Company Formation in Dubai: Requirements for You, Your Documents and Your Activity

The question of requirements is usually answered with the choice of location. Yet something else is decided before that: whether you personally and in terms of documents are able to set up a company at all, and whether your activity can be licensed. Both can be clarified in an hour, and both slow down company formations if they are skipped.

What you need to bring as a person

• Legal age and a passport with sufficient remaining validity, usually six months
• A clean KYC check: authorities and banks screen against sanctions and PEP lists
• A traceable source of funds: the bank will ask about it at the latest, often with bank statements for the last six months
• A business model that can be described: a website, references or contracts help later when opening the account

A university degree, a professional licence or industry experience are not required for most activities. Exceptions are regulated sectors such as medicine, law, education and financial services, where the competent authorities require proof of qualifications.

The documents at a glance

Apostille and translation typically cost EUR 200 to 800 and take one to three weeks. This is the most common reason why a formation appointment is postponed.

The activity determines everything else

In the UAE, the business activity is not worded freely but chosen from a catalogue: more than 2,000 entries, grouped into licence types. This choice determines:

• which licence you need and what it costs
• whether additional approvals from other authorities are required
• whether a free zone offers the activity at all
• whether the income can count as qualifying under the free zone regime

If you choose the wrong activity, you risk fines and, in repeated cases, the revocation of your licence.

The activity catalogue in practice

Choosing the activity seems like a formality, but it is the most far-reaching decision of the entire formation process. The catalogue distinguishes between trade, services, industry and tourism, and within these groups in great detail.

• Consulting, marketing and IT services fall under the professional licence
• Trading in goods, import and e-commerce fall under the commercial (trade) licence
• Manufacturing and processing require an industrial licence with additional conditions
• Several activities can be combined, usually for a fee per additional entry

If you consult today and also want to sell goods tomorrow, you need either both entries from the outset or an amendment later. Adding activities afterwards is possible, but it costs fees and, in some zones, a new review.

What is expressly not a requirement

• Minimum capital: in most free zones none has to be paid in
• Local sponsor: no longer required in most sectors since the 2021 reforms
• Knowledge of Arabic: communication with the authorities is in English
• Residence in the UAE: not necessary for the formation itself, but in practice necessary for running the business

Requirements for visas and employees

Setting up the company itself is one part; employing people in it is the other. Each visa has its own requirements, which are linked to the office package.

• The visa quota depends on the office space or on the free zone package chosen
• Health insurance is mandatory for every person holding a visa
• The medical check is mandatory for all visa holders aged 18 and over, and the Emirates ID for all residents, including children
• Salary payments run through the Wage Protection System and require a local business account

If you calculate your visa needs too tightly, you will have to switch to a larger office package within a few months, and then you pay twice.

What the bank also requires

The requirements of the authority and those of the bank are not the same. You get the licence with your passport and an application; you only get the account with a coherent presentation of your business.

• A description of your customers and the countries from which payments are expected
• Evidence of previous activity, such as contracts or invoices from your home country
• Proof of the funds with which the company will be capitalised
• A match between the licensed activity and the payment flows actually expected

Preparing these documents early saves weeks. If you only gather them after receiving the licence, you lose time exactly where it gets expensive: between formation and first revenue.

How we see the right order

In our experience, the most expensive mistake is not the choice of zone but the choice of activity. It is often made based on the cheapest package price and then does not match the actual business. Changing it later is possible, but it costs fees, time and, in the worst case, the bank account, because the bank notices the discrepancy between licence and payment flows.

Our recommendation is therefore: first pin down the activity in the catalogue, then look for the zone that offers it, not the other way round.

Checklist before you start

• Can your activity be clearly assigned in the activity catalogue?
• Does it fall into a category that requires approval?
• Are the apostille and translations available if a company is to become a shareholder?
• Can you prove the source of funds?
• How many visas do you need, today and in two years?

We have summarised the complete process of setting up a company in the UAE, with deadlines and cost ranges, on a separate page.