American company in Dubai, UAE set-up and US checks

Owning an American company in Dubai can work in more than one way. You might hold a UAE company yourself as a US person, or a US company you own might hold its shares. This page covers both. Make one decision before you look at zones or fees: will you own the UAE company personally, or through a US entity?

After that, the UAE side is fairly easy to handle. You can sign the licence online, and you don't need a visa just to hold shares. Your position at home is a job for a different adviser.

UAE fees are quoted in dirhams (AED), which are pegged at 3.6725 to the dollar. AED 10,000 is about USD 2,700. US tax and reporting only appear here as questions for a US adviser. We don't state any US rate, threshold or rule.

The first decision: who holds the shares

How you structure the ownership affects every later step, so settle it before choosing a zone. Holding the shares yourself gives the zone and the bank the least to review. Meydan Free Zone's Fawri licence, for example, is aimed at one shareholder who is also the manager, director and ultimate beneficial owner. It starts at AED 15,000 (Meydan, as of October 2026).

A US company as shareholder adds work in three places. To begin with, its papers have to go through the attestation chain that dubai.ae lists for foreign documents. Attestation means each office stamps the document to confirm the one before it. The chain covers the UAE embassy and the foreign ministry in the country of origin, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and an Arabic translation attested by the Ministry of Justice.

Next comes the ownership record. A beneficial owner is the real person who, in the end, owns or controls a company. The UAE company must record as beneficial owners the natural persons behind the US company who hold 25% or more (Cabinet Decision 109 of 2023).

Last, the bank will look closely at the chain. Central Bank guidance counts opaque multi-layer ownership without a clear reason among its red flags. Each bank sets its own eligibility terms, so ask every one in writing whether it accepts a company as shareholder.

Keep a US entity in the chain only if there's a business reason the bank can see, such as existing contracts or a group that already trades. If the layer is there just for tax planning at home, raise it with your US adviser first. Until you have an answer, hold the shares personally.

Free zone or mainland: choosing the licence

Think about your customers before the zone. In a free zone, the zone's own authority licenses companies and sets the rules. If your clients are abroad, a free zone company needs the fewest permissions. Selling on the Dubai mainland, meaning anywhere in the emirate outside a free zone, takes more. Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025 gives a Dubai free zone company three ways in. It can open a mainland branch, run a branch out of the free zone at AED 10,000 a year, or hold a permit for up to six months at AED 5,000. All three are valid only in Dubai.

Money from US customers counts as income from outside the free zone. A Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP), a free zone company that meets the conditions for the 0% rate, gets 0% on that income only if it comes from a Qualifying Activity that isn't an Excluded Activity (Cabinet Decision 100 of 2023, Ministerial Decision 229 of 2025). Check how your activity is worded before you apply for the licence.

Mainland rules on local agents are unclear, because two pages on the government portal u.ae disagree. A steps page dated 16 July 2026 says a business owned entirely by non-GCC residents, meaning people from outside the Gulf Cooperation Council states, needs a local service agent. That's a UAE national who handles government paperwork for a fee but owns no shares, and the appointment needs an agreement attested by a notary public or the court. A foreign ownership page dated 6 April 2026 says the old requirement for 51 per cent Emirati ownership or a local agent no longer applies to most activities. It also says branches no longer need an Emirati service agent. Check with the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET, formerly DED), Dubai's mainland licensing office, whether your activity needs one. If you'll be working alone, compare the permit option in our guide to freelance visas and permits.

Signing from the US, and what banks ask for

You don't need to be in Dubai to get the licence. DET's window takes e-signatures without attendance in person (Executive Council Resolution 5 of 2024, Article 3). Free zones set their own rules. IFZA, the International Free Zone Authority, says owners don't have to be present during registration, and Meydan advertises a remote set-up package from AED 12,500. The licence may be issued online, but the permits come later. The investor gives an undertaking to get them before the business starts.

Banks run know-your-customer (KYC) checks on every owner, whatever passport you hold. For its digital onboarding, Emirates NBD asks for the trade licence, the memorandum or articles of association, and a board resolution or power of attorney. It also wants copies of the passports and Emirates IDs of all partners and signatories. Mashreq's list is the licence, the memorandum, a board resolution where relevant, proof of the company's address and the partners' identity documents (bank pages, October 2026).

Among banks that publish a residency rule, the rules aren't the same. Emirates NBD's digital route needs one signatory who lives in the UAE. Every bank publishes its own account terms, so read ADCB's page as well.

Treat advertised speeds as marketing. No bank or regulator publishes approval rates. Wio says three working days and Mashreq advertises one day. RAKBANK offers about an hour to eligible holders of a RAKEZ licence (October 2026). Until a bank puts an offer on paper, those are just claims.

The Central Bank's due diligence guidance is listed as in force from 7 November 2025 (an April 2026 update in the rulebook is worth checking). It tells banks not to open or keep a relationship if they can't complete their checks. Among its red flags is a new company funded with a large sum from an unclear source. To see what to prepare, read the guide to bank account rejection. The guide to starting from abroad walks through the steps that apply to everyone.

UAE Corporate Tax and who holds the login

Corporate Tax is the UAE's tax on business profits. Every new company, free zone companies included, must register with the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) within three months of incorporation (FTA Decision 3 of 2024). Registering late carries an AED 10,000 penalty. Filing the return late costs AED 500 per month or part month in the first twelve months (Cabinet Decision 75 of 2023 as amended, as of October 2026).

The rate is 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% on the part above it (Cabinet Decision 116 of 2022). Small Business Relief applies for revenue up to AED 3 million, for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029 (Ministerial Decision 131 of 2026). It isn't open to a QFZP. Our Corporate Tax guide for new companies lists the filings in order. For what's taxed for companies and what's taxed for individuals, see whether Dubai is tax-free.

FTA services run through the EmaraTax portal, and you sign in with UAE Pass, the UAE's digital identity (October 2026). If you live abroad, settle early who holds that login. The beneficial owner rules raise the same kind of point. The company must name a UAE-resident individual who is authorised to give ownership details to the registrar. If it names nobody, Cabinet Resolution 132 of 2023 fines it AED 10,000 on a second breach.

US duties to raise with a US adviser

Whether the UAE company changes anything for you in the US depends on the answers below. Go through them with an adviser qualified in the US before you pay for the licence.

• Citizenship and residence: does your citizenship or residence create tax and reporting duties on a company you own abroad, regardless of the UAE position?
• Company reporting: which filings apply to a foreign corporation you own or control, and who signs them?
• Accounts: does holding a UAE bank account, or having signing authority over one, trigger account reporting? What are the deadlines?
• Profit: is the company's profit taxed in your hands as it's earned, or only when you take it out?
• Payments: how are salary, dividends and loans from the UAE company taxed?
• State and local: does your state treat you as a resident while you run the company?
• Exit: what does a sale, a closure or a move trigger?

Get the US adviser's reply on paper, above all on whether the UAE company falls outside US reporting. That's not a question a UAE adviser can answer.

Moving to Dubai from the USA or staying in the US

You can own the company without a visa. Living in the UAE is another matter and needs a residence visa. Which one fits depends on where your income comes from.

If a foreign employer pays you, Dubai's virtual work visa doesn't need a company at all. You'll need a salary certificate showing at least USD 3,500 a month and proof that you work remotely for an organisation outside the UAE. Health insurance and a medical fitness result are required too. The visa is valid for one year (u.ae, August 2026). Dubai's General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) lists the fee as AED 200 plus levies, shows no VAT line, and expects 48 hours (GDRFA Dubai, October 2026).

If you live on the company's profit, the company can sponsor an investor or partner visa for you instead. It first needs an establishment card, the immigration record that lets a company sponsor visas, and a visa quota from the zone, which is the number of residence visas it may apply for. After that come the entry permit, the medical test and the Emirates ID biometrics (fingerprints and a photo). Thinking of the virtual work visa while you run your own company? Ask GDRFA first whether your company counts as an organisation outside the UAE. The Green Residence and Golden Residence are standalone options with their own thresholds. You'll find them on the pages of the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP).

Which adviser handles what

Brief each adviser differently. Your UAE adviser needs the activity, the countries your customers are in, the ownership chain down to the actual people and the bank papers. Your US adviser needs the facts on your residence and citizenship, the planned capital, how you'll be paid and where decisions will be taken.

A corporate tax consultant takes care of the UAE registration and the QFZP test. A lawyer in the UAE can check the articles of association and the attestation chain. Because of the reporting duties at home, it pays to bring both advisers in early.

AdvisoryHub may receive a fee when you request an introduction; it does not affect the information on this page.

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