Who This is for
Invoicing local companies, selling into local retail, or delivering services on site.
Public tenders are generally closed to entities that are not mainland-licensed — checked at submission, not at award.
Customers ask for a mainland trade licence on the invoice, or a contract was declined over the licence type.
Headcount growth is the most common reason a founder moves to leased mainland premises.
Healthcare, education, professional, transport and financial activities sit with a sector authority.
What’s Included
How it Works
Assessment
Activity, customer base, ownership, headcount and banking profile. This determines the emirate and the legal form — getting it wrong here is what makes an amendment necessary six months later.
Activity selection and trade name
The activity list is the single most consequential decision on the file. The name is reserved once the activity is settled, because some names are only available against some activities.
Initial approval
The economic department’s confirmation that it has no objection to the proposed activity, ownership and name. Where a sector regulator is involved, its approval is obtained at this stage, not after.
External approvals
Where the activity requires them — SIRA for security-related activities, Dubai Municipality for food and public-health activities, DHA, KHDA, RTA and other departments. Obtained before the licence can issue, in the order each department expects.
Premises
Lease signed, tenancy registered. The licence cannot issue without it, and the registered area is what the visa quota is calculated against.
Licence issue, then the immigration file
The company registered with the labour and immigration authorities, the quota confirmed, and shareholder, employee and dependant visas processed in sequence.
What We Need from You
Most of this list is a scan and an email — none of it needs to be perfect before we talk, and we tell you exactly what is missing after the first review. The one thing to raise early: if a shareholder cannot travel, say so at the outset. A power of attorney executed abroad has its own attestation chain, running through authorities in two countries, and it needs to start before the rest of the file — not alongside it — or every other step ends up waiting on one signature.
Timeline and Cost
Mainland formation takes longer than a straightforward free zone formation. The registry is rarely the constraint; the constraint is document preparation — attested corporate documents from abroad, sector approvals, notarisation appointments and the tenancy. Where all shareholders are individuals present in the UAE and no external approval is required, the sequence is short. Where a foreign parent company is the shareholder, the attestation chain sets the timetable.
Our fee is fixed and agreed in writing against a defined scope before we begin — anchored to the work involved, never to the value of your business. Government charges, notary fees and rent are paid to third parties and shown to you separately, at cost.
We do not quote before we know the activity. Anyone quoting a mainland licence before asking what you will invoice for is quoting a different company’s licence.
Company Cost CalculatorWhere it Goes Wrong
Choosing several adjacent activities “to be safe” can pull in an unexpected sector approval, raise the licence category, or create a mismatch a bank’s compliance team queries. Too narrow, and the first large invoice sits outside the licence. The right answer is the smallest set that genuinely covers the revenue.
The visa quota is a function of the registered premises and the activity. Founders sign a lease on price, then discover the space does not support the headcount they hired for — and the correction is a new lease, not an amendment.
An unregistered lease does not support a licence application. This is usually discovered on the day the file is submitted.
Attestation and legalisation of foreign corporate documents runs through a chain of authorities in two countries. It cannot be compressed, and every other step waits on it.
The person named as manager carries real authority and real exposure, and changing them later is a notarised amendment. The decision resurfaces during banking and during any dispute.
Most mainland activities are, but a defined set remains subject to specific ownership or approval requirements — determined by the activity, before the file is opened, not after.
Questions
Can a foreigner own 100% of a mainland company?
For most activities, yes. A limited set remains subject to specific ownership or approval requirements, which we identify at assessment before anything is filed.
What is the practical difference between mainland and free zone?
Market access and obligations. A mainland licence lets you invoice UAE customers directly and bid for government work; a free zone licence generally does not, and reaches the local market through a distributor or a mainland branch.
How many visas will the company get?
The allocation depends on the registered premises and the activity, not on how many people you intend to hire. We calculate it before the lease is signed, not after.
Do I need to be in the UAE?
Much of the process runs under power of attorney. Some steps — biometrics, certain notarisation, some bank onboarding — require presence, and we tell you which apply at the outset.
Can I convert my free zone company to mainland?
Often, by re-domiciliation, which preserves the company’s legal identity, contracts and history rather than starting again. It involves exit clearance from the free zone before the mainland application proceeds.
Does a mainland company pay corporate tax?
It falls under the standard regime: 0% on the first AED 375,000 of taxable income and 9% above it. Registration is required regardless of profit or whether the company has traded.
Can you guarantee the licence will be issued?
No. Approval belongs to the economic department and to any sector regulator involved. What is within our control is that the activity is correctly selected, the documents are complete, and the file is submitted in the right order — which is what most refusals turn on.