The United Arab Emirates is an entrepreneur-friendly nation that provides businesses with a variety of choices for establishing a company in Dubai or any other emirate in the country. The choice of your business activity, the kind of company (also known as legal form) you want to create, the number of shareholders you may have in your firm, and the jurisdiction in which you want to establish your company are all important considerations. In this section, you will learn all you need to know about registering a single proprietorship company in the United Arab Emirates.
What Does Sole Proprietorship Mean?
A sole proprietorship or a solitary enterprise is a business that is owned and managed by a single individual. A single proprietor is the person who owns and operates such a company. A sole proprietorship cannot be owned by a corporation or other legal entity. It is also prohibited from having more than one stakeholder. In a sole proprietorship, the entrepreneur is alone accountable for the day-to-day management of the company and is solely liable for all earnings and liabilities.
Here is a brief rundown of the characteristics of sole proprietorship in the United Arab Emirates:
Ownership is limited to one person.
There are no shareholders.
A hundred percent ownership stake in the company complete control over business operations a hundred percent profit retention
Responsible for all business responsibilities and financial commitments on an individual basis.
Low initial start-up costs
Business registration is completed in a short period of time with no need for startup money.
In the United Arab Emirates, anybody may set up a sole proprietorship.
Individuals from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and other countries may establish sole proprietorships in the UAE. Conditions and requirements, on the other hand, are different.
If you are a citizen of the United Arab Emirates or the Gulf Cooperation Council, you may create any kind of single establishment. It may be a commercial, industrial, tourist, or professional activity of any kind. Under the terms of your professional licence, you are also permitted to establish consultancies in a variety of fields.
As a foreign national, you may only apply for a professional licence for your sole proprietorship if you are in the United States. A single establishment is permissible for any and all professional activity. Consultancy services are also available to you to pursue. Certain consulting operations, on the other hand, may only be carried out by UAE citizens. For foreign nationals, it is also necessary to have a Local Service Agent (LSA)* in order to register your single establishment in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
*A local service agent is a UAE citizen who is either a person or a business organisation that is owned by a UAE national. It has no financial interest in your company. In contrast to a local sponsor, who must own a majority stake in your company, an LSA is just needed for administrative purposes. Their services are limited to the processing of visas, licences, permit applications, and other administrative duties of a similar kind. Their participation in decision-making, day-to-day operations, or profit sharing in your company is strictly prohibited. You are simply need to pay the LSA an annual fee that has been mutually agreed upon.
Requirements
The following criteria should be considered before beginning the process of sole proprietorship business registration for the purpose of establishing your sole establishment in the United Arab Emirates. You will be required to submit these documents as part of the trade licence application procedure.
Your photocopy of your passport
A copy of your UAE resident visa or visit visa is required.
There are three possible trade name choices for your business.
The kind of commercial activity that your single company will be engaged in The type of office space that you will be required to maintain
Copy of your local service agent’s Emirates identification card
The procedure of registering a sole proprietorship company
A new company in the United Arab Emirates must be registered with the Department of Economic Development (DED), which is the government agency in charge of granting trade permits. The procedure for establishing a sole proprietorship in the United Arab Emirates is very simple. However, depending on your company activity, you may be required to meet extra criteria or complete additional stages in order to complete the registration procedure.
Obtain an Initial Approval
This permission must be obtained from the Department of Economic Development (DED), which is the licencing body in the UAE. This permission serves as an acknowledgment that the UAE Government has no objections to your establishing a company in the country of the United Arab Emirates.
Approval of a Trade Name is Required
You must provide three different commercial name suggestions. You must obtain permission for at least one of the names from among the choices you have provided.
Sign the Agreement with a Local Service Agent (LSA).
Prepare the agreement and get it signed. Both you and the Local Service Agent are required to be present at the moment of signing the document.
Make a decision on office space
It is essential to have a physical office in order to establish a mainland corporation. It is necessary to submit both the lease contract as well as the Ejari* for the workplace after you have secured your workspace.
*Ejari is the regulatory framework that governs the rental sector in the United Arab Emirates. The Real Estate Regulatory Agency is in charge of overseeing it (Rera). It was established in order to guarantee openness and justice between landlords and renters in the city-state of Dubai.
Increase the number of approvals (if any)
In order to conduct some commercial operations, extra permissions from certain government or non-government organisations are needed. These regulations will be communicated to you by the Department of Environmental Protection. This last step in the registration procedure can only be completed after all of the necessary permissions have been received.
Make the required payment.
Once you have completed all of the procedures listed above, you will be issued a payment voucher. Make the payment and pick up the trade licence for your one-person operation.