How to Set Up a Company in the UAE: the Order of Steps
The procedure is well established, but the order matters. Almost every delay comes from doing the steps in the wrong sequence — choosing a zone, for example, before understanding what the bank will require.
The order
- Define the activity and pick the licence activity code
- Choose the form: mainland or free zone, and the specific zone
- Check the bank's requirements for your structure — before registration
- Reserve the trade name and obtain initial approval
- Prepare the constitutional documents and powers of attorney
- Pay the fees and receive the licence
- Arrange an office or flexi-desk and the Establishment Card
- Apply for residence visas
- Open the corporate bank account
- Register for corporate tax with the FTA, and for VAT where required
Where time is usually lost
- The company name fails the emirate's naming rules
- The activity is chosen imprecisely and no bank will open an account for it
- Home-country documents arrive without legalisation and licensed translation
- The ownership structure is opaque to bank compliance
- The visa is processed in parallel with the account, although the bank wants it first
Documents from abroad
The UAE is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so an apostille does not work here. Foreign documents go through consular legalisation — the steps your own country requires for that type of document, then its foreign ministry, then the UAE embassy, then the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs — and are translated into Arabic by a translator licensed by the UAE Ministry of Justice (a legal translator). That takes time and money, so the package is ordered in advance and in full, not one paper at a time as each authority asks for the next. Validity is checked separately: some documents are accepted only when recently issued.
Tax registration from day one
Corporate tax registration is mandatory for every company, whether or not it will make a profit and whether or not it claims the 0% free zone rate. Missing the registration deadline costs a penalty of AED 10,000. The rate itself is simple: 0% on the first AED 375,000 of taxable income and 9% above. A Qualifying Free Zone Person has no such threshold: its income that is not Qualifying Income is taxed at 9% from the first dirham. VAT registration is a separate procedure: mandatory once taxable supplies exceed AED 375,000 in 12 months, voluntary from AED 187,500.
What we need from you
- Passports of all shareholders and directors
- Proof of residential address
- A CV and a description of the business — the bank will ask
- Documents on your existing business, if any
- Evidence of the source of funds
What the wrong order costs
The most common scenario: the company is registered, the licence is paid, and no bank will open an account because the activity or the zone fails compliance. Then the choice is months of going from bank to bank, or re-registering from scratch and paying again. Either option costs more than one conversation with the bank before filing.
The order that saves months
The key difference between a working plan and an ordinary one: the bank's requirements are established before the zone and activity are chosen, not after registration. The company can be registered in days; the account is opened by banks with their own logic. If the structure is built without their requirements in mind, you end up with a finished company that cannot pay or receive money, and you rebuild from the start.
Indicative prices by jurisdiction and a turnkey first-year budget: how much it costs to set up a company in Dubai. The first consultation with LaWEra is free.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take?
Registration itself is a matter of days or weeks. The real timeline is set by the visa and the bank account, and there the range is wide. We give estimates after reviewing your structure.
Do I need to be present in person?
Some steps can be done by power of attorney, but biometrics for the visa and, as a rule, the bank meeting require a visit. Plan the trip from the start.
Does a UAE company change my tax residence at home?
No. Tax residence is determined by each country's own tests — days of presence, home, centre of interests — not by the fact of owning a company. The UAE participates in the automatic exchange of financial account information, so the structure is planned with your home tax position in mind, not instead of it.
This is a general framework, not legal advice. UAE law changes, and procedures differ between emirates and free zones. We review each situation individually.