Business setup in Dubai. Set up from the Netherlands.

Yes, and that is most of the calls we take from the Netherlands. You do not need a structure in mind, a zone picked or a company name chosen. What the 30 minutes gives you is the honest version of the 4 answers that decide everything else: what you intend to sell, who you intend to sell it to, how many residence visas you need, and whether you need to be in the UAE to run it. Those 4 point at one setup rather than a shortlist, and the cost follows from them. If a UAE company does not do what you are hoping it will do, you will hear that on the call rather than after you have paid for one. 30 minutes, free, no obligation, at a time that works in your timezone.

A free zone company starts from €4,130, and that is a starting point rather than a package price — what you actually pay depends on your activity, how many residence visas you need and whether you require physical premises. Mainland is quoted individually because it varies too much to put a number on honestly, and it depends heavily on premises. Business setup Dubai costs quoted anywhere, by anyone, are worth three questions in writing: whether government and authority fees sit inside the figure or get added later, how many visas it actually includes, and what renews annually and at what price. Every line of ours is itemised in your written proposal before you commit to anything.

It is most of who we talk to. The UAE sets no prior-experience requirement, and there is no minimum capital to deposit for most free zone setups. What matters is a clear description of what you intend to sell and to whom — everything else follows from that: the activity codes, the licence type, the jurisdiction and the visa route. If you cannot answer that yet, the call is still worth having, because working it out is the part we do most often.

Almost all of it. Name reservation, initial approval, the licence application and your corporate documents complete remotely while you are in the Netherlands. What you cannot do from home is the residence visa — the medical fitness test and Emirates ID biometrics require you to be physically in the UAE, and some banks want to meet you before activating an account. We tell you exactly which stages need you here before you start.

Company registration in Dubai runs in a set order, and the order matters because each stage gates the next. First the activity, because it decides everything after it. Then trade name reservation, then initial approval from the authority, then the memorandum and shareholder documents, then the licence itself, then the establishment card and immigration file, and only then visas. Company formation in Dubai goes wrong most often at the first stage — a trade name gets refused because it does not carry an activity descriptor, or the activity chosen does not actually cover what the business does. We handle the filing and the back-and-forth; what we need from you is a passport copy and a clear description of the business.

You can file most free zone applications yourself, and some people do. What you are buying from business setup consultants in Dubai is the order things happen in, knowing which activity codes match what you actually intend to sell, and someone who has seen the rejection before you get it. From the Netherlands the practical difference is bigger, because a query from the authority lands outside your working day and a wrong answer costs you a resubmission. If your setup is genuinely simple and you have time to learn the process, doing it yourself is a legitimate choice, and we will say so on the call rather than pretend otherwise.

At a minimum: a recommendation that is not limited to whichever registration the firm happens to sell, every cost itemised in writing before anything is filed, and one named person who stays with you rather than a handover to a processing team. We are a partnered CSP across almost every zone in the UAE, which is why our company formation consultants in Dubai can point you at the zone that fits rather than the one on our shelf. Ask anyone quoting you what they are registered with and how many visas the figure includes.

It comes down to who your customers are. If you need to sell directly to people and businesses inside the UAE, that points to mainland. If your customers are international, or you are selling services and digital products, a free zone is usually better economics and far simpler to set up. E-commerce sits in its own lane for online retail. You do not need to decide before the call — deciding is what the call is for, and we will tell you which fits even when it is the cheaper option.

Not for a free zone company, and not for most mainland activities either. UAE law now permits 100% foreign ownership across the large majority of commercial activities. A small number of strategic activities still require an Emirati partner, and we confirm whether yours is one of them on the first call. Anyone telling you that you must hand a local partner 51% of a standard trading or consulting business is describing a rule that no longer applies.

You get a renewable residence visa as the investor or partner in your own company, usually for 2 years and tied to your licence, and you can sponsor your spouse and children on it. That is not the Golden Visa. The 10-year Golden Visa is a separate route with its own qualifying criteria — property investment at a set threshold, public investment, or recognition as a specialist in certain fields. Be careful with anyone who implies that setting up a company gets you one. We will tell you honestly whether your situation qualifies.

Not by itself, and it is worth being clear on this before you start. Dutch law looks at where a company is effectively managed rather than where it is registered, so a UAE company whose decisions are taken from the Netherlands can still be treated as a Dutch tax resident. There is also a real difference between genuinely relocating and ceasing to be a Dutch tax resident, and keeping your life in the Netherlands while owning a company abroad — and the Netherlands applies no statutory day-count test, so it turns on the whole picture rather than a number of nights. We are UAE corporate service providers, not Dutch tax advisers. Your position is a matter for a Dutch-qualified adviser, and we will say so on the call rather than after you have paid.

Not necessarily as an individual, and this is the point most often got wrong. The treaty has been in force since 2010, but it defines a UAE-resident individual as a national of the UAE. Someone who moves from the Netherlands to Dubai is generally not covered by it personally, even though companies can be. Separately, the UAE was removed from the Dutch list of low-taxed jurisdictions with effect from 2024 after UAE corporate tax was introduced — that list is reviewed annually, so it reflects the current position rather than a permanent one. None of this is advice and all of it is worth checking with a Dutch adviser against your own circumstances.

No, and it comes up often enough to be worth saying plainly. The 30% ruling is an inbound facility for employees recruited to come and work in the Netherlands. It has no application to setting up a company in the UAE and none to leaving the Netherlands. If you have seen it cited in UAE relocation content, that content is confused.

Bank onboarding is where most new companies stall, and it depends on your activity, your structure, your residency status and how the file is presented. We prepare the application to the standard UAE banks expect and introduce you to banks that accept your profile. Holding a UAE residence visa materially improves your position with most banks, which is why we sequence the visa before the account rather than after. No consultant can guarantee a bank’s decision, and you should be wary of any who claims to.

Passport copies for every shareholder, a short description of your business activity, three proposed company names, and for LLC structures an MoA or shareholder agreement. Some activities and some banks ask for extras such as a CV or proof of address. We confirm exactly what applies to your case on the first call, so you are not assembling paperwork you do not need.