Requirements discovery
Clarify the proposed activity, owners, location and whether the business will hire or lease immediately.
Make informed setup decisions, understand the requirements and move forward with a clear plan for your business. Licensing, visas and banking remain decisions for the authorities and institutions involved.
Forming a company in the UAE is a sequence of choices, not a single form. You decide what the business will do, where it will operate, who will own it, which legal form fits, whether premises are required, and whether staff visas will be needed. Those answers determine the licensing authority, the documents, the fees and the time the process can take.
Mainland companies are licensed by the relevant emirate economic department (and, where required, other regulators). Free-zone companies are licensed by the chosen free-zone authority. The two paths are not interchangeable: a free-zone licence does not by itself confer unrestricted mainland trading rights.
UAE official guidance also notes that many commercial and industrial activities on the mainland can now be fully foreign-owned, with exceptions for activities of strategic impact that still need regulator approval or other conditions. The right structure still depends on the activity and the emirate.
Neither option is automatically “better”. The useful question is which licensing path matches the activity, the customers and the operating model. The table is indicative; authorities can add activity-specific conditions.
| Topic | Mainland | Free zone |
|---|---|---|
| Licensing authority | The emirate’s Department of Economy and Tourism / economic department, plus any sector regulator the activity requires. | The chosen free-zone authority, plus any external regulator the activity requires. |
| Activities and markets | Generally intended for doing business in the UAE market according to the licence. Some activities need extra approvals. | Generally intended for the activities authorised inside that free zone. Serving mainland customers may need a separate arrangement, such as a distributor, a mainland presence, or an authorised activity — it is not automatic. |
| Premises | A physical address is required. In Dubai the tenancy is typically registered with Ejari. Other emirates have their own attestation rules. | Facility rules are set by the free zone (flexi-desk, office or warehouse). The package you select has to match the licence and visa plan. |
| Ownership | Full foreign ownership is available for most commercial and industrial companies. Strategic-impact activities (for example security/defence, banking, insurance, telecoms, Hajj/Umrah, Quran centres and fisheries) can still require approvals or ownership conditions. | Free zones typically allow 100% foreign ownership of the free-zone entity. That does not, by itself, authorise unrestricted mainland activity. |
| Visas | Visa quotas depend on the licence, premises and immigration rules. A licence does not automatically include a visa. | Allocations are usually tied to the facility package. A licence still does not equal a visa; immigration checks apply separately. |
| External approvals | Some activities need permission from another government entity before the licence is issued. | The same can apply if the activity is regulated (financial, healthcare, education and similar). |
| Ongoing obligations | Licence renewal, economic-department filings, bookkeeping, and tax registrations where the business is in scope. | Free-zone renewal plus the same federal tax analysis. A free-zone company is not automatically exempt from VAT or corporate tax. |
If offshore structures come up — Offshore or holding vehicles are a separate conversation. They are not a shortcut to UAE trading or residency. If the plan is to contract customers, hire staff or take a local lease, you still need the licence path that those activities require.
Probiz can help you organise the decisions and the paperwork around a confirmed scope. We do not claim to be a registered agent of a named free zone or government department, and we do not treat competitor package lists as our own authorisations.
Clarify the proposed activity, owners, location and whether the business will hire or lease immediately.
Map the intended work to mainland or free-zone options, with the limits of each path explained before you spend on filings.
Help assembling the information typically requested for name reservation and the initial application.
A checklist of shareholder passports, corporate documents, and attestations — distinguishing what is commonly required from what depends on the case.
Tracking the steps with the relevant authority once you have instructed us on a defined scope. Approvals remain the authority’s decision.
Explain how office, warehouse or flexi-desk choices affect visa capacity, without promising a quota.
A handover list for renewal dates, bookkeeping, tax registration questions and bank-introduction documents. Regulated accounting, audit or immigration filings are distinguished from coordination.
Official mainland guidance describes both an online establishment route and a standard sequence: identify the activity, choose the legal form, reserve a name, obtain initial approval, prepare constitutional documents, select a location, obtain extra approvals where needed, then submit and pay. Free-zone processes follow the chosen authority’s own steps. The order below is a planning view; the live sequence varies.
What will the company sell or provide, and to whom? Activity codes drive licence type and extra approvals.
Mainland or free zone; LLC or another form the authority actually offers for that activity and ownership.
Separate government fees, premises, visas, external approvals and professional coordination so the quotation is explainable.
Name reservation, shareholder documents, and any NOCs. Initial approval is not permission to trade.
Submit, pay and collect the licence from the competent authority or its portal. Timing is not guaranteed.
Banking due diligence, visa files, bookkeeping, and tax registrations that may apply to the specific business.
Authorities publish their own lists. The items below are indicative. They are not universally mandatory, and extra attestations can apply for corporate shareholders or certain nationalities.
Do not upload passports or identity documents through this website’s enquiry form. An initial conversation only needs a description of the activity, owners and preferred emirate or free zone.
There is no honest single “starting price” that covers every mainland and free-zone file. We do not copy competitor packages or advertise an all-inclusive fee that has not been scoped.
Name reservation, initial approval, licence issuance and any registry fees charged by the authority.
Additional activities can add fees or extra approvals. The activity list should match what the company will actually do.
Ejari-registered office, warehouse, or a free-zone desk package. Virtual-only claims still have to satisfy the authority’s physical-address rules.
Establishment cards, medical, Emirates ID and visa filing fees sit outside the licence itself and depend on headcount.
Sector regulators can add time and cost before the licence is released.
Coordination, document handling and any specialist work you instruct separately (legal drafting, attested translations, audit).
Annual licence renewal, and federal taxes that may apply — VAT, corporate tax or others — according to FTA rules for that business, not according to the free-zone brochure.
A licence is the start of operating, not the end of compliance. Renewals, UBO (beneficial ownership) filings where required, accounting records, and immigration processes each have their own owners and deadlines.
Bank account opening is a due-diligence process run by the bank. A trade licence does not guarantee an account, and we do not sell “guaranteed banking”.
Tax is assessed under federal law. Free-zone companies can still have VAT obligations, and corporate tax treatment for Qualifying Free Zone Persons depends on meeting Federal Tax Authority conditions — it is not an automatic exemption because the company sits in a free zone.
Where a service is a regulated professional activity (legal advocacy, statutory audit, licensed tax agency work), we distinguish information and coordination from performing that regulated work ourselves.
Choose according to where you need to operate and who the customers are. Mainland licensing is the usual path for doing business in the UAE market under the emirate’s economic department. A free zone can be suitable when the authority’s activity list and facility rules match the plan. A free-zone licence does not automatically allow unrestricted mainland activity.
Yes, in many cases. UAE law permits 100% foreign ownership of most mainland commercial and industrial companies. Activities of strategic impact still need the relevant regulator’s approval and may carry extra conditions. Free-zone entities are typically wholly foreign-owned within that zone. The activity and emirate still have to be checked.
Much of the information-gathering and application preparation can start remotely. Some steps still require presence, attested originals, a local signatory or immigration attendance. We will tell you which parts cannot be done from abroad once the jurisdiction is known.
Typically passports of individual shareholders, and attested corporate documents if a company is the shareholder, plus premises evidence when the authority requires it. The live list is the authority’s, not a universal checklist.
UAE official guidance states that businesses need a physical address that meets the economic department and municipality rules. Dubai leases are typically registered with Ejari. Free zones define their own facility products. Whether a flexi-desk is enough depends on the licence and visa plan.
No. Visa eligibility and quotas are separate immigration processes tied to the establishment, the facility and the person’s own status.
Sometimes, under arrangements the free zone and mainland rules actually allow — for example through authorised activities, a mainland distributor, or a separate mainland presence. It is not a default right attached to every free-zone licence. Confirm the activity with the authority before you sell.
Some online mainland routes are described as fast when the file is complete and no extra regulator is involved. Files that need external approvals, attested foreign documents or immigration steps take longer. We will not quote a guaranteed number of days on this page.
Licence fees, number of activities, premises, visas, extra approvals, professional coordination and first-year renewals. Ask for a breakdown, not a headline that hides those lines.
Licence renewal, proper books, beneficial-ownership filings where required, employment/immigration compliance if you hire, and tax registrations that apply to the business under FTA rules.
No. Banks apply their own due diligence. A licence and tenancy help the file; they do not compel the bank to open the account.
No. Review Federal Tax Authority guidance for VAT and corporate tax. Qualifying Free Zone Person treatment, where it exists, depends on meeting published conditions — it is not automatic merely because the company is registered in a free zone.
Share the intended activity, ownership and where you want to operate. We will outline the realistic options and the information needed for a quotation — without asking you to upload passports through this page.