Setting Up a Mainland Professional Services Company in Dubai

Who runs this process

Before you start

• Your activity appears on the professional list rather than the commercial one
• You hold the qualifications the activity requires and can attest them
• Your profession is not one reserved to a sector regulator you cannot satisfy
• You accept that mainland means premises, because a professional license still needs a registered tenancy

The journey

Each step is marked by who acts: YouEmployerYou + employer

1. 1
   YouDET, via Invest in Dubai or a service center

   Confirm your activity is professional, not commercial

   Get this wrong and every later step is wrong

   The activity you choose is the basis for selecting the legal form and the type of license, whether commercial, industrial, or professional. A professional license covers services delivered through personal skill and qualification. A commercial license covers buying and selling. There are more than 2,000 business activities to choose from, and the legal form must match the activity, so this is not a cosmetic choice. Practices that mix advice with the sale of goods often discover they need two activities or a different license type entirely.

   You get

   Confirmed activity and license type

   Watch out for

   • Choosing a commercial license because it sounds broader, then failing the qualification-free assumption when the activity turns out to be professional
   • Adding a goods-selling activity later, which is a paid license amendment rather than an internal decision

   Full guide: Confirm your activity is professional, not commercial

2. 2
   YouDET, via Invest in Dubai or a service center

   Choose the legal form and reserve the trade name

   Form follows activity, not preference

   A single professional normally licenses as a sole establishment. Two or more professionals sharing a practice normally use a civil company. An LLC is a commercial form and is generally the wrong shape for a pure professional practice, though some service activities can take it. Reserve a trade name at the same time, remembering that a trade name reservation certificate records the name, the legal form, and the activity together, so changing the form later can invalidate the reservation.

   You get

   Chosen legal form · Trade name reservation certificate

   Fee

   Fee varies, confirm at the official portal · paid by you (DET fee schedules could not be retrieved during research: det.gov.ae and ded.ae did not resolve, and dubaidet.gov.ae and invest.dubai.ae returned 403.)

   Watch out for

   • Reserving a name against one legal form and then switching form, which can void the reservation

   Civil Company: A civil company suits two or more qualified partners in the same or complementary professions.

   Full guide: Choose the legal form and reserve the trade name

3. 3
   YouDET, plus any sector regulator

   Evidence your qualifications and get initial approval

   This is the step that distinguishes a professional license

   Professional activities are approved against your credentials, not just your payment. Expect to submit degree certificates or professional qualifications, and expect foreign documents to require attestation through the issuing country and the UAE mission before they are accepted. Initial approval confirms the authority has no objection to you carrying on the activity. Regulated professions such as legal, medical, engineering, and financial advice route through their own regulator on top of DET, and that approval is a precondition rather than a formality.

   You get

   Initial approval · Any sector approval the profession requires

   Typical time

   attestation from abroad commonly runs several weeks (indicative, confirm on the portal)

   Fee

   Fee varies, confirm at the official portal · paid by you (Attestation fees sit with MOFA and the issuing country's authorities. DET approval fees could not be retrieved.)

   Watch out for

   • Starting the license application before beginning attestation, which is what actually sets the timeline
   • Assuming a regulated profession can be licensed on a standard professional license

   Civil Company: Every partner's qualifications are examined, not only the lead professional's.

   Full guide: Evidence your qualifications and get initial approval

4. 4
   You + employerNotary public, via DET channels

   Sign the Local Service Agent agreement or the memorandum

   Notarized, and commonly misunderstood

   The official mainland setup path lists drafting a memorandum of association and a local service agent agreement as one of its steps. This is where the ownership headlines need care. Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020, consolidated by Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021, permits 100% foreign ownership of mainland commercial companies and removed the requirement for branches of foreign companies to appoint a UAE national service agent. That is a change to the Commercial Companies Law. Professional forms such as sole establishments and civil companies sit outside that framework, which is why a Local Service Agent agreement still appears in the process for non-GCC professionals. The agent is an administrative representative on a fixed annual fee, not a shareholder, and takes no share of profits.

   You get

   Notarized LSA agreement or memorandum of association

   Fee

   Fee varies, confirm at the official portal · paid by you (The agent's annual fee is a private commercial arrangement, not a government tariff, and no official figure exists. Notarization is charged separately.)

   Watch out for

   • Reading the 100% ownership headlines as meaning the Local Service Agent has been abolished for every structure
   • Treating the agent as a partner, when the role is administrative and carries no profit share

   UAE Or GCC National: No Local Service Agent arises. This step is the memorandum only.

   Llc: An LLC is a commercial form under the Commercial Companies Law, so the 100% ownership reforms apply directly and no service agent is required for most activities.

   Full guide: Sign the Local Service Agent agreement or the memorandum

5. 5
   YouDET, plus Ejari registration

   Register premises and collect the license

   There is a payment window on the voucher

   A mainland license requires a registered tenancy, so you register an Ejari contract before the license issues. Professional practices can often satisfy this with a small office or a serviced arrangement, but the space still has to be registered and it feeds your later visa allocation. Once approvals and tenancy are in place, DET issues a payment voucher and the license follows payment within the stated window.

   You get

   Registered Ejari · Mainland professional trade license

   Fee

   Fee varies, confirm at the official portal · paid by you (License cost varies by activity and legal form. No DET figure is asserted here.)

   Watch out for

   • Letting the payment voucher lapse, which cancels the application

   Full guide: Register premises and collect the license

6. 6
   You + employerICP or GDRFA Dubai, then the Federal Tax Authority

   Open the immigration file, then register for tax

   The practice becomes an employer at this point

   The practice obtains an establishment card, then sponsors residence visas for you and any staff, each running through entry permit, medical fitness test, Emirates ID, and the visa. Separately the company registers for corporate tax and, once past the threshold, VAT. A mainland professional company is a taxable person from the start, with 0% applying to taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above, and none of the free zone qualifying-income rules are available to it.

   You get

   Establishment card · Residence visas · Corporate tax registration

   Fee

   Free · paid by you (Corporate tax registration carries no service fee. Visa and establishment card costs sit with the immigration authority and are charged separately.)

   Watch out for

   • Assuming a small practice is outside corporate tax, when the company is a taxable person regardless of size

   Full guide: Open the immigration file, then register for tax

Documents checklist

Where this goes wrong

What comes next

• Open a business bank account
• Register for corporate tax on EmaraTax
• Renew the trade license each year