Mainland company formation
Who does this work. This is a regulated activity in the UAE and is carried out by a licensed partner firm there, who quote it directly. We coordinate the engagement and handle everything on the Indian side.
A mainland company is licensed by the economic department of the emirate it sits in — DED in Dubai, ADDED in Abu Dhabi, and their equivalents elsewhere. What you buy with it is reach: a mainland licence lets you invoice customers anywhere in the UAE, take on government contracts, and open branches in other emirates without forming a separate entity.
Foreign ownership rules changed materially in 2021. For most commercial and industrial activities a foreign investor can now hold 100% of a mainland company, and the old requirement for a 51% Emirati partner no longer applies. It has not disappeared everywhere — a list of strategic-impact activities still carries ownership or approval conditions — so the activity you pick decides the answer, not the emirate.
The licence is issued against specific activities. Getting that list right at the start matters more than most founders expect: it governs which customers you can invoice, which visas you can sponsor, and whether a bank will open an account for you at all.
Talk to us
Mainland Company — and what it means for your Indian position
Tell us what you are setting up or filing. We come back with the UAE quote from our partner firm and the Indian side from us, so you see the whole cost at once.
Or call +91 98265 84555Who this is for
Businesses that need to sell to UAE customers directly, take government or semi-government contracts, or operate a physical location outside a free zone.
Scope
What the engagement covers
- Activity selection and legal form advice — LLC, sole establishment or civil company
- Trade name reservation and initial approval from the economic department
- Memorandum of Association drafted and notarised
- Ejari tenancy registration for the office the licence is issued against
- Trade licence issue and establishment card
- Immigration and labour file opening, with the visa quota that follows the office size
- Corporate bank account introduction and compliance file preparation
From you
Documents needed
- Passport copies of all shareholders and the appointed manager
- Passport-size photographs against a white background
- Existing UAE visa or entry stamp page, where the applicant is in the country
- Proof of address in the home country, usually a recent utility bill
- Parent company documents attested up to the UAE embassy, for corporate shareholders
- A short business plan or activity note where the activity needs external approval
Worth knowing first
Where this goes wrong
The activity list decides everything downstream
Banks assess the licensed activity against the transactions they see. A licence written broadly to keep options open reads as unfocused at account opening, and an account refused once is harder to open the second time. Pick the activities you will actually invoice against.
Office space is not a formality
A mainland licence is issued against a registered tenancy. The size of that space sets your visa quota, so taking the smallest available desk to save cost quietly caps how many people you can sponsor.
External approvals add weeks, not days
Activities touching health, education, legal services, food, transport or financial services need a sector regulator's sign-off before the licence issues. That approval sits outside the economic department's timeline and cannot be accelerated by paying more.
Corporate tax applies from day one of the first financial year
Formation and tax registration are separate steps with separate deadlines. A company that forms and then forgets to register for corporate tax is exposed to a penalty that has nothing to do with how much it earned.
Before you act on this
UAE corporate tax, free zone qualifying income and substance rules are still being clarified, and thresholds change. This explains the position in general terms and is not advice on your facts. Confirm the current rule before you act on anything here.
Handled by us, in India
The Indian side of this
A UAE structure almost always leaves something to do in India. These are ours, with fees published.
Usually needed alongside
Why clients stay
The boring things, done reliably.
Compliance is not glamorous work. It is deadlines met, numbers that tie, and someone picking up when you call. That is what we optimise for.
- 78
- Services, fees published
- 12
- Cities served across India
- 9 yrs
- Serving Indore & India
- 0
- Hidden charges
Priced before we start
Every service on this site carries its fee. You get a written scope and a number before any work begins, and the invoice matches it.
Two people on every filing
Nothing goes to a department on one pair of eyes. A second professional reviews the return before it is submitted.
A person, not a ticket
You get a named associate who knows your file, reachable on WhatsApp, not a queue and a different voice every call.
We watch the calendar
Once you are on our books we track your due dates and reach out before the deadline, not after the late fee.