Key Takeaways
- For a mainland company, meaning one based anywhere in an emirate outside a free zone, the emirate's economic department registers and licenses you. That's DET in Dubai, ADDED in Abu Dhabi and SEDD in Sharjah, according to the authorities' own websites in October 2026.
- Free zone companies are registered by the zone's own authority. Your registrar depends on the zone you pick, for example DIFC, ADGM, DDA or Jafza.
- Dubai describes a mainland licence in three stages: initial approval, then reserving the trade name, then the licence itself (dubai.ae, October 2026).
- You have three months from incorporation to register for Corporate Tax (FTA Decision 3 of 2024). Missing that deadline costs AED 10,000 under Cabinet Decision 75 of 2023 as amended, as of October 2026.
- Your beneficial owner and partner registers must reach the registrar within 60 days of getting the licence (Cabinet Decision 109 of 2023).
Before you can register a company in the UAE, you have to decide where it will be based. Each emirate keeps its own register, and so does each free zone (an area with its own authority that licenses companies under its own rules). In Dubai, a mainland company goes to the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), which used to be called DED. A company in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) goes to the DIFC Registrar instead, and one in the Jebel Ali Free Zone goes to Jafza. Getting the licence is only the start. Beneficial owner and tax registrations follow within a few months.
Registration, licence and tax registration are separate entries
You'll deal with different offices for each of these, and each one has its own deadline. The trade licence is the document that lets your company do business. Dubai splits the licensing process into three stages: initial approval, trade name reservation and the business licence (dubai.ae, October 2026). Initial approval is only a no-objection in principle. It doesn't let you start trading yet (u.ae, July 2026).
Companies that fall under the Commercial Companies Law have their memorandum of association (the founding contract between the owners) entered in the Commercial Register. If you later change the name, address, capital, number of shareholders or legal form, you must report it within 15 working days. That rule is Article 15 of Federal Decree-Law 32 of 2021 in its 2021 text. Federal Decree-Law 20 of 2025 amended the law, so check whether the current wording still says the same.
Tax is handled by the Federal Tax Authority (FTA), which keeps the Corporate Tax and VAT registers. A third body, the registrar, receives your beneficial owner and shareholder registers. A beneficial owner is the real person who owns or controls the company in the end, even if the shares are held through someone else. Cabinet Decision 109 of 2023 defines the registrar as the authority that supervises the trade names register. Your licensing authority can tell you which office takes these papers for your company.
Mainland authorities by emirate
Every emirate has one economic department that registers and licenses mainland companies. Use the table to find the office for your emirate and what it says about itself on its own website, as of October 2026. For Ras Al Khaimah, the last column says what to ask the department.
| Emirate | Registering authority | Channel | What the authority publishes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai | Department of Economy and Tourism (DET); its Dubai Business Registration and Licensing Corporation does the registration and licensing | Invest in Dubai | Five licence types: industrial, commercial, professional, e-trader and dual; request the fee sheet for your activity |
| Abu Dhabi | Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) | TAMM | Standard, Trader (Tajer), Dual, Freelancer, Mobdea, Small Producers and Virtual licences (ADDED page, read October 2026) |
| Sharjah | Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD) | sedd.ae | More than 100 services, among them business setup, renewals, trade names and permits |
| Ajman | Department of Economic Development, Ajman | ajmanded.ae e-services portal | A service catalogue and an e-services portal; request the fees and the office space rule for your activity |
| Ras Al Khaimah | RAK Department of Economic Development (RAK DED) | Ask RAK DED | The Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) and RAK ICC register their own companies; RAK DED can give you its licence list, fees and online channel |
Dubai has put DET, the free zones and DIFC behind a single online window. Decree 13 of 2024 created Invest in Dubai for this. Under Article 3 of Executive Council Resolution 5 of 2024, DET has to issue licences instantly. There's one exception. If the Chairman of the Executive Council has listed your activity, you need the permits or approvals before the licence is issued. Ask DET whether your activity is on that list. For what each portal does, see our guide to online company registration in Dubai.
In Umm Al Quwain, mainland licences come from the Department of Economic Development (ded.uaq.ae). Fujairah is less clear. The UAE government portal sends Fujairah trade licence services to Fujairah Municipality (u.ae, updated 6 April 2026), while another u.ae page names a Department of Industry and Economy. Find out which body actually issues the licence before you make plans.
Free zone registrars
In a free zone, the zone authority registers your company and sets its own forms, fees and document list. The Dubai government lists 21 free zones (dubai.ae, page modified 3 April 2026). Some of them share a registrar, which means there are fewer registrars than zones.
- DIFC and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) each publish their own fees. You'll find them in the DIFC Table of Fees (Revision 16, 30 July 2026) and in the ADGM Registration Authority's schedule (version January 2025).
- The Dubai Development Authority (DDA) registers and licenses companies in the TECOM business communities. These include Internet City, Media City, Knowledge Park, Studio City, Production City, d3 and Science Park. New companies apply through the community's website or its relationship manager (DDA, October 2026).
- Jafza offers an FZE, an FZCo, a PLC, a branch or an offshore company. Its cost calculator gives the fees (Jafza, October 2026).
- Dubai Airport Freezone, Dubai Silicon Oasis and Dubai CommerCity belong to the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones (DIEZ) group. IFZA has its base in Dubai Silicon Oasis, but its public pages don't say which authority licenses its companies. Get IFZA to confirm that in writing.
- Other zones include DMCC and Meydan in Dubai; KEZAD, Masdar City, twofour54 and ADAFZ in Abu Dhabi; SHAMS in Sharjah; Ajman Free Zone; and RAKEZ and RAK ICC in Ras Al Khaimah. Each one publishes its own registration terms.
Article 5 of the Companies Law, as amended by Federal Decree-Law 20 of 2025, keeps the law out of a free zone company's affairs where the zone's own rules say something specific. If those rules allow work outside the zone, the company may open branches or representative offices in the UAE, and the Companies Law applies to those. In Dubai, Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025 governs that outside work. It gives you three options. The first is a mainland branch. The second is a branch run from your free zone office, usually called a dual licence, which costs AED 10,000 a year under Article 12. The third is a permit of up to six months for AED 5,000 (as of October 2026). The Resolution only covers Dubai. Under Article 3(c), work in another emirate is a matter for that emirate's authority.
If you're still comparing zones, our guide to choosing a free zone company in Dubai goes through the differences. You can also read when each option suits a business in the comparison of mainland and free zone.
Federal registers at MoET
The Ministry of Economy and Tourism (MoET) keeps two federal registers, the Commercial Register and the Foreign Companies Register. It also runs Basher, a service for setting up companies (MoET website, October 2026). When a foreign company opens a branch in the UAE, the branch goes into the Foreign Companies Register (Article 337, 2021 text).
Since 2025, the Companies Law also lets a company move its register entry to another emirate, or between a free zone and the mainland, without closing down and starting again. Implementing rules still have to set out how this works (MoET, January 2026). Check with DET and the zone that a procedure is actually in place before you plan a move.
The company keeps one more register itself. That's the register of partners, and its details go to the competent authority every January (Article 74, 2021 text).
Commercial register UAE searches start at the licensing authority
There's no single search page for every UAE company. You look it up with the authority that registered it. The government portal has a page on looking up licences, names and activities (u.ae, updated 6 April 2026), and it links to each emirate's licensing service.
For Dubai, search by the Dubai Unified Licence (DUL). DET introduced it on 11 December 2023 as a unique commercial ID for every business in Dubai (Dubai Media Office). Free zone companies are searched through their own zone.
When you check a company before doing business with it, look at five things on the record:
- the legal name, in Arabic and English, as it appears on the licence;
- the licence number and the authority that issued it;
- the activities it's licensed for;
- the expiry date;
- the registered address.
If the issuing authority can't find the licence number, don't go ahead. For how long your own registration might take, see how long it takes to register a company in Dubai.
What to file after the register entry
Three registrations come after the licence, and the clock for each starts when you're licensed. Free zone companies aren't exempt from the first one. Even with a 0% rate, they're Taxable Persons and must register for Corporate Tax.
- Corporate Tax. Every new UAE company, including free zone companies, registers within three months of incorporation through EmaraTax, the FTA's online portal (FTA Decision 3 of 2024). Registering late brings an AED 10,000 penalty under Cabinet Decision 75 of 2023, as amended, as of October 2026.
- VAT. You must register once your taxable supplies and imports go over AED 375,000 in the past 12 months, or you expect them to within the next 30 days. You may register voluntarily from AED 187,500. Your application is due within 30 days of the date you had to register (FTA, VAT registration service page, October 2026).
- Beneficial owners. The beneficial owner register and the register of partners go to the registrar within 60 days of licensing. Any change has to be updated within 15 days of you finding out about it (Cabinet Decision 109 of 2023). You also name a person living in the UAE who is authorised to give this information. For a first breach you get a written warning, and fines begin with the second (Cabinet Resolution 132 of 2023).
A corporate tax consultant can handle the Corporate Tax registration. They can also check whether a free zone company qualifies for 0% on its qualifying income under Cabinet Decision 100 of 2023 and Ministerial Decision 229 of 2025.
Choosing the register to start with
Think about where your customers are. If most of them are on one emirate's mainland, register there. A free zone company that sells on the Dubai mainland pays AED 10,000 a year for a branch run from its free zone office, or AED 5,000 each time for a permit of up to six months (as of October 2026). Neither option lets you trade in another emirate. If your customers are abroad or in the same zone, the zone registrar is all you need.
Sometimes your activity decides for you. A virtual asset business in Dubai needs a licence from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), which covers the free zones but not DIFC. DIFC and ADGM have their own financial regulators, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA). Talk to the regulator before you pay for any licence.
The day your licence arrives, put three dates in your calendar. Day 60 is the beneficial owner deadline. Month 3 is the Corporate Tax deadline. The 30-day VAT window opens once your taxable supplies and imports pass AED 375,000. If you're doing it yourself, how to open a company in Dubai yourself explains the order of work. The list of documents required and the cost guide for the UAE fill in the rest.
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