Company Setup & Corporate Services

Service · 01 of 05 / Company Setup

Company Setup & Corporate Services

Form, license, and administer with confidence.

Getting the structure right the first time saves months of remediation and tens of thousands in unnecessary fees. We translate your business plan into the optimal UAE structure — then run the formation, licensing, banking and PRO end-to-end so you can focus on the business itself. One senior partner owns the file from kick-off through year-one renewal.

CCL 32/2021 · DED · DMCC · ADGM · DIFC · RAK ICC

Start your UAE business All Services

What We Cover

Sub-specialties of Company Setup & Corporate Services.

Each handled by a senior partner with the regulatory and commercial fluency the engagement demands.

Mainland Company Formation

UAE LLC setup under Federal Decree-Law 32/2021 — activity selection, name reservation, MoA drafting and DED licence issuance.

Free Zone Setup

DMCC, JAFZA, ADGM, IFZA, Meydan, RAKEZ and 40+ specialised zones — matched to activity, visa quota and substance needs.

Offshore Company Formation

RAK ICC and JAFZA Offshore vehicles for asset holding, IP protection and cross-border investment.

Trade Licence Renewals

Annual licence renewal management — DED, free-zone authorities, lease/Ejari, immigration cards and government approvals.

PRO & Government Liaison

Visas, labour cards, Emirates ID, Tasheel and MoFA / consulate attestations — handled end-to-end with a dedicated PRO.

Corporate Sponsorship / Nominee

Where mandated by activity (strategic-impact list), arranged with vetted UAE national partners under shareholder agreements that protect the operator.

Bank Account Assistance

Direct introductions to UAE banks we work with regularly — KYC pre-vetting, structure tuning and relationship-manager handover.

Visa & Immigration Support

Investor, employment, Golden Visa, dependants and domestic-worker visas — including renewals and status changes.

Who We Serve

Engagements accepted only where we can deliver genuine impact.

International Founders

Establishing your first UAE entity from abroad with the right jurisdiction, activity codes and structure for a smooth banking outcome.

Family Offices

Holding structures for multi-generational wealth, succession planning and asset segregation across UAE and offshore vehicles.

Foreign Businesses

Branch offices, subsidiaries and representative offices for established overseas operators expanding into the UAE and GCC.

Existing Operators

Restructuring to optimise Corporate Tax position, expand activity scope or relocate from a sub-optimal jurisdiction.

What We Deliver

Tangible outputs — scoped, fixed-fee, defensible.

Every engagement starts with a written scope. We work to fixed fees wherever possible, tied to deliverables — not billable hours.

Start your UAE business

Jurisdiction recommendation memo (Mainland / Free Zone / Offshore)
Activity selection, trade-name reservation and initial approvals
Memorandum & Articles of Association drafting and notarisation
DED / MOEC / Free Zone authority filings and licence issuance
Establishment Card, Labour Card and Emirates ID processing
Visa quota allocation and PRO setup with a dedicated officer
Corporate bank account introductions with vetted UAE partners
Year-one corporate calendar & renewal schedule at handover

Why TruWise

Built for this work — not bolted on as a side practice.

Jurisdiction-Agnostic

No allegiance to any single Free Zone — we recommend the right zone for your business, not the one that pays our commission.

Senior-Partner Led

Every formation is overseen by a partner with 100+ UAE entities behind them. No juniors, no hand-offs, no templated advice.

Banking-Ready

Pre-vetted banking partners and a structure designed for compliance reduce account-opening time from weeks to days.

Future-Proofed

Activity codes and structure designed with Corporate Tax, ESR, UBO and exit in mind — not just day-one issuance.

Frequently Asked

Questions clients ask before the first conversation.

Mainland or Free Zone — which is right for me?

It depends on three factors: where your customers are, what activity you trade in, and your visa/substance needs. Mainland gives unrestricted UAE-customer access and now allows 100% foreign ownership for most activities under CCL 32/2021. Free Zones offer activity-specific ecosystems and (where qualifying) 0% tax. We map your model to the optimal regime in the discovery call.

How long does company formation typically take?

A straightforward Free Zone with no special approvals can be operational in 5–10 business days. A Mainland LLC with external approvals (e.g. healthcare, education) can take 3–6 weeks. We provide a written timeline with each engagement so you can plan banking and visas in parallel.

Will I be able to open a corporate bank account?

Banking is the most common reason setups stall. We design your structure, activity codes and supporting documents against the leading banks’ KYC criteria, and we introduce you directly to relationship managers we work with regularly. Most clients are banked within 2–4 weeks of licence issuance.

Do I still need a UAE national partner?

For the vast majority of activities — no. CCL 32/2021 abolished the 51% Emirati ownership requirement for most Mainland activities. A small list of strategic-impact activities still requires UAE participation; we’ll flag this if it applies to your business.

What ongoing obligations come with a UAE company?

Annual licence renewal, lease/Ejari renewal, ESR notifications & reports (where applicable), UBO register filings, Corporate Tax registration and filing, VAT returns where registered, and IFRS-compliant accounting records. We provide an annual calendar at handover.

Can you help if I’m already set up but in the wrong structure?

Yes — restructuring is a regular engagement. We can migrate Free Zone to Mainland (or vice versa), redomicile offshore vehicles, or insert holding companies to ring-fence assets. We’ll quantify the cost vs. the upside before any move.