Documents you need to set up a business in Dubai, stage by stage

The first stage needs very little paper. Your consultant uses it to fix the activity, the legal form and the shareholding, then reserves the trade name and applies for initial approval. Initial approval means the authority has no objection to the company being set up. It does not yet allow the company to operate.

Trade names follow rules. The name ends with the legal form, such as LLC, it must suit the activity, and it cannot be one that is already registered. Names that offend public morals, religious names and the names of government bodies are refused, so bring more than one idea.

• A clear colour copy of the passport of each shareholder and manager
• A copy of the UAE residence visa and Emirates ID, for anyone who lives in the UAE
• The entry stamp or visit visa page, for anyone who is visiting the UAE
• Two or three proposed trade names in order of preference
• A short description of what the business will do and sell
• The planned shareholding percentages and the name of the manager
• A phone number, an email address and a home address for each shareholder

The Memorandum of Association is the founding contract of the company. It records the shareholders, their shares, the capital, the licensed activities and the powers of the manager. Limited liability companies need one. A sole establishment, which has a single owner and no partners, does not.

The shareholders sign it before a notary public, in person or through someone who holds a notarised power of attorney. A power of attorney signed outside the UAE has to be attested before it can be used here. Some legal forms also call for a local service agent agreement, and your consultant tells you whether yours does.

• Original passports, and Emirates ID where held, for everyone who signs
• The initial approval and the trade name reservation
• The agreed terms: shares, capital, manager, profit split and signing powers
• A notarised power of attorney, if someone signs on your behalf

A mainland company needs a physical address before the licence is issued. In Dubai the tenancy contract is registered in Ejari, and the registered contract goes into the licence file. For the registration you need the signed tenancy contract, the title deed and identification of the landlord, and your initial approval.

With the address in place, the licence application is completed. Any approval from another authority that your activity needs is added at this point. Once the file is accepted and the fees on the payment voucher are settled, the Department of Economy and Tourism issues the trade licence.

• The initial approval and the documents filed with it
• The Memorandum of Association, signed and notarised
• The tenancy contract registered in Ejari
• Approvals from other authorities, where the activity needs them

The licence brings the company into existence. To sponsor anyone it then needs an establishment card, which is the immigration file of the company. That application starts from the trade licence and the details of the person authorised to sign for the company.

Each residence visa then has a small file of its own. Investors and partners apply on the strength of their shares in the company. Employees also need a work permit and a labour contract through the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation. Everyone completes a medical fitness test and gives biometrics for the Emirates ID.

• A passport copy and a recent passport photo on a white background
• The trade licence and the establishment card
• The current visa or entry permit, or the cancellation paper from a previous sponsor
• The signed offer letter and labour contract, for employees
• Attested degree certificates, where the job title requires them
• Health insurance, where the visa requires it

Banks ask for more than the licence. They want to see who owns the company, what it will do and where its money comes from, so expect requests for a business summary, contracts or invoices and personal bank statements on top of the company papers. Each bank has its own list.

Corporate tax registration with the Federal Tax Authority is done online through EmaraTax. The authority asks for the trade licence, the Memorandum of Association or certificate of incorporation, the Emirates ID and passport of each owner holding more than 25% and of the authorised signatories, and proof that the signatory is authorised.

• The trade licence and the Memorandum of Association
• Passport, residence visa and Emirates ID of the shareholders and signatories
• The registered tenancy contract for the office
• A short business summary with expected customers, suppliers and turnover
• Evidence of where the starting funds come from

A company can own shares in a Dubai company or open a branch here, but its file is heavier. The authority needs to see that the parent company exists, who runs it, who ultimately owns it and that it has formally decided to invest in the UAE.

Documents issued outside the UAE must be attested before they are accepted. In practice that means certification in the home country, legalisation by the UAE embassy there and a final stamp from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the UAE, followed by legal translation into Arabic. Plan this early, because it is the one part of the file that cannot be hurried from Dubai.

• Certificate of incorporation or commercial registration of the parent company
• Its Memorandum and Articles of Association
• A board resolution approving the new company or branch and naming the person who will sign
• A power of attorney for that representative
• A recent certificate of good standing or incumbency showing the directors and shareholders
• Passport copies of the directors, the representative and the ultimate owners