Minimum time required to get Dubai residency (Business setup + Emirates ID)

[yeongsu]

Hello members, just a short question here.
I'm planning to register a company in Dubai to get the residency but due to my health and dietary restrictions I can't stay for a longer period there as I'll have to get medication approval, travel with medicine + other issues.

I'll rather travel 2-3 times with a week-to-days gap than stay for a longer period. But I wanted to know how many days I'll have to stay for Emirates ID and other mandatory stuffs?

 

[CaptK]

If you set up the company from abroad before you go. Then your medical will take a day and ID about 3 days. So budget a week to do your ID and personal bank account. Subject to your company being registered before you land in Dubai.

For business bank account it takes up to 3 weeks but you don’t have to be there. Once the bank approves then you just go back to finalise.

 

[Fred]

Hello members, just a short question here.
I'm planning to register a company in Dubai to get the residency but due to my health and dietary restrictions I can't stay for a longer period there as I'll have to get medication approval, travel with medicine + other issues.

I'll rather travel 2-3 times with a week-to-days gap than stay for a longer period. But I wanted to know how many days I'll have to stay for Emirates ID and other mandatory stuffs?

Everything depends on your Country of Citizenship.

As long as you have a low risk passport - the Visa Application can be done remote.

However there are High Risk Countries - Africa - Middles East - like Egypt and Turkey were it's necessary to do the Visa Application as inside the Country to have guaranteed outcome and approval of the Visa.

Due to COVID there are some other restrictions in place like Citizens from Tunisia and Sri Lanka are required to do the Medical Check already in there Home Country and this has to be coordinated with the local UAE embassy.

In case the Visa Application can be done remote you are looking at 5 full working days in the UAE to get the Residence Visa stamped to the passport.

This week (!) they introduced an appointment system where they give you for the fingerprints they take from you (as part of the EID application) an appointment 7 days from the day of the EID application typing - this can be waived if you deal with a Service Provider with a certain volume and direct contact to owners of EID typing centers - EID application typing can be done remote while you are not in the UAE yet - if you are using a Service Provider make sure he has this possibilities.

Things changing fast actually and everything becomes more bureaucratic - a big COVID wave did hit Dubai in the first 2 weeks of 2022 so GoV is working on reduced stuff as well.

 

[karishi]

I did a freelance VISA, last february, it took one month to do everything. I was with gofreelance so not much help from third parties. You canlso get residency with a remote working visa which is super cheap, if you have the requisites, which I have but the visa didn't exist at the time. Companies in Dubai are expensive, it's much cheaper to have a LLC in the caribbean and have a remote working visa.

 

[yeongsu]

it's much cheaper to have a LLC in the caribbean and have a remote working visa.

Thank you for the suggestion but I assume Caribbean remote working visa won't be that helpful in order to get tax residency certificate. How's your experience with banking and stuff?

 

[EliasIT]

I did a freelance VISA, last february, it took one month to do everything. I was with gofreelance so not much help from third parties. You canlso get residency with a remote working visa which is super cheap, if you have the requisites, which I have but the visa didn't exist at the time. Companies in Dubai are expensive, it's much cheaper to have a LLC in the caribbean and have a remote working visa.

you mix things. As @yeongsu already said, how will you get a tax residency certificate if you have a LLC in the Caribbean? Also if you need a complete setup i.e. company + bank account + tax residency a Dubai setup would be worth it.

 

[Fred]

Thank you for the suggestion but I assume Caribbean remote working visa won't be that helpful in order to get tax residency certificate. How's your experience with banking and stuff?

@shikari was pointing to the UAE Remote Working Visa that was introduced during COVID in 2020 to attract new people to the county when everything was down.

As per definition your income is from outside the UAE therefore no local UAE Bank does open you a fully fledged bank account - even personal is difficult. It's basically comparable with the Estonia E-Residence or the other Caribbean Remote Working Visas - the whole point is just that you can stay longer then your Visa free travel or tourist visa allows.

With this said you have in combination with a Caribbean LLC no options beside of EMI's - if you are really on that low budget I would put a US LLC with Wise or Mercury over a Caribbean LLC as you at least keep the door for a fully fledged US bank account open while you have in the Caribbean only garbage banks onboarding you as non-resident.

 

[zzzzzz]

@shikari was pointing to the UAE Remote Working Visa that was introduced during COVID in 2020 to attract new people to the county when everything was down.

As per definition your income is from outside the UAE therefore no local UAE Bank does open you a fully fledged bank account - even personal is difficult. It's basically comparable with the Estonia E-Residence or the other Caribbean Remote Working Visas - the whole point is just that you can stay longer then your Visa free travel or tourist visa allows.

With this said you have in combination with a Caribbean LLC no options beside of EMI's - if you are really on that low budget I would put a US LLC with Wise or Mercury over a Caribbean LLC as you at least keep the door for a fully fledged US bank account open while you have in the Caribbean only garbage banks onboarding you as non-resident.

Can you get tax residency in UAE with remote work visa after 6 months? In that case you could have bank account or brokerage account abroad, with tax residency in UAE (for CRS purpose).

 

[Fred]

Can you get tax residency in UAE with remote work visa after 6 months? In that case you could have bank account or brokerage account abroad, with tax residency in UAE (for CRS purpose).

No - you are sponsored under the UAE Tourism Department and not an employee of your own local FZCO or a Company - per definition you are working remote and therefore you are employeed with a foreign Company.

They want to see bank statements and some salary/dividend from local income which just make sense thinking as an employee puts this even in better perspective.

 

[karishi]

Can you get tax residency in UAE with remote work visa after 6 months? In that case you could have bank account or brokerage account abroad, with tax residency in UAE (for CRS purpose).

sure thing with the residency visa you are a resident in the UAE. Here is the official link Remote work visas - The Official Portal of the UAE Government
You need to either have a one year contract which shows you gain more than 5000$ a month or control a foreign company which has a monthly income of 5000$, so a caribbean LLC works well, it depends where your clients are located. The cost of that setup is 1k USD for the LLC, 287$ for the visa and 200$ for the cheapest UAE insurance. You receive a visa on the passport and an emirates ID and you are a resident of Dubai for one year. The same setup as a freelancer costs you around 3k USD.
The fact that you get a tax certificate or not depends on how many days you spend in the UAE, the Remote Working Visa works as all other visas work, so it's revoked if you spend more than 6 months outside UAE. If you spend 183 days in Dubai, you get your tax certificate. Most governements have far stricter policies when you leave the country for dubai, usually for the first three years you are considered as not having left the country until proven otherwise, so you really need to stay in Dubai 183 days.
As for brokerage accounts you need an EJARI, which is a long term contract. You can do one, open the brokerage accounts and then cancel it. UAE banks can be opened only with the Emirates ID, no need for proof of residence. So you send money from the LLC ( which has an account on Wise so no CRS in any case ) to Dubai bank and from dubai bank to brokerage. As long as you are resident in the UAE the bank does no CRS to anything since you are a resident.

@shikari was pointing to the UAE Remote Working Visa that was introduced during COVID in 2020 to attract new people to the county when everything was down.

As per definition your income is from outside the UAE therefore no local UAE Bank does open you a fully fledged bank account - even personal is difficult. It's basically comparable with the Estonia E-Residence or the other Caribbean Remote Working Visas - the whole point is just that you can stay longer then your Visa free travel or tourist visa allows.

With this said you have in combination with a Caribbean LLC no options beside of EMI's - if you are really on that low budget I would put a US LLC with Wise or Mercury over a Caribbean LLC as you at least keep the door for a fully fledged US bank account open while you have in the Caribbean only garbage banks onboarding you as non-resident.

You are a resident so you open the bank account as resident. LLC stays outside and pays you, you have it on Wise and you need to have had it for one year with at least 5k income each month, I mean you need to have this setup already working. With a freelancer visa I do the same exact thing, the only difference is that it costs a lot more, and I could work for the UAE, where nobody gives me the money I get from US companies. My bank told me that they would open an account for my company, after seeing the turnaround and the fact that it was legal, but UAE banks are terrible, Wise it's much better. Only problem with this setup is getting a credit card which is a nightmare, and I need credit cards for one thing only: renting cars or scooters.

 

[Fred]

sure thing with the residency visa you are a resident in the UAE. Here is the official link Remote work visas - The Official Portal of the UAE Government
You need to either have a one year contract which shows you gain more than 5000$ a month or control a foreign company which has a monthly income of 5000$, so a caribbean LLC works well, it depends where your clients are located. The cost of that setup is 1k USD for the LLC, 287$ for the visa and 200$ for the cheapest UAE insurance. You receive a visa on the passport and an emirates ID and you are a resident of Dubai for one year. The same setup as a freelancer costs you around 3k USD.
The fact that you get a tax certificate or not depends on how many days you spend in the UAE, the Remote Working Visa works as all other visas work, so it's revoked if you spend more than 6 months outside UAE. If you spend 183 days in Dubai, you get your tax certificate. Most governements have far stricter policies when you leave the country for dubai, usually for the first three years you are considered as not having left the country until proven otherwise, so you really need to stay in Dubai 183 days.
As for brokerage accounts you need an EJARI, which is a long term contract. You can do one, open the brokerage accounts and then cancel it. UAE banks can be opened only with the Emirates ID, no need for proof of residence. So you send money from the LLC ( which has an account on Wise so no CRS in any case ) to Dubai bank and from dubai bank to brokerage. As long as you are resident in the UAE the bank does no CRS to anything since you are a resident.


You are a resident so you open the bank account as resident. LLC stays outside and pays you, you have it on Wise and you need to have had it for one year with at least 5k income each month, I mean you need to have this setup already working. With a freelancer visa I do the same exact thing, the only difference is that it costs a lot more, and I could work for the UAE, where nobody gives me the money I get from US companies. My bank told me that they would open an account for my company, after seeing the turnaround and the fact that it was legal, but UAE banks are terrible, Wise it's much better. Only problem with this setup is getting a credit card which is a nightmare, and I need credit cards for one thing only: renting cars or scooters.

@zzzzzz was referring to Tax Residence Certificate and my response was based on this - not about if you have a Residence in the UAE with the "Residence" Visa - yes you have a Residence with a Residence Visa but Tax Residence is another story.

 

[karishi]

@zzzzzz was referring to Tax Residence Certificate and my response was based on this - not about if you have a Residence in the UAE with the "Residence" Visa - yes you have a Residence with a Residence Visa but Tax Residence is another story.

Yes sure, residence and tax residence are different, tax residence requires you to be resident in the UAE, so have a valid visa, and spend 183 days in the country. In that way you can request a tax certificate and you are 100% ok. The cheapest way is the remote working Visa, if you qualify, then freelance Visa, then company, but companies are expensive in the UAE. It all depends on what you need to do.

 

[JosephLL]

@shikari

Great info Thanx a lot. Are you eligible for a remote work visa if you share the ownership of foreign LLC?

 

[karishi]

@shikari

Great info Thanx a lot. Are you eligible for a remote work visa if you share the ownership of foreign LLC?

It depends on how much the company generates as income. What you need to show is that your income is 5k USD a month, so I guess if your LLC earns 10k a month and you have 50% of it you could qualify. Since it's a very low margin business, rules are not super clear and agents will try to upsell you stuff you don't need like companies, one agent told me that the remote working visa didn't exist... I think you can start from here and enquire if you are eligible: Work remotely from Dubai | Business in Dubai
they ask for 611$ which is more than what i costs, but then after the first year you can renew on your own. If you don't qualify, do the freelance visa ad then when you qualify you can cancel the freelance visa and do the remote work one.

 

[Fred]

Yes sure, residence and tax residence are different, tax residence requires you to be resident in the UAE, so have a valid visa, and spend 183 days in the country. In that way you can request a tax certificate and you are 100% ok. The cheapest way is the remote working Visa, if you qualify, then freelance Visa, then company, but companies are expensive in the UAE. It all depends on what you need to do.

Source of income is the key word - believe it or not - already had Remote Working Visa Guys with US LLC failing last year getting the Tax Residence Certificate.

Hands down - you shouldn't save on the wrong ending if you give yourself all the hassle and then end up getting no Tax Residence Certificate.

What you have mentioned is fine in theory but as soon as you hit avergae numbers like 200-300k USD a year you shouldn't make a compromise by banking on EMI's and having a source of income from a Carribbean LLC with Wise Banking

Did ever someone of you dealt with someone from the Federal Tax Authority? I can't imagine - even we have sometimes issues with local FZCO's getting the Tax Residence Certificate cleared.

It's up to you if you want to see this as an "agent upsell" - the reality is a different one and again why fighting ghosts in a forum - I'm just sorry for the guys that follow here this advise and then endup disappointed.

 

[karishi]

Source of income is the key word - believe it or not - already had Remote Working Visa Guys with US LLC failing last year getting the Tax Residence Certificate.

Hands down - you shouldn't save on the wrong ending if you give yourself all the hassle and then end up getting no Tax Residence Certificate.

What you have mentioned is fine in theory but as soon as you hit avergae numbers like 200-300k USD a year you shouldn't make a compromise by banking on EMI's and having a source of income from a Carribbean LLC with Wise Banking

Did ever someone of you dealt with someone from the Federal Tax Authority? I can't imagine - even we have sometimes issues with local FZCO's getting the Tax Residence Certificate cleared.

It's up to you if you want to see this as an "agent upsell" - the reality is a different one and again why fighting ghosts in a forum - I'm just sorry for the guys that follow here this advise and then endup disappointed.

I also have source of income from a Dubai client, invoiced with the freelance permit, which amounts to 30/40k a year. And I could simply switch some clients and invoice them with the permit instead of the LLC. The key here is that at the moment I don't need a tax certificate, this is a pure NO CRS play. I've been living like a digital nomad for the last 10 years, I have nothing in my name in any country except for Dubai. For my home country I'm not a Dubai resident, I'm resident in another country where I got permanent residence in 2008, I've cleared my residency status from my home country in 2012. In my home country I paid taxes for 2 years in the 32 years i lived there. And in the country where I have permanent residence I have nothing. I spend 3-4 months in my home country, 4 months in the country where I'm resident, 2 months in Dubai, 2 months around the world. I don't have wife, kids, anything. At some point I will inherit things in my home country, a house and money, but I never ever plan to go back to my home country as a "resident". When I will want to buy something, I will start worrying about tax certificates ( i will need 2-3 years of tax certificates at that point ) and things might change, but as of now all I need is to be able to have a brokerage and bank account in a country with no taxes and no CRS, and dubai is the only place in the world, except Panama I think, where you can be resident by only staying two months, or two days. I feel my money is safer in UAE.
As I said above, it all depends on what you need to do and what's your situation, what's your business and how much money we are talking about. If you make around 60-80k the costs of having a company set up in dubai for me otweight the benefits, I don't think that the tax authority will follow your steps closely. If you are moving a company outside of EU which was generating 300K, well, that's different.
If you have wife and kids, you have to move them. As I said it all depends. I didn't mean to be rude by saying that agents upsell you things you don't need, but in my experience, when getting information about the remote working visa, the most honest answer i got was: I don't make enough money from that to help you. Most of the others told me that the visa didn't exist. Your point about difficulty in getting a tax certificate is interesting, note taken

 

[backpacker]

all I need is to be able to have a brokerage and bank account in a country with no taxes and no CRS,

I understand the "no taxes"-part. But why on Earth "no CRS"? The lifestyle you describe does not justify putting efforts into a non-CRS setup. What am I missing here??

 

[yeongsu]

I'm getting a little confused with more replies.
Anyways I'm staying with my current structure plan (which I would have already executed if I didn't had health issues and "traveling with medications" thing) i.e., get a fzco, residence visa, IBKR and fx brokerage accounts (personal, not under my business name) & business and personal bank accounts.
And most importantly, get most of the things done in minimum stay period so it wouldn't affect my health.
Visiting dubai once every 180 days won't be a issue cuz it's just 5 hours flight and I don't need to travel medicines for one day visits.

The reason why I'm repeatedly mentioning medicines is that it's an IV injections that I need to take 2 to 3 times a week and need assistance in injecting it. Not only this, I have to follow never-ending dietary restrictions so I won't have much options to eat in a foreign country.

Will figure out tax residence certificate matter when required.

 

[karishi]

I'm getting a little confused with more replies.
Anyways I'm staying with my current structure plan (which I would have already executed if I didn't had health issues and "traveling with medications" thing) i.e., get a fzco, residence visa, IBKR and fx brokerage accounts (personal, not under my business name) & business and personal bank accounts.
And most importantly, get most of the things done in minimum stay period so it wouldn't affect my health.
Visiting dubai once every 180 days won't be a issue cuz it's just 5 hours flight and I don't need to travel medicines for one day visits.

The reason why I'm repeatedly mentioning medicines is that it's an IV injections that I need to take 2 to 3 times a week and need assistance in injecting it. Not only this, I have to follow never-ending dietary restrictions so I won't have much options to eat in a foreign country.

Will figure out tax residence certificate matter when required.

To get a tax certificate tou need to spend 183 days in Dubai, there is no way around it. At least a personal tax certificate. For the company tax certificate, I'm not an expert, but if you live in dubai 10 days a year, it's hard to say that the company is managed in Dubai, you need local presence somehow. But I'm not an expert in this.Fred know much more about this for sure

I understand the "no taxes"-part. But why on Earth "no CRS"? The lifestyle you describe does not justify putting efforts into a non-CRS setup. What am I missing here??

So, you know that Dubai consider you a resident even if you spend two weeks each year in the country. This means that the banks ( which you can open just with your emirates ID ) and brokerage account ( which will require a proof of residence, so an EJEARI, which is a long term contract ) linked to your UAE residency will not report you to any country, there would be no CRS messages even if you are not Tax resident in the UAE.
Residency and Tax Residency are two separate things, the first is the ability to reside iin a country for the whole year and use the infrastructure, the second is the fact that you have to pay taxes in that country. In the UAE and in most countries, to be tax resident, you need to spend at least 183 days in the country ( in the UK is different, after 60 days you are tax resident, for example ). If you spend 183 days in the UAE you receive a tax certificate and that certificate means that you have "paid your taxes" in the UAE and thus, if the UAE and another country where you might be liable to pay taxes, like your country, have a double taxation agreement, your home country can' t claim taxes on you even if Dubai taxes are 0 ( this is not entirely true, in many european countries, if your wife lives in the country, you are considered tax resident in your country even with a tax certificate from dubai, as Dubai is black listed for personal income and you will be fined when you return your residency to your home country ).
So this is about the tax residency part. The truth is that most of the people who live as digital nomads don't spend 6 months in any country, as you've see the breakdown above, thus they are not tax resident anywhere: they work remotely for USA companies and live around the world. In this case the law states that there is a country which is where you should pay taxes, normally your home country, but of course your home country knows nothing about you, because they have no idea how much money you are making and where you are making it, and of course they can't check everybody, so you can live a digital nomad lifestyle quite safely. The problem arise in two cases: you want to buy a property somewhere or you want to return to be resident in your home country: in both cases, especially in the first, but in the second too, you will be asked "where do the funds you are using come from?" ( which means, where have you paid taxes on that money ) and, unless you hav inherited them, you will have no answer as you don't have any tax certificate. So problems start here, and that's why I was saying that at some point I will need 2-3 years of tax certificates, because that proves that you paid your taxes in Dubai, and have "cleaned" enough money to buy the house in France.
Hope this clarifies things a bit, they are even more complex than this, based on your country of origin, as different countries have different rules on what happens when you relocate to a black listed region like dubai. In general, if you have wife and kids, they need to move with you. The more things you have, like houses, cars, comanies, the more complex the move will be: in these more complex cases please do ask advice to agents and specialized agencies that knows how to do things right.

 

[zzzzzz]

When you open bank account (anywhere), do banks for CRS purpose write your tax residency as local if you have residency permit of their country? Or do they check address on you passport and write that country? Let's say you live 4 months in each country with 3 residency permits and technically you're not tax resident anywhere and don't have any tax residency certificate.