1. Select a business activity 2. Select a legal form for your business 3. Select a trade name for your business 4. Apply for an initial approval certificate 5. Prepare a memorandum of association and local service agent agreement, if relevant 6. Establish your business location 7. Where necessary, obtain licencing approvals for your business activity 8. Collect your business licence

By on 13-11-2018

STARTING BUSINESS IN DUBAI – A SIMPLE STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS

• 1.SELECT A BUSINESS ACTIVITY

 There are more than 2,000 business activities available in Dubai, which fall into different classes and groups. Please note that some of the business activities require approvals from government bodies other that the DED.

• 2. SELECT A LEGAL FORM FOR YOUR BUSINESS

 A 'legal form' is a description of what sort of business you are starting up. When you select a legal form for your business in Dubai, you must take into account the business type, business activities, the number and the nationality of owners and the ownership options.
Companies in Dubai can take various legal forms

Sole Proprietorship 

Civil Company 

Limited Liability Company 

Private Shareholding Company 

Public Shareholding Company

Simple Limited Partnership 

Partnership Company

Branch of a Foreign Company Branch or Representative Office Branch of a Dubai-based Company 

Branch of a UAE-based Company 

Branch of a GCC-based Company

Branch of a Free zone Company 

Intalaq – Home-based business for UAE Nationals

SME Licence

• 3.SELECT A TRADE NAME FOR YOUR BUSINESS

 When choosing a name for your business or company you should follow general trade name guidelines
You can apply for a trade name online or go through an authorised document clearing office or law firm. Please note that to access online services, you need aBRL online user account.
During the application process, you will be issued with a payment voucher or a transaction number, which you will need to use as a reference when you pay. You can make the payment online or by cash, credit card or cheque at authorised document clearing offices, banks and Emirates Post, or you can transfer money from your account.

Remember:

• You have pay for your trade name on the same day as you applied for it
• A Trade Name Certificate is valid for 60 days
• It can be renewed online only once
• It has to be renewed within one week before it is due to expire
• A Trade Name Certificate that has already expired cannot be renewed
• 4.APPLY FOR AN INITIAL APPROVAL CERTIFICATE

An Initial Approval Certificate is a document which says that the Dubai Government has no objection to you starting a business and means you can take the next steps to getting a business licence.
There are various ways to apply for your Initial Approval Certificate, depending on the legal form of your business. Whether you apply online, through DED counters, a law firm or a document clearing office, you need to bring the following documents.
You can apply for your Initial Approval Certificate online if your company’s legal form is listed below. Please note that to apply for initial approval online, you must first have a BRL online user account. If you prefer not to have an online account, you can visit authorised document clearing offices or come to DED counters.

• Individual Establishment (Sole Proprietorship)
• Civil Company
• Limited Liability Company
• Partnership Company

If your company’s legal form is not one of these four, you cannot apply online. The best way to visit DED is to book an appointment with BRL staff. For booking you need to have a BRL online user account. You can also come to DED offices without an appointment to use the walk-in Fanar service for an extra fee. As a business owner, you can also access the VIP service.
During the application process, you will be issued with a payment voucher or a transaction number, which you will need to use as a reference when you pay. You can make the payment online or by cash, credit card or cheque at authorised document clearing offices , or at selected banks and or at Emirates Post offices, or you can transfer money from your account.
Remember

•  You have pay for your Initial Approval within seven days of applying for it
• You must have an Initial Approval Certificate and Initial Approval Form to obtain a licence
• The Initial Approval Certificate records partners, legal type and activities of the licence
• It is valid for six months and is not renewable
• 5 .PREPARE A MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION AND LOCAL SERVICE AGENT AGREEMENT, IF RELEVANT

Depending on the legal form of your company, you and your business partners may need to draft and sign a Memorandum of Association (MOA). In some cases, you will have to sign a Local Service Agent (LSA) agreement with a UAE national, who will represent your business with regards to licencing and compliance.
You will need to draft a Memorandum of Association (MOA) if the legal form of your business is a:

• Limited Liability Company
• Private Shareholding Company (Private Joint Stock Co)
• Public Shareholding Company
• Simple Limited Partnership
• Partnership Company
• Civil Company

Drafting an MOA is a process that you cannot do yourself. You will need to use a law firm, DED Legal Affairs or Notary Public.
You will need a copy of an MOA, if you are registering a branch of an existing company. If you are a Sole Establishment or Intalaq licence holder you do not need an MOA.
In addition, you will need an LSA agreement if the legal form of your business is:

• A branch of a Freezone Company, where UAE nationals own less than 51% of the company
• A branch of a Foreign Company
• A civil company that has no UAE national partners

• 6.ESTABLISH YOUR BUSINESS LOCATION

 All businesses in Dubai must have a physical address. Before you finalise the location of your business, the Dubai Municipality Planning Section has to confirm the property’s availability and suitability and compliance to public health and safety requirements.
To see what steps you need to follow in order to gain approvals for your business location, please click here
You can also choose to locate your company in an authorised business centre, in which case you do not need location-related approvals from Dubai Municipality.
If you or one of your business partners is a UAE national and has a licence in a specific location already, you can add your new business to the same site as long as the space is bigger than 500 sq. ft. For registering multiple business licences to a single location, you will need to bring an approval from existing partners to DED counters.

• 7.WHERE NECESSARY, OBTAIN LICENCING APPROVALS FOR YOUR BUSINESS ACTIVITY

 Some business activities require special licencing approvals by different government departments. For example, if you want to set up a hospital, it is not enough to get licencing approvals from DED only but also from the Dubai Health Authority.
You can check if your business activity requires additional approvals by various government bodies. If yes, you need to contact the relevant government departments to find out what documents they need.Business activities that fall under DED control do not require any additional activity-specific licencing approvals.

• 8.COLLECT YOUR BUSINESS LICENCE

 Now that you have completed the steps above, you need to submit all the documents to the DED counters. Depending on your business activity, the processing of your business licence ranges from 1 – 7 days.
To submit the required documents at DED counters, the best way is to book an appointment with BRL staff. For booking you need to have a BRL online user account. You can also come to DED offices without an appointment to use the walk-in Fanar service for an extra fee. As a business owner, you can also access the VIP service.
When you submit your documents, you will be issued with a payment voucher or a transaction number, which you can use online to check the status of your Business Licence even if you do not have a user account. When your business licence is ready, if you have a BRL online user account, you can pay the relevant fees online and print your business licence.
If you do not have a user account or if it is more convenient, you can pay at Banks, Emirates Post, authorised document clearing offices and law firms who will collect the payment and issue your licence.