Setting up a business in the UAE

Setting up a business in the UAE comes down to three choices: where the company is licensed, which legal form it takes and which activities its trade licence covers. A mainland company is licensed by the economic department of its emirate. A free zone company is licensed by the authority of its free zone and works under that zone’s rules.

Mainland or free zone

Since early 2021, foreign investors can own all of most mainland companies, without an Emirati partner or a local agent.

Foreign ownership of mainland companies

Up to 100% foreign ownership

Since Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020 took effect in early 2021, foreign investors may own 100% of mainland (onshore) companies, without a majority Emirati shareholder or local agent, except for activities of strategic impact, for which the Cabinet sets licensing conditions that may restrict foreign ownership.

A free zone company can trade inside its zone and abroad. To sell goods or services in the mainland, it works through a licensed mainland distributor or sets up a mainland branch or company. Since Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2025, a company can also move its registration from one authority to another, for example from a free zone to the mainland, and keep its legal personality, subject to conditions.

Legal form and licence

The Commercial Companies Law allows five forms of company: general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company (LLC), public joint stock company and private joint stock company. An LLC has between 2 and 50 partners, or a single owner. Free zone authorities register their own types, such as the free zone company and the free zone establishment.

The Ministry of Economy and Tourism lists six types of trade licence: industrial, commercial, professional, tourism, agricultural and crafts, and each emirate offers its own variants. The emirate’s economic department registers the trade name, and the Ministry registers trademarks.

What follows the licence

A new company keeps a register of its beneficial owners and files it with the registrar within 60 days of being licensed. A company formed on or after 1 March 2024 applies for corporate tax registration within three months of incorporation. It registers for VAT once its taxable supplies and imports exceed AED 375,000 over the previous 12 months, or are expected to within the next 30 days. Banks run their own checks before they open a business account.

What it costs

There is no single price for a UAE company. Each emirate’s economic department and each free zone authority sets its own fees, which depend on the licence, the activities and the authority’s own packages, and recur at each renewal. Our guide to licence costs quotes a fee only from the authority’s own dated page, and names the authority.