Company Formation and Corporate Support in the UAE — LaWEra Group

A UAE licence can be issued in days. The bank account can then take months — usually because the free zone was chosen on price before anyone asked what a bank would make of it. We work in the opposite order: first a structure that will pass the bank and the tax rules, then the registration. And we stay on after the licence: bookkeeping, tax filings, visas, renewals.

Who comes to us

• A founder with clients in several countries who needs a company to invoice from — and an account that actually opens.
• Someone who already has a licence, set up online or through an agent, and no account after several refusals nobody explained.
• An investor whose local partner holds the licence in his own name, so the person who paid for the business does not legally own it.
• A family relocating: residence visas, Emirates ID, a personal account — all of it depending on the company being set up correctly.
• A company that has missed, or is about to miss, corporate tax registration and has no accountant in the country.

Different stories, one mistake: the structure was chosen before anyone looked at the bank and the tax position. Start with mainland vs free zone and how to choose a free zone.

What we do, step by step

1. Diagnosis. Who pays you and from where, whom you pay, how many people relocate, whether you need premises. That settles the form: mainland, free zone, DIFC or ADGM. We register in every free zone in the UAE, so the zone is chosen for your business and your bank, not from a short list.
2. Bank check before registration. We find out how banks treat your activity, your passport and your source of funds. If the structure will not pass, we change it now, not after the fees are paid.
3. Registration. Name, licence, constitutional documents, registered address or flexi-desk, establishment card. The order of steps and where time gets lost: how to set up a company in the UAE.
4. Bank account. We build the file the bank wants to see: business description, contracts, proof of source of funds. We look for a bank that opens the account without a mandatory deposit and without bundled insurance or investment products. What banks check: corporate bank account in the UAE.
5. Visas. Residence visas for the owner and staff, Emirates ID, and a personal account where needed.
6. Tax registration. Corporate tax registration with the FTA — missing the deadline carries a penalty of AED 10,000 — and VAT registration where turnover requires it. We check whether Small Business Relief or Qualifying Free Zone Person status is realistic in your case.
7. Ongoing support. Bookkeeping, audit where it is mandatory, licence and visa renewals, changes to the structure and, when the time comes, closing the company without loose ends.

What you get

• A licence and constitutional documents in your name, not an intermediary's.
• An operating bank account — or, if a bank refuses, a written understanding of why and a plan for the next application.
• Residence visas and Emirates IDs.
• FTA registration and a filing calendar: when the return is due, when the audit is, when the renewal falls.
• One person at LaWEra Group who runs the company with you afterwards.

What it costs

Indicative figures, as of September 2026: a licence in a budget Dubai free zone (for example Meydan, IFZA) from AED 10,500–15,000; in a premium zone (DMCC, DIFC) from AED 35,000–50,000; mainland AED 15,000–30,000 plus an Ejari-registered office lease of AED 10,000 to 30,000 a year. A turnkey first year in a free zone with one visa, a bank account and bookkeeping comes to about AED 35,000–55,000. Government fees are extra; renewal usually costs 80–90% of the first year. The item-by-item budget and the costs people forget: how much it costs to set up a company in Dubai.

What else we handle for companies

• Corporate compliance: corporate tax, VAT and anti-money-laundering (AML) rules — see tax planning and accounting and audit. In detail: AML compliance for companies and e-invoicing.
• Sale of a business or a stake, investment and shareholder agreements, disputes between shareholders — see corporate disputes. How deals work: buying a business in the UAE and shareholders' agreements.
• Trademark registration with the UAE Ministry of Economy, licence agreements. See trademark registration in the UAE.
• Employment contracts under UAE labour law, non-compete and confidentiality clauses. See ending employment and gratuity calculation.
• Support during inspections by ministries and authorities: labour inspectors, the municipality, the FTA.
• Liquidation and insolvency procedures — see closing a company.

What we do and what stays with you

We prepare the documents, deal with the free zone or the Department of Economy, correspond with the bank and manage the filings. You provide the inputs and take the decisions: sign, attend in person where the bank or immigration requires it — biometrics, account-opening interviews — and deliver statements and source-of-funds evidence when asked. The decision to open an account is the bank's alone. Nobody in the UAE can guarantee it — not us, not anyone. If a bank says no, we find out why and go to the next one; we do not resubmit the same file.

When we say no

• When the company is meant to exist on paper only, to show a bank or a counterparty. It will not pass compliance, and we would be spending your money for nothing.
• When the source of funds cannot be documented. The bank will ask, and "cash savings" is not an answer.
• When the activity needs a regulator's licence — financial services, crypto, healthcare — and there is no budget or appetite for that process. We say so at the first meeting.
• When the brief is "zero tax, whatever it takes". The 0 % rate in a free zone is available only to a Qualifying Free Zone Person and only on qualifying income; everything else is taxed at 9 %, and for a QFZP there is no AED 375,000 threshold. Details: QFZP status. We will not promise it to everyone.

How to start

The first consultation is free. Message us on WhatsApp or Telegram at +971 58 600 98 87. Five answers are enough for a first conversation: who pays you and from which countries, what you sell, how many people are moving, whether you need an office, whether you plan to work with government clients. We then tell you which form fits, what the bank will require and what the company will cost per year — not only at launch. To work through your situation first, use the guided check on the home page.

⚠️ This describes a service, not legal advice. UAE law changes, and procedures differ between emirates and free zones. We review each situation individually.