UAE
The UAE is a country of opportunities for both life and business. If you open a company in Dubai or another Emirate, you will receive simple and understandable procedures at all stages of business registration, political and economic stability.
It is important to know not just the administrative process, how to open a business, but also to understand the importance of properly building a corporate structure. Everything may seem simple at first glance, but we must not forget that everywhere there are nuances.
Please note that you can establish a company by choosing one of the three most common organizational and legal forms:
-offshore,
-organization in a free economic zone / free zone company,
-a firm with a local partner / citizen of the UAE (local company).
Below we briefly describe each organizational and legal form.
- Offshore in the UAE – the creation of a legal entity in one of the offshore zones is the most economical solution. This form is well suited for international trade and transactions.
Offshore can:
-can only operate abroad,
-may have an account with a UAE bank,
-may have up to 5 types of activities on a license,
-can act as a shareholder in any companies in the UAE.
-Offshore cannot:
-cannot operate in the country,
-cannot rent an office in the UAE,
-cannot obtain resident visas for their employees,
-cannot qualify for tax resident status in the country,
-cannot receive money transfers from other companies in the United Arab Emirates.
- Free economic background \ free zone
A firm in the “free zone” is considered a resident of the country. The establishment of such an enterprise takes place in one of MORE THAN 20 FREE ECONOMIC ZONES. Free economic zones allow for 100% foreign ownership. For ease of understanding, any “free zone” looks like an urban area. There are more than 20 such districts in Dubai.
A company in the “free zone” can:
-conduct activities both within the state and abroad,
-work with legal entities from other free economic zones and with local companies if it provides services on the territory of its office (for example, consulting, website and application development, online marketing, branding services, etc.)
-hire employees, issue them resident visas and rent an office.
A company in a free zone cannot:
-rent an office outside the “free zone” (district) where the company is registered; office rental should be only in the “free zone”
-work outside the “free zone” if it is required to provide services on the territory of the client outside the “free zone” (for example, repair of the premises (because you need to travel outside the “free zone” area to the facility), installation of equipment, delivery service ),
-engage in trade and distribute products outside the “free zone” where the company is registered (trade can only be carried out within the “free zone” or throughout the emirate, but through a local distributor company),
-participate in government tenders.
- A local company in the UAE is a company that is registered in the mainland of the emirate (outside
the territorial boundaries of free economic zones), more often in a mandatory partnership with a citizen of the UAE, who owns 51% of the total block of shares.