Our valued sponsor

Company Formation in the UAE and Residency - what are the exact costs?

Seriously. He says his rent has been getting cheaper every year. Which isn’t surprising because they have so much space to build more housing. He told me they still find tenants for cool new buildings, but that’s usually people who move inside the UAE, not new people coming in from the outside.
 
@Brokenby2703 I was more into using the freelance route ( https://gofreelance.ae/freelance-activities.html ), which should be cheaper, although I still don't understand if I need to own a property or rent a property to be considered resident in the UAE or if having the emirates ID and the Residency visa is enough, in case a property is needed I would probably do as you did, buy and rent.
I don't have a second passport but I have absolutely no ties with Italy ( no house, no wife, no kids, no car ) and I've been resident outside Italy since 2013, so I understand the risk, but should be on the safe side.

If you are planning to buy house, your resident VISA will come along with it. You have to apply but it is included normally
If you don't plan to buy house but to move there then you need to have a resident working visa.
So either you get employed or you setup your company.
Forget RAK consider DUBAI FREE ZONE as someone else suggest today which I agree although I don't have experience.

When you have got your VISA and so the EMIRATES ID then you are considered a local.
By law you don't have to rent anything to get your VISA neither to have your EMIRATES ID.
Why ? Because of your apply for Investor Visa, for example in RAK, you must enter in UAE at least for 24 hours once every 2 years. In Dubai it's 6 months. So government know that you can't rent anything for just 24 hours in 6 months.
You will be staying in Hotel.

Having EMIRATES ID is enough to be considered a local.
Which means that UAE BANK won't report you for CRS as they consider your DUBAI company local and you as local.
But remember.... if you wanna open bank account in UAE, I suggest you to rent a flat for 1 or 2 months (there some service like this), get contract stamped (contract of renting for let's say 36 months but you can cancel any time with 1 month advise).
You bring along with whatever documents the bank required.
Once the account is open and you get the token ID or whatever things by mail (if any), then you can cancel.
Then eventually you can setup a mail forwarding service (around 100/150AED per month) which they receive mail in your name and eventually forward to you overseas (charhes apply).
If you plan to open an overseas bank account, then you can use the same contract, VISA in your passport etc.
The bank will consider you as UAE resident and eventually will report to UAE which you don't have to care at all as UAE doesn't tax for oversea profit.

My suggestion ?
Pen & paper.... do the calculation.
All the costs now, and within 3 years.
E v e r y t h i n g
Including flights to UAE, hotels, expenses, etc etc etc....
Believe me it will go up faster out of initial estimation.
Then you decide whether it's worth it or not.....

In my case I prefer to play safe and transparently.
I own a house in UAE which is something they can check inspect...existing.
It's an investment (personal not for earning in reselling) which may provide me additional income.

Good luck
 
  • Like
Reactions: karishi
@Brokenby2703 sounds super complicated or you must have a terrible advisors. Creative City Fujairah Freezone there is no audit requirement. You do the medical and Emirates ID in Dubai. You can have PO Box in Dubai, you can either rent it yourself, or it is provided within the package by Creative City Fujairah (Dubai PO BOX) or you can use a 3rd party company for this purpose e.g. firstpostbox.com . You submit your passports in Creative City Dubai office and collect them with visa stamped from the same place. Visa is for 3 years, not 2. Paying AED 5000 every 3 years is not a bit deal, that's less than AED 140 per month.

There is literally no point to go to Fujairah. The only reason you may need to go to Fujairah is when you want to convert your driving license.
Also never got ESR notifications or guidelines from Creative City.

No.... I start to setup in December 2017.
At that time RAK was on high.
It was perfectly smooth, not a single hiccup.
But as you know, UAE are sourcing income selling license.... all emirates are in continuous competition among themselves....
 
What is your average occupancy for the two apartments? I can imagine that it’s not so easy in Dubai because there are so many nice hotels?

My flat neighbour in Marina Bay is renting his 2 bedroom @ AED 139.000 / year half furnished (Kitchen and toilets)
I'm renting my flat minimum one week @ 8.000 AED but it's for 4 persons.
Please note that any hotel in Dubai in Marina Bay charge you around 1.000 AED per 2 adults without breakfast per night.
So 7 days is around 7.000 AED in Hotel for 2 adult max. Double for 4 persons.
By the way, before you ask me.... I bought three years back at AED 1.550.000
 
You mean he rents it out for AED 139k?

And you rent it out for AED 8000 per week, ok. But how many weeks can you rent it out? I would guess it’s empty in July and August?
And when you go there yourself, it’s probably in the “best” time in January or so, when you could easily have rented it out?
So how many weeks can you rent it out on average? Maybe 30 weeks per year? Let’s say AED 250k per year. Or is my calculation way off?
That would be a return of 16% per year, not bad. Did you have the money or did you get a loan from a bank in the UAE?
How much does the managing company charge for cleaning, dealing with guests etc.? Have you ever had any issues with guests who left it very dirty or broke things?
 
No.... I start to setup in December 2017.
At that time RAK was on high.
It was perfectly smooth, not a single hiccup.
But as you know, UAE are sourcing income selling license.... all emirates are in continuous competition among themselves....

I don't know really. I setup in 2014 in Creative City and was advised against RAK freezone by my advisor. But never head such problems as you with RAK, neither I was asked to submit anything in regards to ESR etc...

@JustAnotherNomad don't forget that apart from rental income the landlord of such "hotel apartment" has to cover utility bills, internet, tv, cleaning, maintenance if something breaks, maintenance fees to management company of the building for common areas (this can be expensive depending on the developer). I doubt you can realistically make more than 10%.
 
Seems like you must buy real estate for at least AED 1m. The term you’re looking for is “golden visa.”
But remember that it won’t give you tax residency. To be considered tax resident, you’ll have to spend more time in the UAE.
 
Last edited:
If you stay 183 days, you’re on the safe side. Then they’ll even give you a tax residency certificate.
But it really depends on the laws of the countries you have close ties to and their tax treaties with the UAE.
For example, I could imagine that if you have a house, wife and kids in France and you spend 183 days in Dubai and the rest of the year in France, France won’t just say “Oh, it’s fine, no French taxes for you!”
On the other hand, if you spend 120 days in the UAE where you have your apartment and your company and you travel the world for the rest of the year, one month in each country, then you’re probably good.
So you’ll need to check the specifics of your own situation.
 
One of the most respected freezones outside of Dubai and Abu Dhabi - Creative City Fujairah has a promo running AED 19,995 ($5,500) all inclusive:
  • Trade License Valid for 1 Year
  • 1 Free Visa Valid for 3 Years
  • 3 Free business activities for life
  • Free E-Channel Deposit and Registration
  • Free Emirates ID & Medical
  • License issued in 2 days
They work with Mashreq and RAKBank for setting up bank accounts. There is no need for using intermediaries or agents because these freezone representatives have people who will guide you step by step. They will provide you with everything: employment contract sample, payslips sample etc.

If someone is considering, 72 hours sale they are having now all above for AED 17,995 ($4900).
 
  • Like
Reactions: JustAnotherNomad
If someone is considering, 72 hours sale they are having now all above for AED 17,995 ($4900).
@BlueMist they say the visa is for 3 years but the Trade License is valid for 1 Year. Does that mean it would be AED17995/year or every 3 years?

I was checking other freezones and twofour54 in Abu Dhabi is waiving their fees for 2 years. Anyone has experience with them?

As for tax residency in UAE, I read in taxresidencyuae.com that "UAE resident is only obliged to visit the UAE every 6 months for 1 – 2 days".
 
As for tax residency in UAE, I read in taxresidencyuae.com that "UAE resident is only obliged to visit the UAE every 6 months for 1 – 2 days".

Yeah but there is the usual caveat that while you are considered a tax resident in the UAE from the UAE ( which is perfect from a CRS perspective ), that doesn't mean that your home country accept that certificate as valid unless you can prove that you are actually living in the UAE. So it totally depends on your home country and your particular situation and what you would use the UAE company for. So for example, to be clear, you can't put money in the UAE and use it to buy or rent a house in Italy or Spain, as the Spanish/Italian government would want to know where does that money comes from, so you would need to maintain some form of income in the country you are living.
If you don't need a company, a freelance permit is cheaper and gets you more or less the same things as a company https://gofreelance.ae/
 
Yeah but there is the usual caveat that while you are considered a tax resident in the UAE from the UAE ( which is perfect from a CRS perspective ), that doesn't mean that your home country accept that certificate as valid unless you can prove that you are actually living in the UAE. So it totally depends on your home country and your particular situation and what you would use the UAE company for. So for example, to be clear, you can't put money in the UAE and use it to buy or rent a house in Italy or Spain, as the Spanish/Italian government would want to know where does that money comes from, so you would need to maintain some form of income in the country you are living.
If you don't need a company, a freelance permit is cheaper and gets you more or less the same things as a company https://gofreelance.ae/
I'm thinking of it as a good option for a nomad or a perceptual traveler to acquire tax residency.

As for the freelancer visa, freelancervisa.com has a cheaper option for AED6500 (5000 from second year). And you can work in many freezones.
Their FAQ also state that you "must ensure to not stay outside of the UAE for a period exceeding 6 months at a time, in order to keep the visa valid as per immigration regulations. "
 
As for the freelancer visa, freelancervisa.com has a cheaper option for AED6500 (5000 from second year). And you can work in many freezones.
Their FAQ also state that you "must ensure to not stay outside of the UAE for a period exceeding 6 months at a time, in order to keep the visa valid as per immigration regulations. "

Interesting website. But that won't work. The cheapest option is "For sponsorship visa holders and GCC nationals."
It would not include the residency visa. Beware: What they give you is actually an employment visa from their onshore (non-freezone) company. That's why it gives you a bit more flexibility in terms of where you can work.
But it also means that they are officially your employer, so for many things, you will need to get their permission (non-objection certificate).

See their FAQs:
"Am I eligible to Apply for a Driving License under a freelancer visa?

Yes you are eligible to apply for a driving license with the visa provied by FreelancerVisa.com. Driving license eligibility is limited to Dubai and Abu Dhabi depending on which jurisdiction you choose for your visa. An NOC letter is required from FreelancerVisa.com in order to apply for your driving license and is provided on request for an administrative fee of AED 60."

There are even cheaper freelance licenses from free zones, where you have your own company, so you don't have to ask somebody else for their permission.
Without a NOC, even things like opening a bank account can be difficult, so I've heard.