with the tax returns, a month: from $350
License renewal, DET's fee a year: AED 12,000–15,000
Bank account application: in your quote

All prices for a company in the UAE

DET's fees for a mainland license, line by line

The authorities publish most of the charges of a mainland setup in Dubai.

Line	Charged by	Fee
Trade name	DET	AED 620
Initial approval	DET	AED 120
License, set by the activity	DET	AED 12,000–15,000 a year
Registration of the lease in Ejari	Dubai Land Department	AED 220
Establishment card, assessment fee	MOHRE, the labour ministry	AED 406
Residence permit for two years	GDRFA, the residency authority	AED 200
Change of status inside the country	GDRFA	AED 500

100 sq ftRent is the largest line

Rent comes on top and is the largest line: DET asks for premises of at least 100 square feet. When you have no office yet, we find one and register its lease in Ejari, and the rent stands in your quote.

$12,200A worked first year, before rent and the visa

For one founder with one visa: $8,000 for the company and its license and $4,200 for twelve months of accounting in the UAE. That makes $12,200. The office rent and the visa, from AED 3,000, come on top.

LLC company formation in Dubai: six steps

1 to 2 days
Activities and ownership
We pick the activities from DET's list, confirm that yours allows 100% foreign ownership and note any regulator whose approval it needs.
same days
Trade name
We reserve the name. DET confirms it in 10 minutes when it meets the naming rules: no other brand's name, and a word that fits the activity.
2 to 4 days
Initial approval and memorandum
DET grants the initial approval, which lets the company sign a lease. We draft the memorandum of association, DET issues it for an LLC, and you sign.
2 to 5 days
Office and Ejari
You lease an office, and we find one when you have none. The lease goes into Ejari, Dubai's register of tenancy contracts.
week 1 to 2
License
DET issues the license within minutes of a complete file, and it arrives in your account.
1 to 4 weeks later
Visas, tax and bank
We open the company's files with immigration and the labour ministry and file the visas. We also file the corporate tax registration in the UAE and send the application for the business bank account in the UAE. Staff are then paid through the Wage Protection System: payroll in the UAE.

The DED license for your activity

For buying and selling: retail and wholesale, import and export, logistics, software trading, construction and real estate.

The office, Ejari and visas of a mainland company

AED 220A real address, registered in Ejari

A mainland license needs a real address. The lease is registered in Ejari at a trustee centre of the Dubai Land Department for AED 220, or in the Dubai REST app for AED 177.75, as how Ejari works in Dubai explains. A current Ejari lease goes into each year's license renewal, and we file both.

100 sq ftThe least office space, with visas counted by it

DET asks for at least 100 square feet, anywhere in the city: a serviced office, a shop or a warehouse. The office also sets the number of visas. The rules put no ceiling on a mainland company: immigration counts the visas against the floor space and the activity, so a larger team rents more room.

48 hoursA residence permit for two years

Each residence permit runs for two years. GDRFA processes a file within 48 hours once the medical test is done. With us a visa costs from AED 3,000, and the route for owners, staff and family is on residence visas in the UAE.

0%Of the shares go to a local service agent

Certain professional activities also name a local service agent, a UAE national who acts for the company before the authorities and holds 0% of the shares. DET asks for the agent's contract with the license file, and we prepare it.

Mainland, free zone or offshore: which route fits

Name	Mainland	Free zone	Offshore
Suits	Selling to customers and the government in the UAE	Selling abroad, with visas and a flexi-desk	Holding shares and property
Trade inside the UAE	Directly	Through a distributor, a branch or a permit	None
Office	100 square feet or more, with Ejari	A flexi-desk in the zone	None needed
Residence visas	By floor space	By package	None
Corporate tax	0% up to AED 375,000, 9% above	0% on qualifying income	0% up to AED 375,000, 9% above
Set up in	1 to 2 weeks	1 to 5 working days	3 to 7 working days
Formation with us	from $8,000	from $7,000	from $3,000

Documents for a mainland company

Documents

Each owner and the manager

Passport copy, or Emirates ID for a resident
UAE entry permit or residence visa
Photo on a white background
Proof of address from the last 3 months

A parent company

Its license and commercial registration certificate
Its memorandum of association
Board resolution to open the Dubai company
Attestation by the UAE embassy and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Legal translation into Arabic

You send them in your account. We check each document the day it arrives and tell you what is missing.

See the platform

Questions about business setup in Dubai mainland

How much does it cost to set up a mainland business in Dubai?

From $8,000 before VAT for the company with its license and from AED 3,000 for each visa. The office rent is fixed in your quote. From the second year DET charges AED 12,000 to 15,000 for the license.

Does a mainland company in Dubai still need a local partner?

No, in more than 1,000 commercial and industrial activities: since 2021 a foreigner owns 100% of the company. Where a professional activity names a local service agent, the agent holds no shares. We confirm your activity against DET's list before we file.

What is the difference between DED and DET?

None in practice. The Department of Economic Development, DED, became the Department of Economy and Tourism, DET, and it issues every mainland license in Dubai.

Is there a minimum share capital for a mainland LLC?

No standard minimum. The memorandum of association states the capital the owners choose.

Does a mainland company need an office?

Yes: at least 100 square feet under a lease registered in Ejari. An Instant License starts on a virtual address for its first year. A mainland company that leases an office in One Central or Sheikh Rashid Tower adds the Business Operating Permit of the Trade Centre, AED 2,000 a year: DWTC free zone.

How many visas can a mainland company get?

There is no fixed ceiling. The number follows the floor space and the activity, and each visa runs for two years.

Mainland or free zone: which is better?

Mainland when your customers are in the UAE or you bid for government work. A free-zone company when you sell abroad and a flexi-desk is enough. To hold shares and property, an offshore company. Tax, cost and market access are compared in free zone vs mainland in the UAE.

What tax does a mainland company pay?

0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above, with Small Business Relief for revenue up to AED 3 million until the end of 2029. VAT registration in the UAE is due once sales pass AED 375,000 in 12 months, at 5%, and corporate tax in the UAE explains the return.

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