Question 1

Should the company be mainland or free zone?

Accepted Answer

The distinction is commercial before it is administrative. A mainland company, licensed by the Department of Economy and Tourism, may contract directly with UAE-based clients and government entities, hold retail premises anywhere in the emirate and tender for public work. A free zone company is established within a defined economic authority, holds full foreign ownership by charter, benefits from streamlined customs treatment on re-export and is usually faster and lighter to maintain. We therefore begin with where revenue will actually be earned. If your clients are UAE residents or federal bodies, mainland is generally the honest answer. If your trade is international, advisory, holding or logistics in nature, a free zone will normally serve you better at a lower running cost. Where both are true, a mainland entity with a free zone subsidiary is often cleaner than compromising on one licence.

Question 2

How are business activities decided, and can they be changed later?

Accepted Answer

Every licence names the activities the company may lawfully perform, drawn from the authority's own schedule. The wording matters: banks read it when opening an account, clients read it before contracting, and auditors read it when the accounts are prepared. Selecting an activity that is broadly worded but accurate is one of the quieter advantages of experienced counsel. Activities can be added, removed or replaced after incorporation by amendment, and we handle these as a matter of routine. Certain categories — financial services, medical practice, education, recruitment and legal consultancy among them — require approval from a sector regulator in addition to the licensing authority, and we set that approval into the timetable at the outset rather than discovering it later.

Question 3

What are the office requirements?

Accepted Answer

A UAE company must hold a registered address evidenced by a tenancy contract. In the free zones this is commonly satisfied by a flexi-desk or serviced office provided by the authority itself, which is sufficient for licensing, banking and residency purposes at the smaller visa quotas. Mainland licences require a leased premises registered with Ejari, sized to the activity and to the number of residency permits sought. Premises drive quota: broadly, additional visa allocations follow additional square metres. We size the tenancy to the hiring plan you actually intend rather than to the maximum available, and we review it at renewal so you are never paying for capacity you have not used.

Question 4

How long does formation take?

Accepted Answer

For a straightforward free zone company with individual shareholders, the licence is commonly issued within five to ten working days of complete documentation. Mainland formations generally run to ten to fifteen working days, reflecting name reservation, initial approval, memorandum notarisation and Ejari registration. Structures involving corporate shareholders, foreign parent attestation or a sector regulator should be planned across four to eight weeks. The variable is almost never the authority; it is the paperwork arriving in the right form. We issue a document schedule on day one, confirm each item before submission, and maintain a written calendar so you always know the next date and who holds the next action — us or you.

Question 5

Who is eligible for residency, and how many permits are available?

Accepted Answer

A UAE company may sponsor its shareholders, its directors and its employees for residency. Eligibility rests on the licence being active, the establishment card being issued, and the applicant passing the medical examination and Emirates ID enrolment. Investor and partner permits are ordinarily granted for two or three years depending on the authority; employment permits follow the contract registered with the labour authority. Quota is set by the licence and the premises: a flexi-desk typically supports one to three permits, while leased mainland premises scale with area. Dependants — spouse, children and, subject to conditions, parents and domestic staff — may be sponsored once the principal holder's residency is complete. Where a client qualifies on property, capital or professional grounds, we will also assess the ten-year Golden Residency as an alternative to company sponsorship.

Question 6

What documents are required?

Accepted Answer

For individual shareholders we require a clear passport copy valid beyond six months, a recent photograph against a white background, and a UAE entry stamp or visa page where already in country. Some authorities request a brief curriculum vitae, a personal address, and for professional activities a copy of the relevant qualification. Where a foreign company will hold shares, we require its certificate of incorporation, memorandum, register of directors and a board resolution authorising the UAE subscription — each attested to UAE standard, meaning notarisation, foreign ministry legalisation and UAE embassy or apostille treatment depending on jurisdiction. Attestation is the single most common cause of delay, so we begin it in parallel with name reservation rather than after it.

Question 7

Will Bond assist with the corporate bank account?

Accepted Answer

We do not open accounts; banks do. What we provide is the work that decides the outcome: a licence and activity wording that reads coherently, a substantiated account of the business model, source-of-funds and source-of-wealth documentation prepared to the standard a compliance committee expects, and an introduction to relationship managers who understand your sector. Realistically, a well-prepared file is reviewed within two to six weeks depending on the institution and the ownership structure. We will tell you candidly at the outset where a profile is likely to face friction — certain nationalities, jurisdictions and cash-intensive activities do — and where a digital or offshore alternative would serve you better than a repeated application to the same bank.

Question 8

How does UAE Corporate Tax apply to my company?

Accepted Answer

Corporate tax applies at nine per cent on taxable profit above AED 375,000, with profit below that threshold taxed at nil. Every taxable person must register with the Federal Tax Authority and file a return within nine months of the financial year end, whether or not tax is payable. Small business relief and, for qualifying free zone persons, a zero per cent rate on qualifying income remain available where the conditions are genuinely met. The conditions are the point. Qualifying free zone treatment depends on adequate substance, qualifying activity and transfer pricing discipline — not on the address of the licence. We assess your position before the first return is due, document the basis on which relief is claimed, and structure intra-group arrangements so the treatment holds if it is examined.

Question 9

When must the company register for VAT?

Accepted Answer

Value added tax is charged at five per cent. Registration becomes mandatory once taxable supplies and imports exceed AED 375,000 in any rolling twelve months, or are expected to within the next thirty days. Voluntary registration is permitted from AED 187,500 and is often sensible for a business that recovers input tax on set-up costs or that trades with VAT-registered counterparties. Exports of goods and certain services outside the GCC are commonly zero-rated, and designated zone treatment can apply to goods held within specific free zones — both reliefs depend on evidence rather than assertion. We register the company, establish the invoicing and record-keeping the law requires, and file returns quarterly or monthly as assigned, so penalties never arise from an administrative oversight.

Question 10

What ongoing compliance does the company carry?

Accepted Answer

Each year the company renews its licence and establishment card, renews or amends its tenancy, maintains residency permits and Emirates IDs as they expire, keeps proper books, files its corporate tax return and any VAT returns, and — where the activity requires it — submits an audited financial statement to the authority. Economic substance and ultimate beneficial ownership notifications apply to certain structures and are filed on fixed dates. We hold this calendar for every client we form. Renewal dates are diarised with advance notice, documents are prepared before they are due, and one senior adviser remains accountable for the file. The intention is that compliance becomes a matter you are informed about rather than one you have to manage.

Question 11

Which trade licence will my company hold?

Accepted Answer

A commercial licence covers trading, distribution, retail and general commerce. A professional licence covers services delivered through expertise — consultancy, marketing, technology, design, engineering advisory — and ordinarily carries lighter capital expectations. An industrial licence covers manufacturing, assembly and processing, and brings premises, civil defence and environmental conditions with it. Tourism, transport, education, healthcare and financial activities sit under their own regimes. We read the intended revenue line first and then select the licence and activity wording that supports it, including any additional approvals the sector regulator will require. Getting this right at the outset avoids the two most expensive corrections in UAE practice: amending a licence after signing client contracts, and reopening a bank file whose activity wording did not match the business it described.

Question 12

How does the investor or partner visa work?

Accepted Answer

Once the company is licensed and its establishment card issued, a shareholder may apply for an investor or partner residence permit in their own right. The sequence is settled: entry permit, status change or entry on the permit, medical examination, Emirates ID biometrics, then visa stamping. Two to three years is the usual validity depending on the jurisdiction, renewable for as long as the shareholding and licence remain in good standing. The permit also opens the family file. Spouse, children and, subject to conditions, parents and domestic staff may be sponsored once the holder's Emirates ID is issued and salary or shareholding evidence is in place. We handle the appointments, typing, translation and submissions as one file rather than leaving you to attend counters yourself.

Question 13

Am I likely to qualify for the Golden Visa?

Accepted Answer

The Golden Visa grants ten years of residency without a corporate sponsor, renewable, and permits the holder to remain outside the country for extended periods without lapse. The principal routes are real estate investment from AED 2 million, public investment, entrepreneurs holding an approved project, senior executives and specialised talent in medicine, science, engineering, culture and sport, alongside outstanding students and graduates. Eligibility turns on evidence rather than intention: valuations, title deeds, audited figures, accreditation letters or a recognised nomination, each presented in the form the authority expects. We assess candidly whether a file is ready, prepare it where it is, and advise on the shorter route to a conventional investor permit where it is not.

Question 14

What does the business setup process actually involve?

Accepted Answer

Consultation and structure, trade name reservation, initial approval, drafting and notarisation of the memorandum, premises and tenancy registration, licence issue and establishment card, immigration file opening, residency processing, then banking and tax registration. Nothing is begun out of sequence, because each stage depends on the instrument issued by the one before it. You are told at the outset what each stage requires from you, what we will do without further instruction, and what the realistic date of completion is. One senior adviser owns the file from first meeting to first renewal, so the answer to any question about progress comes from the person handling it.

Straight answers,
before you commit to anything.

Structure

People

Capital

Obligations

Every company is a set of particulars. Let us look at yours.

Straight answers,before you commit to anything.

Structure

01Should the company be mainland or free zone?The answer follows the customer, not the cost of the licence.

02How are business activities decided, and can they be changed later?Each licence carries a schedule of permitted activities. It is amendable.

03What are the office requirements?Every licence needs a registered address; not every licence needs a floor.

04How long does formation take?Typically five to fifteen working days to licence, once documents are complete.

05Which trade licence will my company hold?Commercial, professional or industrial — the activity decides, not the preference.

People

01Who is eligible for residency, and how many permits are available?Shareholders, directors and employees, within the quota the licence carries.

02What documents are required?Less than most expect: passports, photographs, and a clear ownership record.

03How does the investor or partner visa work?Shareholding in a licensed company supports a renewable residence permit.

04Am I likely to qualify for the Golden Visa?A ten-year residency for investors, entrepreneurs and specialist talent.

Capital

01Will Bond assist with the corporate bank account?Yes — by preparing the file properly and introducing it to the right desk.

02How does UAE Corporate Tax apply to my company?Nine per cent above AED 375,000, with relief available to qualifying entities.

03When must the company register for VAT?Mandatory above AED 375,000 of taxable turnover; voluntary above AED 187,500.

Obligations

01What ongoing compliance does the company carry?A predictable annual calendar, held on your behalf rather than left to memory.

02What does the business setup process actually involve?Nine ordered stages, each with a document set and an owner.

Every company is a set of particulars. Let us look at yours.

Straight answers,
before you commit to anything.