News on Corporate and
Immigration Legislation of UAE
News on Corporate and
Immigration Legislation of UAE
Our Services in UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Located in the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates (UAE or the Emirates) constitute a federal union that consists of seven emirates each of which is de facto an independent absolute monarchy. The federation is made up of the following emirates: Abu-Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah, and Sharjah.
The Emir of the largest emirate – Abu-Dhabi – is the Head of the State in this country, and he is referred to as President. The capital of the UEA is the capital city of Abu-Dhabi emirate, and it is also called Abu-Dhabi.
The Emir of Abu-Dhabi is also the Head of the UAE Government.
The UAE have large oil deposits, and oil export accounts for a major part of the country’s GDP. The Emir of each emirate is in command of the use of the hydrocarbons found on his territory. Thus, each emirate is as influential in determining the country policy as much oil it has underground. This is why the largest and the richest of all emirates – Abu-Dhabi – plays the key role in the Emirates economy and policy making.
The UAE are located in the Southwest part of Asia and the Northeast corner of the Arabic Peninsula. They border Saudi Arabia in the West and in the South and Oman in the Southeast and Northeast. The country is washed by the Oman and Persian Gulfs. Its Northern coast is located opposite Iran across the Persian Gulf. Abu-Dhabi emirate occupies 85% of the total country land, while the territory of the smallest Ajman emirate is only 250 square kilometers (around 96 sq. miles).
The UAE have tropical desert climate, it is very hot and dry there. The summer temperature goes up to 40-45 °С (around 110 °F) in the shadow on average, but it can be as high as 50 °С (122 °F) at times. The temperature in the winter is 20-23 °С (around 71 °F), nights being a bit cooler. Precipitation occurs mainly between November and May. Notwithstanding such a severe climate, Abu-Dhabi has the largest flower garden in the world.
The UAE population is about 10 million people. At the same time, the indigenous community comprises only 11% of the total population. All the others are seasonal immigrant workers from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka, Nepal, the Philippines, and other South Asia countries. Thus, 85% of the UAE population are not citizens of this country. Locals are mostly Sunni Muslims. 55% of the immigrants are Muslims, and 10% are Christians.
The largest and most rapidly growing city in the Emirates is Abu-Dhabi. Its population comes up to 2.5 million people.
The official language in this country is Arab even though English is often used for business negotiations.
Another language that is gaining popularity in the UAE is Russian. The number of Russian-speaking tourists to the UAE is constantly growing and today one can see an increasing number of Russian signs in the streets and find Russian-speaking personnel in stores and hotels.
According to the UAE Government plans, the number of tourist arriving to Dubai should reach 21-23 million people by the year 2022, and 23-25 million people by 2025. Thus, Dubai is aiming at becoming the most popular tourist city in the world. Currently, a large number of development projects are carried out in order to attract even more tourists from all over the world to this area.
UAE taxes
There are no personal and corporate income taxes in the UAE (except on some special kinds of business activities). There are also no limits on profit and disinvestment. The VAT is 5%. The Emirates have signed agreements for avoidance of double taxation with a large number of different countries.
The UAE ratings
According to the 2018 “Passport Index” agency report, the UAE passport ranks first among all national passports. 167 countries are accessible to the holder of such passport without a visa, or a visa is issued to him or her on arrival.
In the 2018 World Bank “Business Comfort” report the UAE were ranked 11th. The report included data for 190 countries of the world evaluating the comfort of doing business in each country and the transparency of the economies. The UAE Government economic reforms were especially appreciated in this report, an emphasis being placed upon its efforts to simplify the procedure of making sale agreements for real estate and land allotments. The elimination of electric supply duties for commercial corporations was also welcomed as well as improvements to the process of online registration of new business companies. The high reputation of Dubai as one of the most important economic centers of the world is proven by the ever-growing inflow of foreign investments to this city.
In the annual Positive Economy Institute report called “The Positivity Index of Nations” the UAE were ranked 8th among countries having positive effect on the rest of the world and being able to make the young generation ready for future challenges. The Emirates overdid Great Britain, France, Australia and the USA in this rating and became the only representative of the Arab world in it. Countries were rated on thirty parameters including opportunities for future generations in education, infrastructure use, acquiring finances, consensus building, and youth involvement into the life of the society.
According to the “Global Competitiveness Index 2017-2018”, the Emirates have the best motor roads in the world.
Our services in the UAE
Our site provides information about all aspects of business life in the country. We provide guidelines that will help you: register a business company in the UAE; open a bank account; get a resident visa or tax residency in this country; learn what rules apply to establishing a company in a free zone; purchase real estate in the country; protect your assets there; provide for succession of property located in the UAE, and many other things.
Our experts will give you free consultations on any aspect related to doing business in the UAE. Please contact us via e-mail: [email protected]
Apart from consultancy, we provide the following services:
- Company registration in the UAE. Our lawyers know the UAE legislation very well, and they will help you establish a business company of any type (limited liability, joint stock, etc.). You can open a company in the UAE in a free zone, or outside. You can also register a company in one of the UAE offshore zones. You are free to choose Dubai or any other city in the Emirates as the location for your business. If you have a company in another country, we can help you open a subsidiary or an affiliation in the UAE. We can also assist you in finding a suitable office to serve as your headquarters in the Emirates. A virtual office will do the trick in some cases, and we can help you with that too.
- Opening a bank account in the UAE. We can help you open an account in such banks as: Mashreq, Emirates NBD, Noor Bank, ADCB, RakBank, First Gulf Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Sharjah Islamic Bank, National Bank of Fujairah, United Arab Bank. You can open a bank account in Dubai or any other emirate. We will help you both with a personal account and with a corporate account in case you want to establish a company in the Emirates.
- Resident visas to the UAE. We can help settle a visa for you as well as your relatives, staff, and house help. The simplest and the least expensive way of obtaining a UAE visa is establishing a company in this country. The company owners as well as its employees are entitled to an easy UAE visa. Later you can apply for a residence permit and, thus, a tax residency in the UAE with a tax resident certificate. We will advise on the issues related to immigrating to this country, and make the immigration process worriless for you.
- Legal services and legal business support in the UAE. There are no personal or corporate income taxes in the Emirates but there is a 5% VAT tax plus some additional taxes on some special business activities. Thus, a business company in the UAE has to keep the books like everywhere else in the world. We will gladly provide both legal and accounting services to you.
- Opening an IT business company in the UAE. We will provide consultations on the issues related to the cryptocurrency in the UAE, asset protection, last will and testament, and property succession. Our lawyers are experts in the UAE legislation, and they can help you find an optimal solution in every concrete case. We can also assist you in drafting all sorts of agreements and obtaining all kinds of licenses and certificates. In addition, we can help with real estate purchase (and investment in real property in the UAE is very popular among foreigners), with obtaining a student visa, and with many other things.
Our site will be of use both to novice business people and to those who already have business in the UAE. Our experts keep track of all the changes that occur in the UAE business sector. Here you can always find the latest news about the changes in legislation, practical tips, and tons of other useful information.
For consultations and services, please contact us via e-mail: [email protected]. We will do our best to assist you.