In this article we give the overview of different types of licenses in Dubai and other Emirates of the UAE and which type of license may be the most appropriate for your business.
First of all, we need to outline what is the license of a UAE company. Any Dubai onshore business – in Free Trade Zone or on the main territory – must have a license. This document is the company’s permit for certain business activities. For example, consulting, trading or logistics. UAE onshore companies can not do all types of activities as you would customarily assume from similar types of companies in other countries. The licenses, given to UAE companies, are provided for pre-defined activities and valid for one year and subject to annual renewal.
The Dubai licenses can be divided into various groups. One type of distinction – the ones which are issued without any special restrictions, and licenses, which are subject to fulfillment of certain specific UAE requirements. For example, a regular one for trading with consumer goods would not entail any special qualifications or other points to be fulfilled. The only requirement would be the higher education diploma of the company’s general manager. On the other side, for example, any type of medical services would necessitate a number of vital obligations to be met by the business – professional qualifications and experience of company manager and personnel, certain compulsory standards of the premises and equipment, etc.
The other type of licenses classification is the by the group of activities. These are professional and commercial activities. Professional license in Dubai, the UAE is required for any type of professional activity such as advisory, IT services, consulting, audit, etc. Commercial licenses are for the activities such as, for example, trading, production and other related types of business.
We must also outline that, if you open your company in the UAE Free Trade Zone, often the choice of the Free Zone is directly related to the company activities. For example, if you in healthcare sector business, the Free Trade Zone which provides such types of licenses in Dubai is Healthcare City FTZ. In the scenario when you with to provide financial services, the only choice would be the Dubai International Financial Center Free Zone.
On the other hand, if your company license is of more general type – trading with consumer goods or electronics, general consulting, etc. – such ones can be obtained in the majority of the Free Trade Zones of Dubai. Thus, when choosing free trade zone for these types of activities, the choice you make would depend on the cost factor, free zone location, and facilities it offers.
There are also other aspects which may be highly important when processing with business license in Dubai. Some can be issued only to companies with 100% ownership of local or GCC citizens. There are activities, which require a number of prior approvals from different UAE Ministries and Authorities.
To get the info on the license, which is most suitable for your business, and obtain the complete assistance on your company registration in the United Arab Emirates and its licensing, get in touch with us and we guide you over the entire process.
