Civil Company Formation in Dubai – How to Set it up in UAE?

UAE in general and Dubai in particular offers a plethora of lucrative advantages to business community. State of the art infrastructure, strategic location, impeccable ethos, transparency, amazing government support and host of incentives are some of those bright spots that beckon business entities from across the globe. Although Dubai offers several types of company formations the one which thrills certain section of aspirants is civil company formation.

So, what is civil company formation in Dubai? But before that, let us understand the dynamics and metrics of setting up any kind of business in Dubai.

Dubai offers three main jurisdictions for enterprising entities – Mainland, Free Zone and Offshore. While the first option requires a local partner who by default will hold 51% stake in the company, the second option allows 100% ownership with a bouquet of incentives such less corporate tax and personal tax as well and 100% repatriation of profits. However, mainland business opportunities in both the cases are simply off limit.

Offshore option is chosen by businesses for the same set of reasons, similar to free zone, but with a different set targets and goals.

Once an appropriate jurisdiction is selected the next step is to apply for a relevant license. Business entities need to understand that licenses for mainland are issued by Department of Economic Development, and for free zone and offshore, respective authorities are responsible.

Department of Economic Development issues three different types of business licenses:

• Commercial license
• Industrial license
• Professional license

And the types of companies that can be registered under these licenses include:

1. Limited Liability Company
2. Civil / Professional Company
3. Joint Venture Company
4. Private Shareholding Company
5. Public Shareholding Company

Of all the above mentioned company formations, Civil Company offers the best of both worlds, i.e. 100% ownership and access to mainland business opportunities. The question is how to start civil company in Dubai? The answer is really simple. Get a professional license in Dubai. However, a point to note - professional license setup in Dubai is only meant for professionals such as  doctors, accountants, lawyers, legal consultants, management consultants and engineers, and these business entities must hold professional qualification/s in their field of expertise.

Nonetheless, a local service agent, basically a UAE national is still required as a liaison between the said entity and the government department/s. This agent applies for various approvals, license, permits, visas etc. Business Link UAE with a dedicated and qualified staff provides a one stop solution for professional license in Dubai as well as professional company formation in UAE.

Mentioned below are some of the salient features of Professional / Civil Company formation:

1. Professional / Civil Company can only be created for professional services.
2. The owners / partners must be qualified professionals in their chosen area of expertise.
3. 100% ownership allowed. Access to mainland for business opportunities allowed.
4. Services of a local agent still mandatory.
5. Non professional activities such as trading / manufacturing activities disallowed.

Business Link UAE, a company formation consultant in Dubai can help you start professional company or any other type of business setup in Dubai, UAE.