Professional License in Dubai

Dubai is one of the reckless growing states in the world; and the nice-looking low tax system of the emirate of Dubai marks it a perfect place to set up Professional license in Dubai. Professional License setup in Dubai is one of the outstanding services from our professional. The Professional License in Dubai can be setup with 100% expat owner ship in the Emirate of Dubai. However, a UAE national will be selected as a service agent but he has no direct participation in the business and is paid on an annual basis. The role of the Local Service Agent is to support in obtaining professional license, visa, labor card, etc. There is no minimum capital requirement for a professional company in Dubai.

Professional company in Dubai

The professional company is acceptable to be 100% held and run by a expat except in certain segments and activities whereby a UAE national must be partner by holding a certain agreed number of shares in the company or by actuality actively involved in the management.

This type of setup allows the holder of the license to exercise their profession, be it accounting, medical, consulting etc. Professional license in Dubai is a useful license; and it is one of the most common types of a license owing to its elasticity for the owner particularly in the running of consultancy area. This gives you the skill to invoice all types of company’s setup in the UAE; and also abroad for services. Professional license in Dubai also authorizes the owner to have UAE bank accounts; as well as worldwide accounts. For Professional license in Dubai you must need to have an office space in Dubai main land area. We can help you to identify such offices or even we can arrange virtual offices for your license setup.

Professional Company may engage in professional activities. A professional company practices a profession as its main object and in which the partners rely on for their professional effort they exercise more than on profiting from the business of others. The professional company is setup in Dubai between professional and can carry out only non-commercial activities.

Where should you setup your Professional License?

We can setup a Professional License in Dubai in one of three ways for you;

·         A Professional License made as a Sole Formation (the term used in Dubai for a Sole Proprietorship)

·         If you have more than one shareholder; then the setup of a Professional License is called a "Civil Company" which is similar to a "Partnership."

·         A Professional License set up as a Branch of a Foreign Company

·         A Professional License can also be setup in one of the Free Zones in the U.A.E.

In Dubai there are two other licenses which we will discuss in detail in next article; one is commercial license in Dubai and other is Industrial License.

Incorporating a Professional License as a Sole Establishment (One Owner)

U.A.E. law and Dubai law state that a Sole Establishment must have just one owner.  This owner can be either a foreigner or a U.A.E. National.  The Establishment Owner (the Sole Proprietor) carries the full 100% liability of the incorporated company.  In this way, the Sole Establishment is similar to comparable structures in the rest of the world which place 100% liability with the owner of the business.  Even then, the Sole Establishment is a very popular form of company in Dubai.  The reason is very simple; there is no law which requires a U.A.E. National to take a majority stake in a Sole Establishment.  In fact, a foreigner can own 100% of a Sole Establishment.  The downside to the 100% ownership rule is that foreigners can form a Sole Establishment only if they are going to be providing services AND NOT buying and selling goods.

Incorporating a Professional License as a Civil Company (more than One Owner)

A Professional License can be set up as a Civil Company if there are 2 or more owners who wish to jointly form the company.  The Civil Company structure is really a Partnership and the Partners share the full 100% liability of the company.  Besides the ownership feature, a Civil Company is run and maintained very similar to the Sole Establishment.

A Professional License Incorporated as a Branch of a Foreign Company

We regularly setup Professional company as a Branch of a Foreign Company.  There are many ins and outs why our clients ask us to do this.  Here are some of the main ins and outs;

A Professional company License only permits a maximum of 50 shareholders; and some of our clients has more than 50 partners.  In this case, the offshore company will hold the 50 plus shareholders, and only a few representative shareholders hold managerial spots in the Dubai Branch.

Dubai has some sweet harsh naming rules for corporations.  If you wish to avoid these rules, then the way to go is through a Branch of a Foreign Company.  By law the U.A.E. Branch must carry the same name as the Foreign Head Office.

A Professional License formed within one of the numerous Free Zones in the U.A.E.

You can also form a Professional company License within one of the many free trade zones establishes in Dubai and the other states of UAE.  The only motive you should select to form your Professional company License within one of the free trade zones is when the free trade zone provides dedicated services for the activity you are about to involve in.  For example, the Dubai Media City is a well-known target for media and marketing firms.  Since the 100% foreign ownership structure is stretched to non-free zone companies if they are forming a Professional company License, there is not much explanation for choosing a Free Zone to set up a Professional company License.

You should consider earning a Professional company License within a Free Zone only if you plan to transfer your services or provide your services to clients outside the UAE.  That being said, this is a rule that is regularly flouted, often openly as the authorities have yet to show any inclination towards restricting Professional company Licenses set up in the free zone to conduct business only within the free zone.  The practice of incorporating a Professional company License within the free zone and providing services to companies outside the free zone is a well-established practice int the U.A.E.