How to start a business in Dubai as an expat?

Opening a business in Dubai offers you multiple benefits; tax-free, easy visa, and great infrastructure among a few.

Opening a new business in Dubai as an expat is relatively easy and straightforward. However, to make the process smoother for you, we have a few guidelines and do’s and don’ts laid out in this blog.

1. Choose the industry

Whether you decide to go through the process of business yourself or hire a consultant, the first step should be clearly defining the industry of your business and mapping it against authority-laid down types of industries. The reason this is an important first step is that the type of company you can legally open and the region in which you can operate will depend on that.

2. Decide the type of company & the location

Depending on the nature of the business, the next step would be to choose between types of companies and locations; free zone or mainland, or offshore?

Furthermore, you would need to choose specific free-zone or offshore areas in which you can register and operate your company.

3. Choose the name of the company

There are strict regulations regarding the naming of a company in the UAE. The name should be not related to any religion, god, political group, etc. The UAE has some strict naming conventions, so before you commit to a company name, make sure it is legally acceptable. If you choose to go for a person’s name for your company, they should be the owner or at least a partner of the company and the complete name should be used.

4. Finish company incorporation

Depending on the type of company & the area you choose, there will be specific steps, and document requirements for opening a company. Check the following blogs for specific steps of each company.

5. Open a bank account

The next step, once the company incorporation is done and all licenses obtained will be to open a bank account. UAE boasts of many reputable national and international banks. Emirates NBD, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, HSBC, and Standard Chartered to name a few. The process of opening a bank account is simple & can be done by yourself or with the help of a consultant. Get in touch to know more.

6. Get a visa

Opening a company in Dubai allows you to get a visa for yourself, staff, and dependents, while mainland companies can get unlimited visas, each free zone has specific rules regarding the number. So you must keep that in the mind before deciding to open a company as well. The process is simple, however, we suggest getting credible consultants to help you through the process.

That’s it! You are now ready to start operating your business in the UAE.

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with us. We have more than 10 years of experience helping businesses start & expand in the UAE.