Ahlan wa sahlan. Egyptians are one of the largest communities in the UAE, and a big share of the people who walk into our office are already here — working, saving, and thinking about going out on their own. This page is written for you, and equally for founders reading it from Cairo, Alexandria, Amman, Casablanca, Algiers, Tunis or Beirut.
There are two Egyptian founders we meet, and they need different advice. The first is already here on an employment visa, has spent five or ten years building a network, and wants to turn a client list into a licensed business. The second is still in Egypt, watching customers and suppliers move through Dubai, and wondering whether a UAE entity is worth the cost. The licence part is nearly identical for both. Everything around it — visas, employer relations, moving money, banking — is not.
Read this first if you're employed here: owning shares and holding residence are separate matters, so an employment visa doesn't automatically bar you from being a shareholder. But zone policy, licence type and activity all vary, some employers expect an NOC as a matter of practice, and your labour contract governs what you've agreed with them. Don't take a blanket "no problem" from anyone — us included. We check your case against the current policy of the specific zone and give you the answer in writing.
This is the most common question we get from Egyptian professionals in Dubai, and it attracts a lot of confident, careless advice. Here's the careful version. Shareholding is company law; residence is immigration law. They are not the same file, and holding a share doesn't require you to hold a visa from that company.
Where it gets specific: free zones set their own rules about who they'll license and on what conditions, some activities are treated more sensitively than others, and some authorities want a no-objection certificate from your employer. Even where the authority doesn't ask, many employers expect to be told — particularly if the new business touches their sector. Your contract may also carry non-compete or outside-activity clauses that have nothing to do with government rules but bind you all the same.
So the honest answer is: often yes, sometimes with conditions, depending on your zone, activity and contract. We check the current position for your exact combination before you commit money, and say plainly if the sensible first move is a conversation with your employer. If someone tells you it's fine without asking who you work for or what you'll be licensing, they aren't advising you — they're closing you.
Most free zone and offshore companies can be incorporated remotely. You sign a power of attorney, notarised in Egypt and attested for UAE use, and we handle name reservation, the licence and initial approvals while you stay where you are.
What genuinely can't be done remotely: the Emirates ID biometrics and medical test, if you're taking a residence visa. Those are in person, and there's no workaround worth trusting. Most banks also want to meet the beneficial owner. So the realistic pattern is: incorporate remotely, then plan one concentrated trip of a few days covering visa stamping and the bank meeting.
This isn't flattery, it's practical. Mainland licensing runs through Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism, and a lot of the paperwork — the memorandum of association, notary attendance, correspondence with departments — happens in Arabic. An Arabic-speaking founder deals with those counters directly, reads what they're signing without a translator in the middle, and catches nuance that a translated summary flattens.
The second half is commercial. The Arab business community here is deep and long-established — Egyptian, Jordanian, Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian. Suppliers, contractors, distributors, accountants, landlords. For a lot of the founders we work with, the first customers came out of that network, not from advertising.
We have to be direct here, because getting this wrong does more damage than any licensing mistake. Egypt has operated significant foreign-currency controls and has been through extended periods of restricted US dollar availability. Moving capital out to fund a foreign company can be constrained, and the rules have changed more than once in recent years — so whatever you or a friend did a few years ago is not a reliable guide to what's permitted today.
Any transfer must go through proper banking channels, with a documented source of funds and the correct purpose recorded. Confirm the current position with your Egyptian bank and adviser before you move anything; we're a UAE firm and we don't advise on Egyptian currency regulation. And never use informal or parallel channels — beyond the exposure that creates at home, it wrecks your file on the UAE side. A bank that can't trace where your capital came from won't open the account.
What UAE banks are actually looking at: banks here apply enhanced due diligence to funds arriving from across the region. That's not a judgement on you — it's how correspondent banking works now. The founders who sail through have clean documentation, a funding trail in their own name, and a business rationale a compliance officer grasps in two minutes. The ones who stall arrive with cash, third-party transfers, or a story that doesn't match the licence.
Market access decides this, not price. Our full jurisdiction comparison goes deeper; here's the short version.
The usual starting point for consultants, IT, marketing, e-commerce and international trading. Full foreign ownership, fast issuance, a straightforward visa allocation. Best when your customers sit outside the UAE. Selling directly into the domestic market usually means going through a mainland distributor or agent.
Right when the UAE itself is the market: a restaurant, a retail unit, contracting, government tenders, a larger local team. Costs more and requires a tenancy registered on Ejari. For contracting and food in particular, it's usually the only sensible route.
A holding tool, not a trading one. RAK ICC or JAFZA offshore vehicles hold assets, shares or property. No residence visa, no trading inside the UAE. Cheap, and useful for exactly one job.
| Item | Indicative cost |
|---|---|
| Free zone licence only | From ~AED 5,555 (Ajman) / ~AED 12,900 (IFZA, Dubai) |
| Free zone licence + 1 residence visa | ~AED 12,000–23,000 depending on zone |
| Mainland licence | From ~AED 15,000, plus Ejari tenancy |
| Offshore / holding company | From ~AED 8,000 (no visa) |
| Residence visa (medical + Emirates ID) | ~AED 3,000–5,000 per person |
| Annual renewal | ~AED 8,000–18,000 per year, by zone and visa count |
On converting into pounds: don't anchor to any figure you read online, ours included. The Egyptian pound has moved a great deal against the dirham in recent years. As a rough sense of scale, a mainland licence around AED 15,000 has lately worked out somewhere in the region of a couple of hundred thousand pounds — that's an order of magnitude, not a quote. Check the live rate on the day you budget, and again on the day you transfer.
Every figure above is indicative and shifts with zone promotions, activity and visa count. We quote the renewal alongside the setup cost, because a cheap first year followed by an expensive second is a bad deal wearing a good deal's clothes.
This is where most setups stall. A UAE corporate bank account is entirely openable for a genuine Egyptian-owned business, but the bank wants to understand your source of funds, expected turnover, your customers and suppliers, and whether the company has real substance behind the licence.
What helps: a one-page business explanation written for a compliance officer, not a brochure; a licence activity that matches what you'll genuinely do; evidence of existing work — contracts, invoices, an employment history here; and a funding trail in your own name. What slows it down: vague "general trading" with no story, third-party funding, and documents that contradict each other. Budget two to four weeks after the licence issues. Approval sits with the bank — anyone promising you an account is promising something they don't control.
UAE: no personal income tax. Corporate tax is 9% on profits above AED 375,000, with a 0% band below, and qualifying free zone income can still be 0% where the conditions are met. VAT is 5%, registration mandatory once taxable turnover passes AED 375,000. Registration and filing are obligations even in a year you owe nothing — new owners miss that and pick up penalties.
Egyptian side: owning a UAE entity doesn't switch off your position at home. Depending on your circumstances there may be disclosure, Egyptian Tax Authority or currency-regulation considerations, and a double-tax treaty between the UAE and Egypt exists that your adviser should read against your specific facts. We don't advise on Egyptian tax — that's a line we hold, not false modesty.
Setting up from Egypt, the licence brings a visa allocation and your residence visa comes with it, extending to family sponsorship once your standing supports it. Already here on an employment visa? You may not need a new one in the short term, though moving onto your own company's sponsorship is the natural step once the business can carry it. The Golden Visa isn't automatic with a small licence — ask us whether your setup realistically meets current thresholds rather than assuming.
This is practical guidance, not a guarantee. Licence approvals rest with the relevant UAE authorities, account opening rests with the bank, and your Egyptian tax and currency position rests with your own adviser. What we'll give you is a straight answer about whether a Dubai company makes sense for your situation — and a written quote with renewals included if it does. We're at Office 401, Sultan Business Centre, Oud Metha, Dubai, rated 4.9★ from 58 Google reviews. Message us on WhatsApp and we'll go through it in Arabic or English, whichever you prefer.
Licence, activity, the employer question if you're employed here, banking and the funding route — mapped out by advisors who do this daily. Honest numbers including renewals, in Arabic or English, and a straight answer if the answer is no.
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