To set up a business in Dubai, you will be required to complete an application for your company, along with other paperwork and official documents.

For DMCC, UAE’s number-one Free Zone,  the following is required to set up a new company:

Company name and shareholder structure
Passport Visa page or Emirates ID of Legal Representative
Business plan
Selected business activities for the new entity
Lease agreement for the company’s legal business address in JLT

For branch and subsidiary setups, additional documents are required.

Established business:

• Commercial Registration / Certificate of Incorporation / Trade License
• Articles of Association  / Memorandum of Association
• Audited Financial Statement

Startups:

• Commercial Registration / Certificate of Incorporation / Trade License
• Articles of Association  / Memorandum of Association
• Support letter from a licensed incubator (AstroLabs)
• Financial backing from a VC / Establishment
• Startup brief, letter of intent and pitch deck

The Ministry of Investment is a government entity that licenses foreign companies to operate in Saudi Arabia without a local partner. This is a mainland license with 100% foreign ownership. The MISA Investor License is open to companies of all sizes set up in the Kingdom. The most common business activities we license are those in the services sector. Please note, certain activities are restricted, such as recruitment, medical, and certain types of consulting (other than management)

The assigned general manager from your side would need to travel to KSA for completing the Iqama issuance, which is needed to complete the setup process

The company will be commercially registered within 3 to 4 weeks. The company will be fully established with the GM Iqama and company bank account within 3 months

Yes, a registered national address is needed when establishing a company in Saudi Arabia. The AstroLabs Coworking office can be used for companies softlanding as well as their registered address

Saudization is a law which imposes companies to hire a number of Saudi Nationals depending on the sector and size of the company. The first hire (after the General Manager) must be a Saudi National

• 20% tax on net profit
• 15% VAT
• 5-20% Withholding tax