Free zone companies

The law of the free zone, specific UAE federal laws and certain laws of the Emirate in which the company is incorporated are applicable. Additionally, English law is applied in a number of free zones.

• reservation of the proposed company name
• filling out the application form on the website of the respective free zone
• verification of the identity of shareholders and managers (KYC)
• background checks of the shareholders and managers by free zone authorities
• obtaining approval from the free zone authorities and issuance of constituent documents

The minimum share capital requirement varies depending on the specific free zone, ranging from 1 to 500,000 AED (approximately 0,27 to 136,131 USD). Certain free zones may require a UAE bank statement demonstrating a minimum share capital deposit as proof of payment.

On average, the establishment of a company takes around 2 weeks. However, the timeframe can be extended depending on the complexity of the free zone compliance procedure.

Most free zones typically allocate 3 visa quotas without requiring the rental of a physical office. However, if a larger number of visa quotas is required, you would need to rent a physical office space in the respective free zone. The number of available visa quotas usually depends on the size of the rented office space.

There are no citizenship and residency requirements for shareholders and managers.

Only ADGM and DIFC have a public company register where information on company members is published. In DMCC, participants are not disclosed, but information about managers, types of activities, and company address is available. In other free zones, information about companies, their participants, and managers is not disclosed to third parties.
However, any free zone company must disclose its ultimate beneficiaries to the relevant free zone authorities both during the establishment stage and when renewing the commercial license. This information is not disclosed to third parties.

With certain exceptions, the office must be located in the free zone where the company is established. Depending on the number of visa quotas required, free zones apply requirements regarding the size of the rented office space.

No, personal presence is not required.