The company Free-zone at IFZA - Dubai Silicon Oasis (Dubai)
General presentation
Register
Free-zone company in the Emirate of Dubai registered in the IFZA Register, with its registered office and correspondence address in the Emirate of Dubai.
Permitted activities
The company may engage in any activity except banking, insurance, and financial activities (such as currency exchange). Managing funds for third parties is not permitted.
Minimum capital
Min. AED 100,000 (with a minimum of AED 50,000 per partner to qualify for an investor visa)
Manager
Minimum one. It may be an individual or a legal entity (in the latter case, an individual Manager must also be appointed).
Associate(s)
Any natural person (individual - minimum age 21) or legal entity (company), regardless of nationality. No nominee shareholder.
Requirement to have an Emirati shareholder
Not required
Registration obligations and deadline
Keep accounting records
Required.
Report on the audit of the annual financial statements
Required.
Time to register
2 weeks max.
Expected time frame
The timeframes to expect for obtaining your license from IFZA are as follows:
Registration documents
3 business days to prepare your company registration documents from receipt of your payment. The documents are signed electronically (so there is nothing to send back to us by mail).
Registration Certificate
Up to 7 business days to receive the Certificate of Incorporation for your company registered with IFZA.
Residence visa
You have 2 options:
- Case no. 1: you are present in Dubai for 3 weeks (from Monday morning to Thursday evening 2 weeks later) to obtain your visa.
- Case no. 2: we submit your application to the Immigration Services 3 weeks BEFORE your arrival in Dubai. You will then need to be present in Dubai for only 6 business days (from Wednesday morning to Wednesday evening of the following week) to obtain your visa (= pink sticker affixed to your passport).
Visa for spouse/child(ren)
If applicable, once you have obtained your residence visa and rented/purchased a property in Dubai, we will be able to submit the visa applications for your spouse and children.
After obtaining the visa
EmiratesID
It is now required to make an appointment with the Authorities to have your fingerprints taken. At present, the waiting time to obtain an appointment is 3 weeks. To make this appointment, you must be in Dubai and have already completed the medical examination. A maximum of 2 hours is required to have your fingerprints taken (we will of course accompany you). The EmiratesID will then be delivered to our P.O. box at least 7 business days after your fingerprints are taken (you do not need to be present to receive it; we will of course keep it for you if you are no longer in the country).
UAE driving license
As soon as we receive your EmiratesID, we can accompany you to Dubai’s Traffic Department to obtain your UAE driving license on-site within 2 hours (please note that you can no longer drive with a foreign license once you have obtained a residence visa).
Bank accounts
Personal bank account: as soon as your Emirates ID is obtained, we can meet with the bank to open your personal bank account. It takes 5 business days to obtain it.
Business bank account: you have 2 options (both are of course possible!):
- Online bank: opening is possible as soon as the company is registered; it takes a maximum of 5 days to receive your account number.
- Local bank in Dubai: opening is possible as soon as you have obtained your residence visa; it takes approximately 3 weeks to obtain your bank account number from a local bank in Dubai.