Версия 2: экраны, цвет и звук

So, you want to set up a company in the UAE for the tax benefits, but you don't want to travel here currently. A lot of people feel the same. There are several options for you to achieve that, so that you can still visit the UAE at a later date for your visa process, set up your license currently, so you have the name and certificate ready, and also open a bank account now, so you can start operating.

Since COVID, remote setup has become extremely popular, and most free zones actually use this now as their standard setup process. This makes it a lot easier to assist you while you don't want to visit the UAE at the moment.

Hi, I'm Kate Williams, the Director of Company Formation at Connect Group. I've been in Dubai for 12 years and at Connect Group for six. Me and my team have helped thousands of individuals and companies set up over the years. When

planning to set up a company, you should always have a consultation first, just to ensure you're proceeding down the right route. Once this is done, your consultant will then ask you for some documentation so they can review and tell you if you're eligible for this company formation.

Step one, document review. The documents you will need will be things like passport copy, your picture page and your information page. Visa and Emirates ID if you already have one. If not, your last UAE entry stamp in your passport. We will need a digital photo of you, passport size. We'll also need some basic information and some information for your company, such as three potential business names with the business activity mentioned on the end. There'll be a couple of other documents and maybe some additional, depending on the activity you choose, but your consultant will tell you that at the time.

After this, step number two would be the application submission and the trade name reservation. We do all of this in the back end and don't need your assistance for anything. Once we've got your trade name reserved, we'll then move on to the third step, which is the initial approval. Again, all of these steps can be done remotely.

Once we have your trade name reservation and your initial approval, we can then move on to the fourth step, which is the memorandum of association. This is your company's legal documents. We will need your help with this bit. You'll be sent an email with the document for you to review. Once you've reviewed the document, you need to do a digital signature and then send it back to the licensing authority. Please ensure you read every clause in this document, because once you've signed it, we cannot change

it. The fifth part of the process is getting you an office address. Now, depending on where you set up your company will depend on what type of office address you get. For example, some free zones offer a unit lease agreement. Others offer a flexi desk or if required, you can get a physical office

space. Step six, we submit all of the documents from these previous steps, and then we get your license. Again, you need to do nothing in person for this whole

process. Once you have your license, the next steps would be the immigration cards and then your visa. Now,

it's important for somebody mentioned on your license, either a shareholder or a manager to have a visa in order for you to proceed with the next steps. However, maybe you're not quite ready to travel yet. If you're not ready to travel, there are a few options you could do instead. You could either add an employee to your license as the manager or you could hire someone for local directorship services.

If you have any questions regarding company formation in the UAE and remote setup of your business, or even local directorship services, book a free consultation from the link below. Okay, so, you've set up your company

remotely. You now have a general manager with a visa and an Emirates ID already in the UAE. The next step would be to open your bank account because what's the point in having a license if you can't make any money from it? Now, your general manager will be able to use their visa and Emirates ID in order to open any bank in the UAE. Each bank will have different requirements. However, the main requirement for every bank is that the manager on the license has these two documents. When the manager on your license goes to open your UAE bank account, there is a lot of KYC checks the bank will need to do. They'll look at things like who the shareholder is, who the manager is, what's the business activity, and where your company is based. There's a lot of additional things, but these are the four they'll initially look

at. A question I frequently get asked is if I have a general manager on my license, can I later change them to myself once I have a visa? The answer is absolutely. In the UAE, it's very simple to amend, add, or remove anything on your license. In every jurisdiction, you can change your activity, your manager, and your shareholder at any time.

Before you go ahead with your company formation, please do your research. We have another video on Free Zone versus Mainland, which will help you choose which jurisdiction is better for you. Once you've done that, you can then proceed with your company formation, and then add your manager as you please.