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ShelfCompanies24 has been forming UAE companies for international clients since 1995 and has direct partnerships with the major Free Zones. We handle every step of company formation in the UAE on a single consolidated service contract, from picking the right Free Zone or Mainland structure through trade-licence application, FTA tax registration, beneficial-ownership filing and your first UAE bank account. Most clients are trading inside 1 to 4 weeks (varies by zone), or in 3 to 7 working days via a ready-made off-the-shelf UAE company.
Our service covers Free Zone or DED filings, trade licence, registered address, FTA registration.
UAE entity + registered address + UAE banking + visa coordination under one roof.
Standard formation 1 to 4 weeks. English/Arabic-speaking case manager.
Most steps can be completed remotely; banking onboarding may require one UAE visit.
We coordinate Free Zone application, trade-licence issuance, FTA TRN, BO Register filing, visa support.
Dubai company formation is a choice of licensing authority rather than of a separate legal regime. Inside Dubai you can license a free zone company at DMCC for commodities, trade and fintech, at JAFZA for logistics and manufacturing, at IFZA for broad-purpose activity, or at DIFC where an English-common-law framework and financial-services regulation are needed. A Dubai mainland LLC is licensed by the emirate’s Department of Economic Development, and that is what you need to trade directly into the local market, bid for government contracts or run retail premises. Outside Dubai the same logic applies with different zones: RAKEZ in Ras Al Khaimah for broad-purpose activity and ADGM in Abu Dhabi for financial services. The activity you intend to carry on decides the zone, not the address, and we map the two together before anything is filed.
The Free Zone Establishment (single-shareholder) or Free Zone Company (multi-shareholder) is the workhorse for international clients. 100% foreign ownership, 0% CIT on Qualifying Income for QFZPs.
UAE Mainland LLC (under the Commercial Companies Law). Since 2021 reforms, 100% foreign ownership permitted in most sectors. Required for direct UAE-market trading, government contracts, retail operations.
Pure offshore vehicles, cannot operate in UAE, used purely for international holding. RAK International Corporate Centre (RAK ICC) and JAFZA Offshore are the primary options.
An offshore company in Dubai means JAFZA Offshore, registered at the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority, and the other main option is RAK ICC in Ras Al Khaimah. Both are pure international vehicles: 100% foreign owned, with no trade licence for local activity, no ability to operate inside the UAE market and no residence-visa eligibility. They are used for holding shares in other companies, owning intellectual property and invoicing internationally. If you need a UAE trade licence, an office, staff or a visa, an offshore company is the wrong vehicle and a free zone company is the right one.
Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) operate under English common law. Used for financial services, regulated activities, English-common-law-required structures.
| Form | Min. capital | Formation time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Zone (DMCC, IFZA, RAKEZ) | AED 1+ (varies by zone) | 1 to 3 weeks | International trade, services, IP |
| Mainland LLC | AED 0+ (most sectors) | 2 to 4 weeks | UAE market operations |
| RAK ICC Offshore | None | 1 to 2 weeks | Pure offshore holding |
| ADGM / DIFC | Set by the regulator, varies by activity | 3 to 6 weeks | Financial services, English-law structures |
| Off-the-shelf UAE company | Varies | 3 to 7 days | Need immediate trading |
Registering a company in the UAE is a licensing exercise: the authority you apply to issues the trade licence that defines what the company may do, and everything else follows from it. In outline, we confirm the structure and the activity, select the free zone or the emirate’s Department of Economic Development, file the application with the memorandum, articles, shareholder and manager details, receive the trade licence, deposit the share capital where the zone requires it, register with the Federal Tax Authority for corporate tax and for VAT where the turnover threshold is met, file the beneficial-ownership register under Cabinet Decision 109 of 2023 and open the bank account. Residence visas for owners and staff follow through the company’s establishment card if you want them. The eight steps below show what happens at each stage; a free zone company runs 1 to 3 weeks and a mainland LLC 2 to 4 weeks, against 3 to 7 working days for an off-the-shelf company.
Confirm legal structure (Free Zone vs. Mainland vs. Offshore vs. ADGM/DIFC), business activity, ownership structure, banking preferences, visa needs, QFZP eligibility assessment.
Match business activity to optimal Free Zone (DMCC for commodities/trade/fintech; JAFZA for logistics; RAKEZ for cost-effective; IFZA for general; ADGM/DIFC for financial services) or Mainland Emirate.
Application filed with the Free Zone authority or relevant DED. Includes Memorandum of Association, Articles of Association, business plan (some zones), shareholder/director details, address confirmation. Trade licence issued typically 1 to 10 working days post-complete application.
Capital requirements vary by zone (often as low as AED 1; DMCC requires AED 50,000 for some activities; ADGM higher). Deposit confirmation issued by UAE bank.
Federal Tax Authority registration for Corporate Tax (TRN) and VAT (separately if turnover > AED 375,000).
The United Arab Emirates requires a beneficial owner register but does not publish it. Under Cabinet Decision No. 109 of 2023 every mainland and free zone company keeps a register of beneficial owners and a register of partners or shareholders, and files them with its licensing authority. The threshold is 25% of the capital or voting rights, or control by other means. The data stays confidential and reaches competent authorities on request. DIFC and ADGM operate separate regimes that are equally private.
UAE banking partners: Emirates NBD, ADCB, Mashreq, RAKBANK, FAB, ADIB, HSBC UAE, Standard Chartered UAE. Some banks require physical presence in the UAE for account-opening.
Owners and employees can apply for UAE residence visa via the company’s establishment card.
Free Zone: 1 to 3 weeks. Mainland LLC: 2 to 4 weeks. ADGM/DIFC: 3 to 6 weeks. Off-the-shelf transfer: 3 to 7 working days. Inside those windows the trade licence itself is usually issued 1 to 10 working days after a complete application, so most of the elapsed time goes on document collection, apostilles and the authority’s own review. Counting the bank account, most clients are fully operational within 4 to 6 weeks.
Match business activity: commodities/trade/fintech → DMCC; logistics/manufacturing → JAFZA; cost-effective broad-purpose → RAKEZ or IFZA; financial services → ADGM or DIFC. We assess during onboarding.
For most Mainland LLC sectors: no, since 2021 reforms (100% foreign ownership permitted). For Free Zone: never required (always 100% foreign ownership). Some Mainland regulated sectors still require local participation.
9% above AED 375,000 profit. QFZP Free Zone: 0% on Qualifying Income, 9% on non-qualifying. VAT 5% standard. Pillar Two 15% for in-scope MNEs.
Yes. UAE company ownership provides 2-year renewable residence visa eligibility. Qualifying investments may qualify for 10-year Golden Visa. We coordinate visa applications.
Five things. Federal Tax Authority registration for corporate tax, VAT registration where turnover requires it, the beneficial-ownership filing under Cabinet Decision 109 of 2023, the corporate bank account, and residence-visa applications through the establishment card if you want them. After that the cycle is annual: the trade licence is renewed each year with its licensing authority, and the company files its corporate-tax return with the FTA whether or not it qualifies as a Qualifying Free Zone Person.
You apply to a licensing authority, either a free zone or the emirate’s Department of Economic Development, with the memorandum and articles, the shareholder and manager details and the registered address, and it issues the trade licence that defines the permitted activity. Share capital is deposited where the zone requires it, the company is registered with the Federal Tax Authority, and the beneficial-ownership register is filed. A free zone company is typically registered in 1 to 3 weeks and a mainland LLC in 2 to 4 weeks.
The trade licence is the business licence, and it is issued by the free zone authority or by the emirate’s Department of Economic Development as part of registration rather than through a separate application. It names the company, the permitted activities and the registered address, and it is renewed annually. Getting it right matters more than getting it quickly, because the activities listed on the licence limit what the company may invoice, so we confirm the activity list before the application goes in.
A UAE company registered for VAT recovers the 5% input VAT it pays on business costs by setting it against the VAT it charges on sales in its Federal Tax Authority return. Where input tax exceeds output tax in a period, the excess is carried forward or reclaimed from the FTA. Registration is mandatory once taxable turnover passes AED 375,000, and voluntary registration is available below that, which is often worth having where most of your inputs carry UAE VAT.
Ready to register your UAE company? Contact our UAE desk for advice on Free Zone selection and tax optimisation.
United Arab Emirates is one of several jurisdictions where ShelfCompanies24 maintains pre-formed entities and active formation services. Why pick United Arab Emirates for your FZE specifically? Free zone 0%, mainland 9%, GCC base is the headline reason, but it pays to understand the trade-offs against the alternatives. Below are concrete differentiators that matter when you are weighing a structure decision against the actual operating profile of your business.
Cross-border corporate structuring in 2026 is governed by a tighter web of rules than in any previous decade. Three forces shape every decision:
For United Arab Emirates specifically: 9% federal CIT (since June 2023); 0% Free Zone QFZP regime (5 conditions to maintain); de minimis 5% / AED 5M.
Issues we routinely see when prospects come to us after attempting the process directly with local providers in United Arab Emirates:
Yes. A name change is filed with the DED/Free Zone via a directors’ resolution and a routine filing, typically clears in 48 hours. We include up to one name change as standard for both shelf-company purchase and new formation.
The United Arab Emirates is outside the EU and the EEA, so the EU directives never apply. What it does have is one of the widest networks anywhere: the Ministry of Finance reports 137 double taxation agreements concluded, most in force, covering almost every EU member state. These are full agreements, not information exchange agreements. Claiming under one normally needs a tax residency certificate from the Federal Tax Authority, and free zone companies taxed at nil on qualifying income can face questions about entitlement.
Client information is held under contractual non-disclosure plus the professional-secrecy obligations applicable to corporate-service providers in our home jurisdiction. We do not share client identity or transaction details with third parties beyond what is statutorily required (KYC reporting, beneficial-owner-register filings, AML/CTF reporting where triggered). Our internal access to client files is logged and access-restricted by need-to-know.
Material tax changes (rate moves, new minimum-tax regimes, treaty amendments) get communicated to active clients with our analysis of impact. Where the change is structural, for example the OECD Pillar Two implementation in United Arab Emirates or a domestic tax-base reform, we proactively flag clients whose structures may need restructuring and set out the remedial steps. The client is not left to discover material regulatory change from their accountant or from media reports.
A FZE is a separate legal entity UAE-tax-resident with its own corporate tax filings and beneficial-owner record. A branch is an extension of a foreign parent, the foreign parent is the legal entity, the United Arab Emirates branch books local-source income but the parent’s overall tax liability cascades. Most foreign owners pick a FZE for liability ring-fencing and clean tax accounting; branches are sometimes preferred where the parent has specific group-relief or treaty considerations that depend on common legal personality.
Engaging us for your UAE new FZE formation covers the following deliverables under one service:
The deliverable scope is identical regardless of whether you are based in the EU, the US, the UK, the Middle East, or APAC, we operate the same service globally for UAE corporate setup. Optional add-ons (virtual office, accounting retainer, payroll, sector licences, transfer-pricing documentation) are scoped separately, so the incorporation or transfer work stays exactly as agreed.