Mainland Company Formation in Dubai
An onshore licence with 100% foreign ownership across roughly 1,000 activities since the 2021 reforms. You trade across the UAE, bid on government tenders, and pay 0% corporate tax on the first AED 375,000 of profit, 9% above.
A federal company structure, licensed by Dubai’s DET.
“Mainland” means any UAE territory outside the borders of a designated free zone. Mainland companies are formed under the federal Commercial Companies Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020, which abolished the old 51% local-partner rule from June 2021) and licensed by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET).
It’s the same authority that licenses every business operating in Dubai: the corner shop, Carrefour, Emirates NBD, the Tesla showroom on Sheikh Zayed Road. A free-zone licence, by contrast, is issued by a single zone authority (DMCC, JAFZA, DIFC, ADGM) and is scoped to that zone.
Mainland or free zone: which fits you?
Pick the card whose bullets describe most of your model. Both can coexist. Some founders open a mainland LLC alongside a free-zone holding co.
Pick mainland if…
- Mainland is the better fit for retail, rental, clinics and similar consumer-facing industries.
- Your customers are UAE-based (B2C, retail, F&B, distribution).
- You need to bid on government or state-owned tenders.
- You want freedom to lease an office anywhere in the city, not inside a free-zone real-estate inventory.
- You expect to run a physical retail outlet or restaurant.
- You’d rather invoice directly than work through a mainland distributor.
Pick a free zone if…
- Not the fit for retail, rental or clinics serving UAE customers — those belong on a mainland licence.
- You serve mostly international clients.
- You want a low-cost flexi-desk option to start.
- You want to plug into a sector-specific ecosystem: DMCC for commodities, DIFC for finance, Dubai Internet City for tech.
- You don’t need to sell to UAE consumers directly.
- You’re comfortable working through a mainland distributor for UAE-facing sales.
When mainland makes sense
Four reasons that actually qualify you toward mainland over a free zone. One is usually enough.
Sell across the UAE
Invoice customers across all seven emirates directly: B2B, B2C, retail, distribution. No local distributor required, no agency agreement to negotiate, no 5% margin to share. You quote in AED and bill from your own entity.
100% foreign ownership
Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020 removed the 51% Emirati partner rule from June 2021 across roughly 1,000 commercial and industrial activities. A short federal list of strategic sectors (defence, banking, insurance, telecoms, Haj/Umrah, fisheries) still requires local participation or special clearance.
Government tenders
Federal ministries, emirate-level departments and state-owned operators (Etisalat, ADNOC, RTA, Dubai Health) only contract with mainland-registered suppliers, subject to standard tender rules. A free-zone entity cannot register on the procurement portals, full stop.
Office anywhere in the city
Lease premises in any commercial district across the city — an office, a retail shopfront or a warehouse, in established hubs such as Business Bay. Free zones lock you to their own real-estate inventory.
Four licence categories
Every mainland business falls under one of four. The right pick is determined by your activity, not by where you sell.
Commercial
For trading: import, export, wholesale, retail, e-commerce, general trade. Covers everything from a single-product Shopify store to a multi-warehouse distributor. The most common starting licence for product-led businesses. Capital is declared in the MOA; no minimum is enforced for most activities.
Professional
For service providers: consultants, agencies, IT services, legal, accounting, training, architecture, creative studios, medical clinics. 100% foreign ownership applies to all professional activities. Structured as a Civil Company (multiple partners) or Sole Establishment (single owner). Both fully foreign-owned.
Industrial
For manufacturing, assembly and large-scale production. Requires a physical industrial premises (no flexi-desk option), an environmental clearance and a Ministry of Industry approval. Minimum capital for FDI-positive-list activities runs AED 2M–100M depending on sub-sector. Unlocks customs exemptions and reduced energy tariffs in industrial zones.
Tourism
For travel agencies, tour operators, DMCs, event organisers, hotel and serviced-apartment operators. Issued jointly by DED and the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET). Requires a financial guarantee deposit that varies by activity (AED 100K–500K).
Set up on the mainland in any emirate
A mainland licence is issued by each emirate’s Department of Economic Development, each with its own costs and permitted activities. Choose your emirate to see the specifics.
From application to active licence in 5–10 working days
Seven steps from first call to issued licence. You sign documents, approve names and provide passport copies. We drive everything else.
1 Activity & legal form We map your business to the official DED activity codes and recommend the legal structure.
LLC, Sole Establishment, Civil Company or Branch of a foreign company. The choice affects ownership rules, capital requirements, liability and visa quota.
2 Trade name reservation Three name options to DET, ranked by your preference.
Standard reservation fee AED 620; foreign words, regional references or numbers spelled in words add up to AED 2,000 in surcharges. The name must comply with naming rules (no religious terms, no abbreviations of founder names, no offensive references), be phonetically transliterated between Arabic and English (not translated), and clear an availability check across all seven emirates. Reservation is valid for six months, non-renewable.
3 Initial approval DED issues a preliminary no-objection on the activity and shareholders.
Where the activity is regulated (financial services, healthcare, education, security, food), we coordinate the external approvals from the relevant regulator (Central Bank, DHA, KHDA, SIRA, Dubai Municipality).
4 Memorandum of Association We draft the MoA, then notarise it in Dubai or generate an e-MoA through the DET portal.
Defines shares, capital, profit distribution and management rights. Drafted bilingually with the Arabic text taking legal precedence. Shareholders abroad sign a Power of Attorney that we attest through the UAE Embassy or apostille channel.
5 Office lease & Ejari A physical address is mandatory: minimum 200 sq ft, registered through Ejari.
We source the right footprint: shared office for solo founders, fitted office for teams, retail for shopfronts, warehouse for operations, industrial premises where required. Ejari is the Dubai Land Department’s tenancy registry.
6 Final licence issuance DED issues the commercial licence and Chamber of Commerce certificate.
You receive originals plus electronic versions. From this point you can sign commercial contracts, open a corporate bank account and issue invoices.
7 Visas & Emirates ID Establishment Card, investor visa, employee visas, medical fitness and Emirates ID.
Status change for residents already in the UAE; entry-permit + status-change for shareholders arriving from abroad. Typical end-to-end visa timeline is 2–3 weeks.
What it costs
All-in budgets including DED fees, office, immigration and our fee. Final number depends on activity, office footprint and visa count. We send a fixed quote after the first call. No hidden charges, no “government fee increase” at month six.
Professional, from AED 12,500
Civil Company or Sole Establishment, registered shared-office address, no visa. Suits consultants, freelance contractors and solo founders.
Most picked
Commercial LLC, from AED 18,500
LLC with shared office, 1–2 investor visas, e-channel and Establishment Card. The most common starting package for trading and service businesses with foreign founders.
Hidden & ongoing annual costs
Set-up is the one-off. These recur every year and are the line items founders most often miss. Figures below are averages you can budget from — the exact total scales with your visa count and headcount, and lands in the fixed quote.
Licence renewal, from AED 9,500/yr
DED trade-licence renewal plus the registered-office or Ejari fee. A Professional licence renews from around AED 9,500; a Commercial LLC from around AED 14,500, due on the anniversary date.
PRO & government liaison, from AED 2,500/yr
Establishment Card and immigration-file renewal, visa stamping, document attestation and typing-centre runs. Most founders budget from around AED 2,500 a year, or bundle it into a retainer.
Accounting & VAT returns, from AED 6,000/yr
Bookkeeping, corporate-tax filing and quarterly VAT returns once you cross the AED 375,000 threshold. Outsourced compliance starts from around AED 6,000 a year, scaling with transaction volume.
Medical insurance, from AED 700 per visa/yr
Health cover is mandatory for every visa holder before the residence permit issues. Basic compliant plans start from around AED 700 per person a year, rising with age and coverage level.
Brands on the mainland register
Well-known names licensed by the DED, grouped by sector.
Real-estate developers
Retail conglomerates
Hospitality
Professional services
Logos shown for editorial reference only; no endorsement or partnership is implied.
Common questions
Yes. Investor visa(s) for shareholders, employee visas for staff, and dependent visas for family. Quota is tied to office size, broadly one visa per 9–10 m² depending on activity. There’s no headcount cap baked into the licence, so growth means leasing more space, not negotiating with the free-zone authority.
Licence renewal, Chamber of Commerce fee, office rent and Ejari renewal, immigration card renewal, and 9% UAE corporate tax on profit above AED 375,000. We share a full year-2 cost breakdown alongside the initial setup quote so there are no surprises.
Yes. The licence requires a physical address and a registered manager, but you can be a non-resident shareholder. Most founders take an investor visa for tax-residency purposes and to open a personal UAE bank account, but it’s not strictly required. We can structure either way.
Corporate account opening is the slowest part of a UAE setup. Expect anywhere from 2–8 weeks depending on the bank. We prepare the KYC pack, brief the relationship manager, and shortlist 2–3 banks based on your activity, transaction profile and target geographies.
No. VAT registration (5% standard rate) is required once turnover crosses AED 375,000 in any 12-month window, and is optional above AED 187,500. We register you at the right moment and handle quarterly returns through our tax team.
Mainland liquidation is a defined process: appoint a liquidator, publish a 45-day creditor notice, clear visas, settle taxes, cancel the Establishment Card and Ejari, deregister with DED and the Chamber. Typical timeline is 3–4 months. We handle the full wind-down on request.
Get a setup plan.
Send us your activity, target market and team size. We come back with the recommended structure, licence type, office option and a fixed total cost. No obligation. No follow-up spam.
