imi7

It's time for me to set up my own company in the UAE, in order to conduct my business in Saudi and across the GCC.

Please could someone advise me as to the start up requirements for the free zone, and which Emirate is best to go for - I was thinking Ajman based on costs but not sure.

I am not looking to move to UAE for at least 3 years as my wife is posted out here in Riyadh.

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks
Imi

ctfc

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=which+uae+freezone

Autonomy

This will give you a lot of info on what you need to know about each zone

http://www.ameinfo.com/smeinfo/uae-f...e-information/

Irishbeekeeper

you need a good typing (center) to set it up for you
try calling as many as you can and jotting down all the information they give over the phone, compare notes and you will get a fair idea what to do
I am told you can opt for a virtual office in ajman so you dont need to actually rent a place out as compared to here in dubai where you need a physical location to be allowed a trade license

heres a start as good as any I guess :

https://www.google.ae/search?client=...hannel=suggest

captainflack

My advice is that if you're not needing to live in the UAE or have premises there to import/export from, don't need staff, personal or family visas there, don't waste your time with the UAE. I have run companies in two freezones over the years, and doing anything in the UAE is the pain in the back side due to absurd bureaucracy, nutty rules, stupid outrageous costs to change any documents and so on.

Set up a company in BVI or the Caymans so you have a legal entity with a bank account. Will cost only 1-2k USD. No tax, just like UAE. And then trade with that. You'll have far less stupid bureaucracy to consider with that route, you don't have to get forms and passport copies legalized and notarized for everything you do. And on the occasions you do have to deal with the authorities, they'll be chilled out caribbean guys and not jobsworth locals enforcing a bureaucracy they've bizarrely modelled on India - one of the most inflexible and pointlessly over-complicated anywhere in the world.

imi7

Thank you for that info - a new insight from my perspective. Its tricky as my plan is to sell my Consultancy services here in Saudi, and existing clients have told me that if I was a GCC Company they would be happy to deal with me - so whilst your suggestion makes perfect sense it may not sit well with my existing client base. Therefore, although I don't need to be living physically in UAE, I do need a GCC owned company.

Can you please give me an idea of the nutty rules and stupid costs so I go in 'eyes wide open' - thanks.

Brains1983

Initial set-up and first year costs; 45-75k AED
Annual license/chamber renewals costs: 25k AED
Visas and shit on top.

Gus Honeybun

Mate, get proper legal advice. Any of the big 3 here in UAE will assist.

shiva

for a start up of a guy doing some consultancy they wont even talk to you. way way too small fry. unless you mean local firms at which point i'd stick to the internets

mrkjd

What about a UAE Offshore company rather than free zone? They use a virtual office with PO Box and cost about $3k to set up.

On a related issue (not to hijack the thread) is it difficult to open up an offshore account in the ME for such a company? I have been told US authorities have slapped the wrists of a couple of banks for dealings with Iran and so banks are loathe to take on new offshore small business accounts for some reason.

captainflack

My brother and I are partners in a UAE registered free zone company. Both of us spend most of our time overseas now but still kept our residence visas for the UAE. His was going to expire in second week of Jan, so he went over couple of days before expiry in order to cancel it as he's basically out of the UAE so just wanted shot of it.

Now the free zone had screwed up once before... I was supposed to be the person in charge on the trade license, but after a few months, they noticed that they'd issued us both visas with 'director' on, and of course any fool knows that a company can only have one director. I mean, whoever heard of a company with more than one director? (/sarcasm). So they insisted my visa be changed (since I was in town) and him being the senior person would then be on TL. Luckily they did this for free, since was their screw up.

But in jan, he gives them his passport to cancel his visa, and they then come back insisting that the TL needs to be changed to put my name on it. Problem is I am not in the country. Some wrangling ensues, fees of 2000 dollars for god knows what. And still no passport back. Now things get worse because he tries to extend his hotel, but they're fully booked. No problem, there are other hotels.

Yes, but every hotel in the UAE requires you present a passport or Emirates ID, and the free zone have the lot and they're not giving them to him. So he ends up staying in a friend's spare room. But he is still trapped, and the FZ still have no solution.

Well, it turns out that the TL change back to my name is being blocked because... my passport is due to expire end of Feb. Now I remind you that this is in Jan. I was planning to renew by post, but that's not good enough, they want my new passport ASAP or they won't put me on the trade license, and then my brother cannot cancel his visa and cannot get his passport back. Of course, they cannot show you any rule that says I am required to have a new passport if mine has just over a month left. But they don't need to, they are officials, it's a dictatorship, and the rules are whatever they say they are.

Eventually after much pleading personal circumstances (my brother lost his partner to cancer last year and just wants out of the UAE to get back home) they eventually agree they'll issue the new TL if I send them a scan of my new passport. I am in Portugal, so I book the first available 'same day' passport appointment I can get a week later in Peterborough, go over there, get new passport and scan to them, and finally this got it all to move. What should have been an 8-9 day trip for him turned into a month, and the worst part was at times it looked like it might never end.

It's not the first experience of unflexing bureaucracy, or the prospect of having a family member trapped forever in the UAE because of some bureaucratic requirement for docs that cannot be produced.

My visa expires end of Jan, but I am now living very happily with the wife and kids in Portugal. We've decided that I won't go back to cancel or whatever, there is no way I am going to risk having similar issues.

I spent nearly a decade living in the UAE, and it's amazing how quickly you get used to having no rights whatsoever and just having to take sh1t from authority, even when they're making the rules up as they go along. I knew a guy who ended up in prison for being at work when an industrial accident happened (of course someone had to pay, and it was the most senior foreigner who was on duty, that's the rule it seems). I knew another guy who ended up in prison for swearing at work.

So I just count myself lucky I got out without any major problems.

mrkjd

Thats a classic example of just how it can all turn to ratshit in a heartbeat. I have been trying to open an offshore account with a UAE bank for my RAK offshore company for 3 months now. I've got a guy over in UAE trying to do this for me as I'm working and living elsewhere and he's having to jump thru all sorts of hoops. Meanwhile I can't invoice for the company! Thinking I should have gone the West Indies route myself now though like the original poster most of my market as a consultant is ME.

captainflack

Funny you should say that, I also had problems last year getting an account for our company. HSBC gave us 2-months notice they were closing account for no reason, ADCB who I banked with for 7 years personally were completely useless, gave me run around for a month before finally (thanks to a poster here with some connections) I got word that they rejected us because we were a 'shell company' (we're not).

Then I tried Rakbank, just as fffing useless. They rejected our setup docs because they didn't like the signature on the form from my brother (in their expert analysts opinion, it didn't match his passport). So I got the forms resigned when he was with me in Portugal, fedexed over, but same problem. The Rakbank set up guy, who is presumably on some kind of commission, asked me if he could try to forge the sig and make it look a bit more like his passport, but I refused.

It shocked me anyone working for a bank would suggest something like this but I suppose nothing in the UAE should really surprise me. I suspect that what they really wanted was both of us in their branch together signing. Maybe. Or maybe other reasons.

The thing that is most frustrating, is that nobody ever tells you the real reasons for anything in the UAE, so you always get the impression there is something bad going on in the background that they're making excuses for.

HSBC never gave any reason for terminating our account, ADCB just ignored my calls and complaints over how long the account setup was taking, until eventually a contact via BritishExpats got someone to call me to explain their bogus reason of 'shell company'. And then Rakbank just kept rejecting a signature for no reason, even when we videoed ourselves signing!

captainflack

One other thing to consider....

If your RAK company is already set up and running, and the bank account setup is not a required part of that, just set up an account somewhere else. It's not ideal, but it might at least get you in business.

My local Santander in Portugal seemed happy enough to do this, if I can get Portuguese embassy stamps on the company docs. They are right opposite the Casino in Estoril, so I am sure it's not the dodgiest looking arrangement they've ever been presented with by some shifty foreigner

mrkjd

Plan B would be to set up a company account for the RAK company with the same UK offshore bank I have my personal banking but I really wanted to avoid that "eggs in one basket" scenario. But at least it's an option!

Apparently this is all due to HSBC and Barclays in ME getting slapped by the US for dealings with Iran but I haven't heard anything concrete about this.