Dubai has become one of the most common landing points for Russian-speaking founders, and the licence part is genuinely easy. The banking part is not. This guide is written to be useful about both, including the things a consultant who wants your fee quickly would rather not say.
Walk through Business Bay or JLT on a weekday and you'll hear Russian constantly. Over the last few years a large community of founders, IT teams, traders and families has settled here, and the reasons are not mysterious: no personal income tax, a company you own outright, direct flights to Moscow and St Petersburg, decent schools, and a city that stays neutral enough to trade in most directions. Registering the company is the simple part — three to seven working days in most free zones. I want to spend most of this page on the part that actually decides whether the move works, which is the bank.
Read this before anything else. A UAE trade licence is not a bank account. UAE banks apply enhanced due diligence where there is a Russian connection: detailed source-of-funds and source-of-wealth evidence, questions about where the business came from, longer timelines, and a genuine possibility of refusal — sometimes with no reason given. Kinzaad cannot guarantee you an account and will never promise one. What a good adviser can do is help you build a complete, accurate, well-documented file. That is the whole of the advantage, and it is a real one.
Every week someone tells me another agency promised them "guaranteed banking in 10 days." Nobody can guarantee that for anyone, and certainly not here. Accounts are opened at each bank's own discretion, and compliance teams answer to their own regulators and to their correspondent banks abroad. That second point is the one people miss: a UAE bank that clears US dollars relies on relationships with international banks, and it will not put those at risk for a small new client. So it asks more, and it asks properly.
Expect a file, not a form. In practice that means:
Timelines: for a well-prepared file, allow four to eight weeks after the licence, and be ready for it to run longer or end in a decline. Don't sign a lease or commit non-refundable money assuming the account is live on a given date. If one bank declines another may not — but repeatedly shopping a weak file around does more harm than fixing it. Our corporate bank account guide covers what banks look at generally.
And for founders who arrive already frustrated: none of this is personal. Compliance officers apply a risk framework, not a judgement about you. The ones who get through treat the questions as reasonable and answer them fully the first time.
This part isn't negotiable, so I'd rather write it clearly than leave it implied.
Kinzaad only works within the law. We cannot act for any person or entity that is designated or sanctioned under UAE or international measures, or for anyone acting on behalf of such a person. Banks, registrars and government authorities screen applicants against international and UAE lists as a matter of routine. Ownership and control must be disclosed truthfully, and UBO filings are a legal requirement, not paperwork you can shape to taste.
We will not help anyone obscure ownership, hold shares in another person's name to hide who is really behind a company, or structure around a restriction. If that's what someone wants, the honest answer is that we can't help, and we'll say so. That applies to a small minority. The overwhelming majority of Russian-speaking founders who walk into our office are ordinary business people — an IT firm, a trading company, a consultant, a family relocating — and for them this is simply normal process.
Set the difficulties aside for a moment, because the draws are real and entirely legitimate.
Tax. The UAE has no personal income tax — salary, dividends and personal capital gains are untaxed here. Companies pay corporate tax at 9% on profits above AED 375,000, and 0% below that; certain qualifying free zone income can still sit at 0% where the conditions are met. VAT is 5%, and registration becomes mandatory once taxable turnover passes AED 375,000. That's the whole UAE picture.
Speed and ownership. A free zone licence typically issues in three to seven working days once the file is complete, with 100% foreign ownership and, in most zones, no share capital to lock up. Mainland ownership was opened to full foreign ownership on most activities by the 2021 reforms.
Life. Residence visas for you and your family, a large Russian-speaking community, Russian-language schools and services alongside British and IB curricula, direct flights to Moscow and St Petersburg, and a stable dollar-pegged currency. For an international trading business, Dubai is a neutral base within a few hours of the Gulf, South Asia, Central Asia and East Africa.
I'm going to be direct here in the same way I would with a British or German founder. A Dubai company does not switch off your obligations in Russia.
Russia taxes its tax residents on worldwide income, and residency turns on days physically present — not on which passport you hold or where you registered a company. Russian CFC rules (КИК) require residents to notify the tax authority about participation in foreign companies and can attribute a foreign company's profits to the owner. Separately, currency-control rules impose notification and reporting duties in relation to accounts held outside Russia. These carry penalties when they're missed.
Kinzaad does not give Russian tax advice, and nothing on this page is advice. We don't know your day counts, your residency status or your filing history, and we won't guess. Speak to a qualified Russian tax adviser before you incorporate, not after. We promise no tax outcome whatsoever — and if any consultant does promise one, that's your signal to leave. Founders from other countries face their own version of this; the guide for European founders covers the parallel EU rules.
| UAE position | What it does not change | |
|---|---|---|
| Personal income tax | 0% | Your home-country liability, if you remain tax resident there |
| Corporate tax | 9% above AED 375,000 (0% below) | CFC-type rules that can attribute profits to the owner |
| VAT | 5% above AED 375,000 turnover | Nothing — this is a UAE-only obligation |
| Company ownership | 100% foreign ownership on most activities | The duty to disclose every UBO truthfully |
| Bank account | Possible, at each bank's own discretion | Enhanced due diligence — no guarantee, ever |
| Sanctions screening | Applied by banks and authorities as standard. Designated persons cannot be assisted, by us or anyone acting lawfully. | |
Usually the cleanest case. A free zone professional or service licence, one or two visas, clients invoiced abroad. Banks tend to be more comfortable when the work is clearly deliverable-based and the client contracts exist on paper — so bring them.
Similar shape, smaller file. The main thing is that the licensed activity genuinely describes what you do; "management consultancy" covering software development is the kind of mismatch that stalls a bank file.
Perfectly doable, and the most scrutinised. Be ready to name your goods, your suppliers, your buyers and the routes. If you sell into the UAE market directly or need local contracts, mainland rather than free zone is usually the honest answer — it costs more and needs an Ejari tenancy, but it avoids awkward workarounds later.
Offshore companies such as RAK ICC hold assets and shares, but give no residence visa and can't trade inside the UAE. Useful for a specific job, and exactly the structure where CFC and disclosure questions at home need answering first.
Most free zone and offshore companies can be registered remotely using a notarised and attested power of attorney, so the licence can issue while you're still at home. What can't be done remotely is the visa: the medical fitness test and Emirates ID biometrics are in person, and most banks want to meet the owner face to face — with a Russian-connected file, expect that meeting to be a firm expectation rather than a preference. Plan one focused trip of several days; stamping adds roughly one to two weeks around it.
On paperwork: passports are fine as issued, but Russian-language documents — corporate records, powers of attorney, degrees, marriage and birth certificates for family visas — generally need certified legal translation and attestation for UAE use. That step, not the licence, is what usually sets your real timeline.
Owning the company entitles you to a UAE residence visa, and from there you can sponsor your spouse and children under the standard conditions. The visa is what makes normal life possible: a tenancy, a school place, health insurance (mandatory in Dubai) and a personal bank account. Standard company visas run on a two-year cycle and renew with the licence.
At a higher level of investment, the 10-year Golden Visa is worth looking at — most commonly through property worth at least AED 2 million or qualifying business ownership. Ten years of residency for the family, no local sponsor. It isn't automatic with a small licence and thresholds change, so let us confirm your specific route before you plan around it.
All figures are indicative and move with the zone, activity, visa count and government fees.
| Item | Indicative cost (AED) |
|---|---|
| Free zone licence only (Ajman, low-cost) | From ~5,555 |
| Free zone licence only (Dubai, e.g. IFZA) | From ~12,900 |
| Free zone licence + 1 residence visa | ~12,000–23,000 |
| Mainland licence (+ Ejari tenancy) | From ~15,000 + office |
| Offshore company (no visa) | From ~8,000 |
| Residence visa (medical + Emirates ID) | ~3,000–5,000 per person |
| Annual renewal | ~8,000–18,000 |
Budget for translation and attestation on top, and ask for year two in writing. Cheap online packages tend to bite at renewal.
Nothing here is a guarantee. Activity approvals rest with the authorities, bank accounts open at each bank's discretion and can be refused, and your Russian tax position is for a qualified Russian adviser to confirm — not us. What we will give you is a straight assessment of whether your case is workable, real numbers including renewals, and a properly prepared file. If we don't think we can help, we'll tell you that too. Book a free consultation and we'll go through it.
Licence, structure, residence visa, family and the realistic banking picture — assessed by advisors who do this every day and who will tell you if it won't work. Rated 4.9★ across 58 Google reviews, from our office at Office 401, Sultan Business Centre, Oud Metha, Dubai. One free consultation, real numbers, no guarantees we can't keep — and a clear steer to take qualified Russian tax advice where it matters.
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