March 3, 2025 • 27 mins
Aaron Henriques, a British entrepreneur from London now living in Dubai, guides UK business owners through the essential 7 steps to move their UK business to Dubai. Aaron used his personal and professional experience to cover important aspects such as choosing between a mainland or free zone company, deciding whether to use a business formation agency, selecting trade activities, and understanding the application process.
He also talks about the visa process, establishing a bank account in Dubai, and transferring assets from the UK to Dubai. Aaron further highlights the importance of setting the right expectations, doing thorough research, consulting agencies, and keeping in touch with an accountant to ensure compliance with UAE regulations. The video aims to provide UK entrepreneurs with a comprehensive roadmap for a successful business transition to Dubai.
Start your business in Dubai with my agency, Handlr Zone: https://handlrzone.com/pod
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Nuu7OyEyA3k
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00:00 Introduction: Moving Your UK Business to Dubai
00:51 Who Is This Video For?
01:27 Step 1: Mainland vs Free Zone Company
02:28 Step 2: Business Formation Agency or DIY?
07:16 Step 3: Choosing Your Trade Activities
09:41 Step 4: Starting the Application Process
16:17 Step 5: Approval Process
18:49 Step 6: Visa Process
23:09 Step 7: Setting Up Your Bank Account
23:39 Final Steps and Recap
24:58 Conclusion and Final Advice
#opportunity #motivation #success #businessstrategy
© 2025 Handlr Media Ltd. All rights reserved. This content is for general information only and does not constitute financial, legal, or other professional advice. We may include affiliate links and could earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclaimer: https://aaronhenriques.com/disclaimer
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
So you're an existing UK businessowner and you're looking at
(00:04):
moving your current UK business To
Dubai or perhaps even your whole lifeand you need to know what steps to take.
So if that describes you, this
video is the one that you need tobe listening to for those of you who
don't know me, I'm Aaron Henriques.
I'm an entrepreneur
from London UK currently living in Dubai.
I left my 10 year careeras a police officer.
(00:24):
in 2017 and I
have companies across the UK and Dubai.
So I've been thinking about live streamingthe prep work for this podcast and also
the preparation and the live recording.
And I'm actually doing that forthe first time right now So let
me know in the comments if there'sanything that you'd like to see
like Q and A, so if you'd like to benotified when I go live hit subscribe
(00:46):
hit the notificationbell and That will help
this channel reach morepeople just like you.
So who is this video for?
This video is for experiencedbusiness owners in the UK who
are looking to move their UK
business right over here into Dubai manybusiness owners, when they want to move
their company to Dubai are doing it fortax reasons, but others are just for
(01:08):
lifestyle or more, opportunities Butif you are there for financial reasons,
make sure you do your mathsbecause it may not quite add up.
And it's also going to be relevantfor people who are looking at starting
their first business or perhapsa brand new startup in Dubai and
you just want to know whatthe steps are to follow.
I'm going to take you through all sevensteps to help you move your UK company
(01:31):
to Dubai from the thought that you'recurrently having now, all the way through
to you actually being able to get setup and doing business here in Dubai
Step one, you need to decide betweena mainland or a free zone company.
If you're going to set up inDubai now in the UK, we don't
have the equivalent of that.
this video is not intended totalk you through all of the
(01:53):
differences between the two.
there's different criteria and rulesand regulations that apply across free
zones and mainland companies in the UAE.
So you need to do your homework, making
sure that you understandwhich one you need to go down.
Particularly for those who have inperson businesses, if you're thinking
about doing anything real estate,
anything that is a, like a shop, ifyou've got a pet shop in the UK and
(02:15):
you want to do that over here, then youwill need to have a mainland company.
If you don't know the difference betweenmainland companies and free zones, I have
done another video It is episode 25
that you can find on the channel.
So step number two, you need todecide if you want to go with a
business formation agency in Dubaior if you want to do it on your own.
(02:37):
There are pros and cons to both.
Now with agencies, thatwill cost you more.
Just plain and simple.
Quite clearly, if they're going to dothe setup for you, you're going to have
to pay for the licensing plus also the
fact they're going to do it for you.
You'll typically get much more supportwith an agency, but that support can
really vary from one agency to the other.
do your homework, check the reviews.
(02:59):
and make sure that you're comfortablewith the agency that you're
choosing, that they're going togive you the support that you need.
A good agency is going to increase yourchances of a successful application.
bear in mind, it is an application.
It is not a guarantee thatyour company will be opened.
and of course an agency isprobably going to know a bit more
about how things work out here.
(03:20):
The nuances of things that you maynot be aware of but you can go direct.
I set up my company in Dubai directwith my free zone and typically
you don't get as much support.
for people who are like brand, brand newto business, which this video is not for.
But if they are brand new to business,they might find that a bit harder because
there's certain general business stuff Ifyou've opened up multiple companies in the
(03:42):
uk before you're probably already awareof certain terminology like share capital
and whatever you'll be able to answerthose questions but if you are going
direct you are going to need to completeyour own application You will have far
less support than going for an agency.
whether you go to a freezone or the mainland
company they are there to set up yourlicensing Now, if you are in the UK, of
(04:04):
course, you're used to companies house.
for some reason,
when people try to set up companies inDubai, they seem to think that if they're
going direct, that the organization,whether it's mainland or the free zone
directly that they're going to giveyou all the support that you need.
Now if you just think about Companieshouse in the UK you wouldn't call
(04:25):
them When you're setting up yourcompany and expect them to tell you
where to get an accountant from, orexpect them to tell you Where you
can find an office space, or expectthem to tell you how to order a taxi.
there's there's so many things thatpeople just have an expectation In
Dubai that they wouldn't have back home.
So set your expectations right,because if you do need all that
(04:47):
extra support then you might want tobe looking at an agency, but if you
are going to just set up the businesslicensing, then yes, you are going
to have to do your own application.
there may be very limitedsupport if any at all.
And all that post setup stuff that Ijust mentioned there, that isn't actually
directly to do with the licensing itself.
You shouldn't expect that you'regoing to get that level of support.
(05:09):
If you've gone direct to a freezone or directly to setting up
a mainland company in Dubai.
That is why still today, most peoplewill set up using an agency, but you do
need to be careful if you use an agency.
there are some out therethat are unscrupulous.
There are a lot of fake reviews.
There are lots of agents in Dubai.
They are working on commission only.
(05:31):
So they're incentivized to tell you thingsthat may not actually be completely true.
Or they may process anapplication that they know may
be a bit risky getting through.
And they may not tell you that.
And it's not cheap to set up here.
so you could potentiallylose a few thousand pounds if
you've chosen the wrong agency.
And please, please, please donot be tempted by the too good
(05:53):
to be true, low price agencies.
Because there's a few scarythings that have happened in
the past that I've heard of.
One is like, the typical one is whereyour first year's fee seems all right,
you know, reasonable about right.
And then the next yearthey will double the fee.
And I had a clientrecently who contacted me.
He's actually not set up a company withme, but he'd set up directly with a
(06:15):
cheap free zone and he ended up havingto pay me $500 for me to talk him
through everything that he needed toknow that they didn't explain to him.
And as I just said before, don'texpect that the free zone anyway
is going to explain it to you.
He paid me $500 to go through all thisstuff, but there was some stuff that
(06:36):
really actually is the responsibilityof the free zone in which they
just left him completely cold, notanswering any questions or whatever.
And he ended up regrettingthe fact he's ever set up with
them So don't let that be you.
If you do set up with an agency, youcannot move from one agency to the other.
They're not going to allow you to do that.
So you need to be careful that you getthat right the first time because your
(06:57):
only option, if you really, reallyhated them, you didn't want to work with
them anymore would be to shut down yourcompany, shut down your bank accounts.
you'd have to have your visa transferredbecause your company would sponsor your
visa And there's all sorts of otheradministrative issues that come with it
plus cancellation fees and all sorts.
So getting that right in
the first place can reallymake a difference for you.
So step three, you're going to haveto choose your trade activities.
(07:20):
Now, there are over 800 tradeactivities to choose from in the UAE,
and it is very different to the UK.
So, people back home, you're veryused to, if you're an experienced
entrepreneur, you'll know what a
SIC code is S I C code
They're not very defined.
They're quite broad for the most part.
You can also change your SIC code, you'lltypically do that with your annual return.
(07:42):
You'll do that confirmation statement,and you will, if there's another
trade that you've started doing inthat year, you just add it on, okay?
So that's how that works in the UK.
It does not work likethat here in Dubai at all.
The trades are very detailed, they'revery specific and typically you'll find,
for a lot of companies they might havetwo or three trades on their license.
(08:02):
Mainland companies are more restrictedon what you can combine together.
Free zones will give you a bit morefreedom on the types of trades that you
can combine under the same trade license
But unlike the UK, where youcan pretty much do whatever you
want with your limited company
License so your your businesslicense to trade in the UK.
You can pretty much do any trade you want.
(08:24):
There are some regulatedactivities that you can't.
In the UAE it's very different so alot of the time I receive inquiries
to my company here where peoplewant to set up as a consultant.
And in the UK if you just classyourself as a consultant and did a
ton of different stuff, like thereare some people that they just do
anything and everything as a consultant.
(08:44):
That would be fine there, buthere you do need to define the
type of consultancy that you are.
So there are a lot of differentconsultancy trades and
you cannot carry out a trade that isnot on your trade license here in UAE.
You you will get in a lot oftrouble if you're found to do that
because there are so many sometimespeople will Ask the agencies to
(09:06):
help them identify what trades theyneed to have on their trade license
because it may not be obvious.
Sometimes it's really obvious,like if you're an e-commerce
brand, it's very simple, the tradeis e-commerce, and that's it.
But if you are doing multiple thingsor can't quite find the trade that
seems to define what you actually do.
Quite often there is there, butit's just worded in a different way.
(09:29):
So it can be challenging to findthe trades speak to an agency.
If you have trouble with that, Ifyou are going to set up on your own,
either as a mainland company or undera free zone, they are probably going to
expect that you will decide onyour own trade activities Okay,
so now we're on to step four.
This is where you actually start to dostuff where there are time frames in that
(09:50):
because everything I've said before couldtake you anything from A couple of hours,
I had one client not that long ago thatcontacted me and within a couple of hours
just decided, paid and got everythingon the way, whereas others take months.
it just depends on you.
I'll give you some guidelinesin terms of times it can take.
Now, just to be clear, theseare not set guides for you.
(10:11):
It will vary on a case by case basis.
These are general guidelines.
So do not come back to me giving meshit for the fact that I've said it's
going to take a week and it's takenyou six weeks, okay, because that might
be something very specific to you.
I'm also only talking aboutunregulated activities.
Regulated activitiescan take way more time.
(10:32):
So if you're doing anything in cryptospace, broadcasting, telephony,
internet, space stuff, whatever,yeah, you can do all that here.
regulated activities, anyfinancial stuff, anything
to do with property like lettingout property, selling property,
whatever, all of that is regulated.
So they can take longer.
(10:52):
I'm just talking about unregulatedactivities, which is actually
what most people so far from myobservations are actually doing so
once you've decided whether you'regoing to go mainland or a free zone.
You've decided your trade activities.
It's then time for you tostart your application process.
typically they will requestpayment from you, first of all,
and then that application will commence.
(11:15):
There are some places where thatmay be the other way around.
They may start like initial applicationand then request payment afterwards,
but either way, you're going tohave it very, very close together.
Now this process can normally takeone to two days, If you're quick with
the information that's being requestedof you, Then if you're not sure what
a question is asking you because itmay not be obvious At least make an
(11:37):
attempt to ask before you just putinformation down because, you could
pay Your application can end up beingrejected and then you've just lost a few
thousand pounds and have to start again.
Now, one of the things that you as a UKbusiness owner is not going to be familiar
with is paying for licenses annually.
So you're used to in the UK nowit is £50 to set up your business
(11:59):
and you never pay that again, butyou will pay a shitload of tax.
However you will never pay foryour business license again.
In the UAE, whether you've gone fora mainland company or a free zone
company, You are going to pay an annuallicense fee unless you've paid for
a few years in advance, If it's beenallowed for you to do that, you're
going to pay an annual license fee.
(12:19):
It's not going to be £50,You will be expecting a few
thousand pounds at a minimum
for your license here in theUAE that cost is going to vary
depending on a number of factors.
mainland companies The main factoris going to be the agency that you
choose or if you set it up directlyWith a FreeZone company, it could be
(12:40):
the agency you're going to choose, thesort of admin fees that they charge.
It could be, depending on FreeZoneto FreeZone, the different rules.
Some free zones will chargemore depending on the number of
visa entitlements that you have.
It depends on the numberof trade activities.
mixed trades whether they'reprofessional or commercial trades,
if they're regulated or not,fees can massively increase
(13:00):
for regulated activities.
And of course, the level of supportthat the agency is going to give to
you, if you're setting up with anagency, can wildly vary anywhere from,
£2000 extra to £10k, £15k or £20,000Many will only take a bank transfer.
typically that will be the case.
Sometimes they may allow card paymentthat you should expect that you are
(13:22):
going to pay an extra few percentage.
It is an international payment.
You'll have to make yourpayment to a UAE account.
that can present its own challenges.
Sometimes I've had clients where they'vepaid and it's come through the day after.
I've had two clients recentlywhere they had challenges with
a particular UK bank sending themoney out of the UK to the UAE.
(13:44):
One of them took nearly three weeks.
the bank made him go into thebranch to prove who he was and
to check it wasn't fraud so
it can be difficult for transferring,it can vary, it depends on your bank.
I've found that banks like Wise, Revolut,well those two actually, particularly
are the ones where it tends to be prettyeasy, they're like the challenger banks.
(14:06):
as I mentioned earlier it is anapplication There is no guarantee That
the authorities will allow you to havethe trade license in Dubai so you need to
understand this isn't a paper exercise.
It is an actual application,checks will be done on you
It's not all done by the free zone.
Some of it is by the UAE authorities.
you need to be prepared for the factthat your license could be refused.
(14:30):
I haven't personally heard of ithappening before, but I am aware
of reasons why it will be refused.
A lot of them may be down to yournationality, certain connections that
you may have to certain groups, thereare a number of other reasons which
typically will look through prior tosubmitting an application Typically,
agencies should be gathering all therequired information that they need.
(14:51):
They should know what to look outfor in terms of things that are
likely to trigger a challenge or
just a complete rejectionfor your application.
Some of them may not be as honestas others and may not be forthcoming
where they might see that somethingis a problem in your application,
but may process it anyway becausethat gets them their payment and
(15:12):
you are not going to get a refund.
Okay, just put it out there.
You are not going to get a refund fromthe free zone or the Mainland Licensing.
Be warned most agents are commissionedonly here and They may be incentivized,
particularly if they've got their ownfinancial pressures, to push through an
application that may have quite clearchallenges if your application fails for
(15:35):
any reason, be advised most agencies donot operate like mine where we do offer
100% refund guarantee under certaincircumstances for some of our services.
However, most agencieswill not be doing that.
And you just need to be careful, makesure that you're quite confident with
your application that you're making, thatthere isn't anything in your history,
(15:58):
in your past, anything you're associatedwith that may come up as a potential risk.
If you're concerned, ask the agencybeforehand, get them to put it in writing.
Again, I still can't guarantee that you'dget a refund from that because likely
their contracts will be very clear.
once it's submitted that's it.
if it's rejected that's on you.
step five is the approval process.
(16:19):
this can take usually betweenfive to eight days for the
authorities to approve the license.
there are some that willdo it a lot quicker.
There are VIP services available as wellwhere they may process that much quicker.
However, as a general rule of thumb.
Look at five to eight days fora license to be approved by the
authorities and released to you.
(16:39):
However, you just need to bear in mindThere may actually be quite a lot of
back and forth between you and theauthorities if you're doing it direct.
Or the agency may be having a lot ofconversation back and forth about you,
that you may not be privy to most of it.
It's only if there is extra informationthat's required extra documentation
That may be required queries that maycome up that may be raised about you
(17:00):
or what your company intends to do Soit's important that you are speedy with
your responses bear in mind There arecertain deadlines that may be imposed By
the free zone by the agency by mainlandauthorities for you to actually process
information So if you are someone who'susually not very good at responding
you just need to bear in mind for thatone week or so get good or get someone
(17:23):
like if you've got an assistant orsomething who can help you with that
because Information will be required andeventually they'll just terminate your
application and you lose your money.
Okay, so don't do that.
Be responsive And be upfront
and honest about things,because the authorities may have
discovered something about you.
They may have asked a query around it.
And if you lie to them, trust me,you are going to get rejected.
(17:47):
And you may even end up being, excludedfrom entering the UAE, potentially.
I can't say that for sure.
I've not heard of it particularlyhappening, but why would I have?
Just be careful that
things are quite strict here Don'tbe lying on your applications.
Okay, so then what's going to happenthen is once your licenses are released
That means your company is formed.
That means you're now a businessowner in Dubai and that will
(18:08):
free you up to trade in the UAE.
However, there is obviously onething missing and that one thing
is for you to be able to acceptpayments from your clients Customers,
whatever you want to call them.
You are going to needa bank account, right?
So, for you to get a bank account inDubai, you are going to need Emirates
ID, which means you will need tohave a residency visa, which means
(18:32):
you also need an establishment card,which will be applied for directly
after your license is issued, whichonly takes another one or two days.
That allows you to then sponsoryourself and other staff
members to work in the UAE.
And have residency here in UAE.
On to step six.
That is the visa process.
if you want a bank account in Dubai WhichI guess you probably would if you've
(18:55):
opened a company here, you are going toneed Emirates ID and so you are going to
have to go through the visa process theremay be some ways that some agencies have
available to you where they can help youget bank accounts open for your business.
I'm not actually aware of that processand there are people to specialize in
that who they will charge you for it.
It's not gonna be free, it'snot gonna be cheap either.
(19:17):
But if you don't want to go down thevisa process perhaps look for that first.
If you are going to go down the visaprocess like most people This is what
you need to follow first of all, ifyou are with a free zone, you are
going to have a maximum number of visasponsorship entitlements on your license.
That doesn't include your application fee.
That is the entitlement, meaning youcan sponsor up to that many visas under
(19:40):
your company license at any one time.
It doesn't mean that you haveto sponsor them right away.
It is a maximum.
So if you've got three visasponsorships on your license,
typically they'll come with one butlet's just say you upgraded to three.
That means you can sponsor up to threevisas, including your own through your
company license I talk about the visaentitlement versus visa application.
(20:03):
What's the differences in episode 27.
So go and have a look at that afterwards.
the time taken for this step can varybased on how quick you want to be.
It can take anywhere from a couple ofweeks up to just over a couple of months
for the whole process, depending on you.
Typically, really, if you're lookingat longer periods of time, that is
more about when you actually come
(20:24):
to Dubai and do your medical and whatever.
visa process, there is a lot of stepsinvolved, which I'm not going to
go through the whole lot with you.
I did do a video on my experience goingthrough the visa process in episode 15.
So look back through thechannel if you want to see that.
very briefly, I'm going to outline themain steps for you in setting up a visa.
first of all you need tocomplete your e visa application.
(20:47):
Once that application is submitted, thatwould normally take sort of six to eight
working days for the UAE authorities
to issue your e visa.
the e visa is requiredfor you to enter the UAE.
So typically we'd advise clients don'tenter the UAE until your e visa is issued
because if you're here on a touristvisa and then need to switch to e visa,
(21:08):
you'll need to pay to cancel your touristvisa and then get reissued your e visa.
it's easier just to have itdone before you come to Dubai.
I'd always recommend that you'vegiven yourself enough time, one,
to open up the company, completely,have your establishment card.
Done, because you can't apply forthe visa until the establishment
card is ready and then have enoughtime that you're going to have for
(21:30):
you to make that e visa applicationbefore you plan to come to Dubai.
don't think about today, oh I'm goingto move to Dubai next week, book
your thing, you haven't even got acompany set up and then expect it to
happen because you're going to endup paying a lot more money for your
visa to be cancelled and reissued.
So once the e visa is issued, you have60 days, that's 60, 6, 0 days for you
(21:51):
to enter the UAE from the date of issueand complete the full visa process.
that is, your medical, yourEmirates ID application, your
biometrics and, submittingthe details over.
you have 60 days to do all of that.
So from the date that eVisa isissued, you can then enter the UAE.
(22:12):
You have 60 days to complete that process.
However, do not leave the UAE untilyour visa is issued because it could
be cancelled, probably will be, andyou may be charged when you leave.
So make sure that you don'tplan to leave the UAE.
to complete your medical Biometrics andEmirates ID application can take anywhere
from two to five days for you to completethat Process depending again on you how
(22:36):
quick you are To deal with it the typeof service because there are vip services
and there's also normal services availablelike anything in Dubai, That can vary but
two to five days is typically what I wouldsay for you to complete that process I
normally say that to be safe five to eightworking days For your residency visa to be
issued and granted by the UAE authoritiesThen another one or two days for the
(22:59):
Emirates ID to be sent to you can leavethe UAE before your Emirates ID arrives.
You just can't leave before yourvisa Issued otherwise Is it cancelled
and you have to do it all again?
So don't do that.
So now you've got your freshEmirates ID in hand, then you can
make your bank account applications,which could take anywhere from
one day to a couple of weeks.
That's really going to depend on yourcompany, the bank that you try and apply
(23:21):
with, if you've got all your documentsready if there's any queries raised by
the bank, particularly if you're in amore Risky industry But you know, i've
had clients and myself who've openedup their bank account within one or
two days Most commonly that's whati'm finding but it can take longer.
Now you've got yourbusiness open in Dubai.
You've got your residency visa.
You've got your bank account open Nowit's time for you to have a conversation
(23:43):
with your accountant and to be honestwith you Actually, you probably should
have had a conversation with youraccountant way before you even started.
But anyway, it's now time for you to havea different kind of conversation with
your accountant about moving your assetsfrom your uk company to your uae company.
It is not that complicated a processUnless you've got leverage on them.
It might be harder, you knowloans and stuff like that.
(24:04):
But typically for a lot ofbusinesses, particularly service
based businesses, it's not goingto be a complicated process.
You just speak to your accountant, getit all done, drawn up properly, and
they will talk you through that process,it's not for me to do, that's for your
accountant to help you with that process.
And with that, they'll also helpyou decide whether or not you're
going to keep your UK entity open.
There might be reasonswhy you might do that.
(24:26):
For example, if you were acting aspayment processor from the UK to your
UAE account, like if you had a lotof UK based customers that were more
comfortable paying money there or maybehad restrictions on why they can't
send the money abroad Like I said,it's a conversation between you and
your accountant to decide on that Ifyou decide to close your company down,
then they'll take you through thatprocess they may charge you for it.
(24:47):
Now you're operatingfrom your Dubai business.
Let your customers know let your suppliersknow change the contracts, your Terms and
conditions, all that important stuff thatyou need to get done, all the legal bits.
then you can just be happy trading.
So that's it.
You're done.
That's the seven steps that you need tofollow as a UK business owner for you to
transfer your UK business over to Dubai.
So a very quick recap For you toget your company license issued,
(25:09):
you should expect that to be donewithin one to two weeks from the
time your application is submitted.
Plan to take at least probably twoweeks for your visa stuff to be done.
beware of that 60 day cutoffbecause it is a cutoff your eVisa
will be canceled and you'll loseyour money if you don't do that.
And just be mindful, there are thingsthat do apply in the UAE that you may
(25:29):
not be so familiar with in the UK.
So, even if you don't set up with anagency, I would highly recommend that
you contact an agency after you'veset your company up, if you are doing
it direct, or an accountant just sothat they can help you with regulatory
stuff so that you're compliant.
Because, for example, if you don'tregister for corporation tax within
(25:50):
the specified period and do thatcorrectly, then you could be hit
with a fine which is approximately£2000 (AED 10,000), you don't do it
in right time and in the right way.
So, just bear that in mind.
There are some things that you may noteven be aware of and, the authorities.
it's not their responsibilityto educate you.
That's for you to do justlike it is in the UK.
(26:11):
if you decide that you're going to ignorethe fact you have to register for your
taxes in the UK and not pay HMRC, you'regoing to find out about it eventually.
It can be challenging to moveto a new country, even as an
experienced entrepreneur, becausethere are things that you just
don't know, you don't know about.
those little things may be picked up.
through agents your accountant orother consultants that can help you.
(26:32):
particularly if you'venever run a business before
please do yourself a favor.
even if you just have a consulting callwith someone, a few hundred dollars,
whatever, to have a call, to talk youthrough that process, things that you need
to adhere to, the steps that you need tofollow, because you could find yourself
in a whole world of shit if you don't.
Okay, so that's my advice to you.
(26:55):
It's free.
You're welcome.
anyway, I hope that was useful for you.
So if you want help moving your businessto Dubai click the link in the description
So since you've stayed with me thislong, please like and subscribe, and
most importantly, share this with someonewho you think this really could help.
I'm Aaron Henriques,thanks for staying with me.
So you're an existing UK businessowner and you're looking at
(00:04):
moving your current UK business To
Dubai or perhaps even your whole lifeand you need to know what steps to take.
So if that describes you, this
video is the one that you need tobe listening to for those of you who
don't know me, I'm Aaron Henriques.
I'm an entrepreneur
from London UK currently living in Dubai.
I left my 10 year careeras a police officer.
(00:24):
in 2017 and I
have companies across the UK and Dubai.
So I've been thinking about live streamingthe prep work for this podcast and also
the preparation and the live recording.
And I'm actually doing that forthe first time right now So let
me know in the comments if there'sanything that you'd like to see
like Q and A, so if you'd like to benotified when I go live hit subscribe
(00:46):
hit the notificationbell and That will help
this channel reach morepeople just like you.
So who is this video for?
This video is for experiencedbusiness owners in the UK who
are looking to move their UK
business right over here into Dubai manybusiness owners, when they want to move
their company to Dubai are doing it fortax reasons, but others are just for
(01:08):
lifestyle or more, opportunities Butif you are there for financial reasons,
make sure you do your mathsbecause it may not quite add up.
And it's also going to be relevantfor people who are looking at starting
their first business or perhapsa brand new startup in Dubai and
you just want to know whatthe steps are to follow.
I'm going to take you through all sevensteps to help you move your UK company
(01:31):
to Dubai from the thought that you'recurrently having now, all the way through
to you actually being able to get setup and doing business here in Dubai
Step one, you need to decide betweena mainland or a free zone company.
If you're going to set up inDubai now in the UK, we don't
have the equivalent of that.
this video is not intended totalk you through all of the
(01:53):
differences between the two.
there's different criteria and rulesand regulations that apply across free
zones and mainland companies in the UAE.
So you need to do your homework, making
sure that you understandwhich one you need to go down.
Particularly for those who have inperson businesses, if you're thinking
about doing anything real estate,
anything that is a, like a shop, ifyou've got a pet shop in the UK and
(02:15):
you want to do that over here, then youwill need to have a mainland company.
If you don't know the difference betweenmainland companies and free zones, I have
done another video It is episode 25
that you can find on the channel.
So step number two, you need todecide if you want to go with a
business formation agency in Dubaior if you want to do it on your own.
(02:37):
There are pros and cons to both.
Now with agencies, thatwill cost you more.
Just plain and simple.
Quite clearly, if they're going to dothe setup for you, you're going to have
to pay for the licensing plus also the
fact they're going to do it for you.
You'll typically get much more supportwith an agency, but that support can
really vary from one agency to the other.
do your homework, check the reviews.
(02:59):
and make sure that you're comfortablewith the agency that you're
choosing, that they're going togive you the support that you need.
A good agency is going to increase yourchances of a successful application.
bear in mind, it is an application.
It is not a guarantee thatyour company will be opened.
and of course an agency isprobably going to know a bit more
about how things work out here.
(03:20):
The nuances of things that you maynot be aware of but you can go direct.
I set up my company in Dubai directwith my free zone and typically
you don't get as much support.
for people who are like brand, brand newto business, which this video is not for.
But if they are brand new to business,they might find that a bit harder because
there's certain general business stuff Ifyou've opened up multiple companies in the
(03:42):
uk before you're probably already awareof certain terminology like share capital
and whatever you'll be able to answerthose questions but if you are going
direct you are going to need to completeyour own application You will have far
less support than going for an agency.
whether you go to a freezone or the mainland
company they are there to set up yourlicensing Now, if you are in the UK, of
(04:04):
course, you're used to companies house.
for some reason,
when people try to set up companies inDubai, they seem to think that if they're
going direct, that the organization,whether it's mainland or the free zone
directly that they're going to giveyou all the support that you need.
Now if you just think about Companieshouse in the UK you wouldn't call
(04:25):
them When you're setting up yourcompany and expect them to tell you
where to get an accountant from, orexpect them to tell you Where you
can find an office space, or expectthem to tell you how to order a taxi.
there's there's so many things thatpeople just have an expectation In
Dubai that they wouldn't have back home.
So set your expectations right,because if you do need all that
(04:47):
extra support then you might want tobe looking at an agency, but if you
are going to just set up the businesslicensing, then yes, you are going
to have to do your own application.
there may be very limitedsupport if any at all.
And all that post setup stuff that Ijust mentioned there, that isn't actually
directly to do with the licensing itself.
You shouldn't expect that you'regoing to get that level of support.
(05:09):
If you've gone direct to a freezone or directly to setting up
a mainland company in Dubai.
That is why still today, most peoplewill set up using an agency, but you do
need to be careful if you use an agency.
there are some out therethat are unscrupulous.
There are a lot of fake reviews.
There are lots of agents in Dubai.
They are working on commission only.
(05:31):
So they're incentivized to tell you thingsthat may not actually be completely true.
Or they may process anapplication that they know may
be a bit risky getting through.
And they may not tell you that.
And it's not cheap to set up here.
so you could potentiallylose a few thousand pounds if
you've chosen the wrong agency.
And please, please, please donot be tempted by the too good
(05:53):
to be true, low price agencies.
Because there's a few scarythings that have happened in
the past that I've heard of.
One is like, the typical one is whereyour first year's fee seems all right,
you know, reasonable about right.
And then the next yearthey will double the fee.
And I had a clientrecently who contacted me.
He's actually not set up a company withme, but he'd set up directly with a
(06:15):
cheap free zone and he ended up havingto pay me $500 for me to talk him
through everything that he needed toknow that they didn't explain to him.
And as I just said before, don'texpect that the free zone anyway
is going to explain it to you.
He paid me $500 to go through all thisstuff, but there was some stuff that
(06:36):
really actually is the responsibilityof the free zone in which they
just left him completely cold, notanswering any questions or whatever.
And he ended up regrettingthe fact he's ever set up with
them So don't let that be you.
If you do set up with an agency, youcannot move from one agency to the other.
They're not going to allow you to do that.
So you need to be careful that you getthat right the first time because your
(06:57):
only option, if you really, reallyhated them, you didn't want to work with
them anymore would be to shut down yourcompany, shut down your bank accounts.
you'd have to have your visa transferredbecause your company would sponsor your
visa And there's all sorts of otheradministrative issues that come with it
plus cancellation fees and all sorts.
So getting that right in
the first place can reallymake a difference for you.
So step three, you're going to haveto choose your trade activities.
(07:20):
Now, there are over 800 tradeactivities to choose from in the UAE,
and it is very different to the UK.
So, people back home, you're veryused to, if you're an experienced
entrepreneur, you'll know what a
SIC code is S I C code
They're not very defined.
They're quite broad for the most part.
You can also change your SIC code, you'lltypically do that with your annual return.
(07:42):
You'll do that confirmation statement,and you will, if there's another
trade that you've started doing inthat year, you just add it on, okay?
So that's how that works in the UK.
It does not work likethat here in Dubai at all.
The trades are very detailed, they'revery specific and typically you'll find,
for a lot of companies they might havetwo or three trades on their license.
(08:02):
Mainland companies are more restrictedon what you can combine together.
Free zones will give you a bit morefreedom on the types of trades that you
can combine under the same trade license
But unlike the UK, where youcan pretty much do whatever you
want with your limited company
License so your your businesslicense to trade in the UK.
You can pretty much do any trade you want.
(08:24):
There are some regulatedactivities that you can't.
In the UAE it's very different so alot of the time I receive inquiries
to my company here where peoplewant to set up as a consultant.
And in the UK if you just classyourself as a consultant and did a
ton of different stuff, like thereare some people that they just do
anything and everything as a consultant.
(08:44):
That would be fine there, buthere you do need to define the
type of consultancy that you are.
So there are a lot of differentconsultancy trades and
you cannot carry out a trade that isnot on your trade license here in UAE.
You you will get in a lot oftrouble if you're found to do that
because there are so many sometimespeople will Ask the agencies to
(09:06):
help them identify what trades theyneed to have on their trade license
because it may not be obvious.
Sometimes it's really obvious,like if you're an e-commerce
brand, it's very simple, the tradeis e-commerce, and that's it.
But if you are doing multiple thingsor can't quite find the trade that
seems to define what you actually do.
Quite often there is there, butit's just worded in a different way.
(09:29):
So it can be challenging to findthe trades speak to an agency.
If you have trouble with that, Ifyou are going to set up on your own,
either as a mainland company or undera free zone, they are probably going to
expect that you will decide onyour own trade activities Okay,
so now we're on to step four.
This is where you actually start to dostuff where there are time frames in that
(09:50):
because everything I've said before couldtake you anything from A couple of hours,
I had one client not that long ago thatcontacted me and within a couple of hours
just decided, paid and got everythingon the way, whereas others take months.
it just depends on you.
I'll give you some guidelinesin terms of times it can take.
Now, just to be clear, theseare not set guides for you.
(10:11):
It will vary on a case by case basis.
These are general guidelines.
So do not come back to me giving meshit for the fact that I've said it's
going to take a week and it's takenyou six weeks, okay, because that might
be something very specific to you.
I'm also only talking aboutunregulated activities.
Regulated activitiescan take way more time.
(10:32):
So if you're doing anything in cryptospace, broadcasting, telephony,
internet, space stuff, whatever,yeah, you can do all that here.
regulated activities, anyfinancial stuff, anything
to do with property like lettingout property, selling property,
whatever, all of that is regulated.
So they can take longer.
(10:52):
I'm just talking about unregulatedactivities, which is actually
what most people so far from myobservations are actually doing so
once you've decided whether you'regoing to go mainland or a free zone.
You've decided your trade activities.
It's then time for you tostart your application process.
typically they will requestpayment from you, first of all,
and then that application will commence.
(11:15):
There are some places where thatmay be the other way around.
They may start like initial applicationand then request payment afterwards,
but either way, you're going tohave it very, very close together.
Now this process can normally takeone to two days, If you're quick with
the information that's being requestedof you, Then if you're not sure what
a question is asking you because itmay not be obvious At least make an
(11:37):
attempt to ask before you just putinformation down because, you could
pay Your application can end up beingrejected and then you've just lost a few
thousand pounds and have to start again.
Now, one of the things that you as a UKbusiness owner is not going to be familiar
with is paying for licenses annually.
So you're used to in the UK nowit is £50 to set up your business
(11:59):
and you never pay that again, butyou will pay a shitload of tax.
However you will never pay foryour business license again.
In the UAE, whether you've gone fora mainland company or a free zone
company, You are going to pay an annuallicense fee unless you've paid for
a few years in advance, If it's beenallowed for you to do that, you're
going to pay an annual license fee.
(12:19):
It's not going to be £50,You will be expecting a few
thousand pounds at a minimum
for your license here in theUAE that cost is going to vary
depending on a number of factors.
mainland companies The main factoris going to be the agency that you
choose or if you set it up directlyWith a FreeZone company, it could be
(12:40):
the agency you're going to choose, thesort of admin fees that they charge.
It could be, depending on FreeZoneto FreeZone, the different rules.
Some free zones will chargemore depending on the number of
visa entitlements that you have.
It depends on the numberof trade activities.
mixed trades whether they'reprofessional or commercial trades,
if they're regulated or not,fees can massively increase
(13:00):
for regulated activities.
And of course, the level of supportthat the agency is going to give to
you, if you're setting up with anagency, can wildly vary anywhere from,
£2000 extra to £10k, £15k or £20,000Many will only take a bank transfer.
typically that will be the case.
Sometimes they may allow card paymentthat you should expect that you are
(13:22):
going to pay an extra few percentage.
It is an international payment.
You'll have to make yourpayment to a UAE account.
that can present its own challenges.
Sometimes I've had clients where they'vepaid and it's come through the day after.
I've had two clients recentlywhere they had challenges with
a particular UK bank sending themoney out of the UK to the UAE.
(13:44):
One of them took nearly three weeks.
the bank made him go into thebranch to prove who he was and
to check it wasn't fraud so
it can be difficult for transferring,it can vary, it depends on your bank.
I've found that banks like Wise, Revolut,well those two actually, particularly
are the ones where it tends to be prettyeasy, they're like the challenger banks.
(14:06):
as I mentioned earlier it is anapplication There is no guarantee That
the authorities will allow you to havethe trade license in Dubai so you need to
understand this isn't a paper exercise.
It is an actual application,checks will be done on you
It's not all done by the free zone.
Some of it is by the UAE authorities.
you need to be prepared for the factthat your license could be refused.
(14:30):
I haven't personally heard of ithappening before, but I am aware
of reasons why it will be refused.
A lot of them may be down to yournationality, certain connections that
you may have to certain groups, thereare a number of other reasons which
typically will look through prior tosubmitting an application Typically,
agencies should be gathering all therequired information that they need.
(14:51):
They should know what to look outfor in terms of things that are
likely to trigger a challenge or
just a complete rejectionfor your application.
Some of them may not be as honestas others and may not be forthcoming
where they might see that somethingis a problem in your application,
but may process it anyway becausethat gets them their payment and
(15:12):
you are not going to get a refund.
Okay, just put it out there.
You are not going to get a refund fromthe free zone or the Mainland Licensing.
Be warned most agents are commissionedonly here and They may be incentivized,
particularly if they've got their ownfinancial pressures, to push through an
application that may have quite clearchallenges if your application fails for
(15:35):
any reason, be advised most agencies donot operate like mine where we do offer
100% refund guarantee under certaincircumstances for some of our services.
However, most agencieswill not be doing that.
And you just need to be careful, makesure that you're quite confident with
your application that you're making, thatthere isn't anything in your history,
(15:58):
in your past, anything you're associatedwith that may come up as a potential risk.
If you're concerned, ask the agencybeforehand, get them to put it in writing.
Again, I still can't guarantee that you'dget a refund from that because likely
their contracts will be very clear.
once it's submitted that's it.
if it's rejected that's on you.
step five is the approval process.
(16:19):
this can take usually betweenfive to eight days for the
authorities to approve the license.
there are some that willdo it a lot quicker.
There are VIP services available as wellwhere they may process that much quicker.
However, as a general rule of thumb.
Look at five to eight days fora license to be approved by the
authorities and released to you.
(16:39):
However, you just need to bear in mindThere may actually be quite a lot of
back and forth between you and theauthorities if you're doing it direct.
Or the agency may be having a lot ofconversation back and forth about you,
that you may not be privy to most of it.
It's only if there is extra informationthat's required extra documentation
That may be required queries that maycome up that may be raised about you
(17:00):
or what your company intends to do Soit's important that you are speedy with
your responses bear in mind There arecertain deadlines that may be imposed By
the free zone by the agency by mainlandauthorities for you to actually process
information So if you are someone who'susually not very good at responding
you just need to bear in mind for thatone week or so get good or get someone
(17:23):
like if you've got an assistant orsomething who can help you with that
because Information will be required andeventually they'll just terminate your
application and you lose your money.
Okay, so don't do that.
Be responsive And be upfront
and honest about things,because the authorities may have
discovered something about you.
They may have asked a query around it.
And if you lie to them, trust me,you are going to get rejected.
(17:47):
And you may even end up being, excludedfrom entering the UAE, potentially.
I can't say that for sure.
I've not heard of it particularlyhappening, but why would I have?
Just be careful that
things are quite strict here Don'tbe lying on your applications.
Okay, so then what's going to happenthen is once your licenses are released
That means your company is formed.
That means you're now a businessowner in Dubai and that will
(18:08):
free you up to trade in the UAE.
However, there is obviously onething missing and that one thing
is for you to be able to acceptpayments from your clients Customers,
whatever you want to call them.
You are going to needa bank account, right?
So, for you to get a bank account inDubai, you are going to need Emirates
ID, which means you will need tohave a residency visa, which means
(18:32):
you also need an establishment card,which will be applied for directly
after your license is issued, whichonly takes another one or two days.
That allows you to then sponsoryourself and other staff
members to work in the UAE.
And have residency here in UAE.
On to step six.
That is the visa process.
if you want a bank account in Dubai WhichI guess you probably would if you've
(18:55):
opened a company here, you are going toneed Emirates ID and so you are going to
have to go through the visa process theremay be some ways that some agencies have
available to you where they can help youget bank accounts open for your business.
I'm not actually aware of that processand there are people to specialize in
that who they will charge you for it.
It's not gonna be free, it'snot gonna be cheap either.
(19:17):
But if you don't want to go down thevisa process perhaps look for that first.
If you are going to go down the visaprocess like most people This is what
you need to follow first of all, ifyou are with a free zone, you are
going to have a maximum number of visasponsorship entitlements on your license.
That doesn't include your application fee.
That is the entitlement, meaning youcan sponsor up to that many visas under
(19:40):
your company license at any one time.
It doesn't mean that you haveto sponsor them right away.
It is a maximum.
So if you've got three visasponsorships on your license,
typically they'll come with one butlet's just say you upgraded to three.
That means you can sponsor up to threevisas, including your own through your
company license I talk about the visaentitlement versus visa application.
(20:03):
What's the differences in episode 27.
So go and have a look at that afterwards.
the time taken for this step can varybased on how quick you want to be.
It can take anywhere from a couple ofweeks up to just over a couple of months
for the whole process, depending on you.
Typically, really, if you're lookingat longer periods of time, that is
more about when you actually come
(20:24):
to Dubai and do your medical and whatever.
visa process, there is a lot of stepsinvolved, which I'm not going to
go through the whole lot with you.
I did do a video on my experience goingthrough the visa process in episode 15.
So look back through thechannel if you want to see that.
very briefly, I'm going to outline themain steps for you in setting up a visa.
first of all you need tocomplete your e visa application.
(20:47):
Once that application is submitted, thatwould normally take sort of six to eight
working days for the UAE authorities
to issue your e visa.
the e visa is requiredfor you to enter the UAE.
So typically we'd advise clients don'tenter the UAE until your e visa is issued
because if you're here on a touristvisa and then need to switch to e visa,
(21:08):
you'll need to pay to cancel your touristvisa and then get reissued your e visa.
it's easier just to have itdone before you come to Dubai.
I'd always recommend that you'vegiven yourself enough time, one,
to open up the company, completely,have your establishment card.
Done, because you can't apply forthe visa until the establishment
card is ready and then have enoughtime that you're going to have for
(21:30):
you to make that e visa applicationbefore you plan to come to Dubai.
don't think about today, oh I'm goingto move to Dubai next week, book
your thing, you haven't even got acompany set up and then expect it to
happen because you're going to endup paying a lot more money for your
visa to be cancelled and reissued.
So once the e visa is issued, you have60 days, that's 60, 6, 0 days for you
(21:51):
to enter the UAE from the date of issueand complete the full visa process.
that is, your medical, yourEmirates ID application, your
biometrics and, submittingthe details over.
you have 60 days to do all of that.
So from the date that eVisa isissued, you can then enter the UAE.
(22:12):
You have 60 days to complete that process.
However, do not leave the UAE untilyour visa is issued because it could
be cancelled, probably will be, andyou may be charged when you leave.
So make sure that you don'tplan to leave the UAE.
to complete your medical Biometrics andEmirates ID application can take anywhere
from two to five days for you to completethat Process depending again on you how
(22:36):
quick you are To deal with it the typeof service because there are vip services
and there's also normal services availablelike anything in Dubai, That can vary but
two to five days is typically what I wouldsay for you to complete that process I
normally say that to be safe five to eightworking days For your residency visa to be
issued and granted by the UAE authoritiesThen another one or two days for the
(22:59):
Emirates ID to be sent to you can leavethe UAE before your Emirates ID arrives.
You just can't leave before yourvisa Issued otherwise Is it cancelled
and you have to do it all again?
So don't do that.
So now you've got your freshEmirates ID in hand, then you can
make your bank account applications,which could take anywhere from
one day to a couple of weeks.
That's really going to depend on yourcompany, the bank that you try and apply
(23:21):
with, if you've got all your documentsready if there's any queries raised by
the bank, particularly if you're in amore Risky industry But you know, i've
had clients and myself who've openedup their bank account within one or
two days Most commonly that's whati'm finding but it can take longer.
Now you've got yourbusiness open in Dubai.
You've got your residency visa.
You've got your bank account open Nowit's time for you to have a conversation
(23:43):
with your accountant and to be honestwith you Actually, you probably should
have had a conversation with youraccountant way before you even started.
But anyway, it's now time for you to havea different kind of conversation with
your accountant about moving your assetsfrom your uk company to your uae company.
It is not that complicated a processUnless you've got leverage on them.
It might be harder, you knowloans and stuff like that.
(24:04):
But typically for a lot ofbusinesses, particularly service
based businesses, it's not goingto be a complicated process.
You just speak to your accountant, getit all done, drawn up properly, and
they will talk you through that process,it's not for me to do, that's for your
accountant to help you with that process.
And with that, they'll also helpyou decide whether or not you're
going to keep your UK entity open.
There might be reasonswhy you might do that.
(24:26):
For example, if you were acting aspayment processor from the UK to your
UAE account, like if you had a lotof UK based customers that were more
comfortable paying money there or maybehad restrictions on why they can't
send the money abroad Like I said,it's a conversation between you and
your accountant to decide on that Ifyou decide to close your company down,
then they'll take you through thatprocess they may charge you for it.
(24:47):
Now you're operatingfrom your Dubai business.
Let your customers know let your suppliersknow change the contracts, your Terms and
conditions, all that important stuff thatyou need to get done, all the legal bits.
then you can just be happy trading.
So that's it.
You're done.
That's the seven steps that you need tofollow as a UK business owner for you to
transfer your UK business over to Dubai.
So a very quick recap For you toget your company license issued,
(25:09):
you should expect that to be donewithin one to two weeks from the
time your application is submitted.
Plan to take at least probably twoweeks for your visa stuff to be done.
beware of that 60 day cutoffbecause it is a cutoff your eVisa
will be canceled and you'll loseyour money if you don't do that.
And just be mindful, there are thingsthat do apply in the UAE that you may
(25:29):
not be so familiar with in the UK.
So, even if you don't set up with anagency, I would highly recommend that
you contact an agency after you'veset your company up, if you are doing
it direct, or an accountant just sothat they can help you with regulatory
stuff so that you're compliant.
Because, for example, if you don'tregister for corporation tax within
(25:50):
the specified period and do thatcorrectly, then you could be hit
with a fine which is approximately£2000 (AED 10,000), you don't do it
in right time and in the right way.
So, just bear that in mind.
There are some things that you may noteven be aware of and, the authorities.
it's not their responsibilityto educate you.
That's for you to do justlike it is in the UK.
(26:11):
if you decide that you're going to ignorethe fact you have to register for your
taxes in the UK and not pay HMRC, you'regoing to find out about it eventually.
It can be challenging to moveto a new country, even as an
experienced entrepreneur, becausethere are things that you just
don't know, you don't know about.
those little things may be picked up.
through agents your accountant orother consultants that can help you.
(26:32):
particularly if you'venever run a business before
please do yourself a favor.
even if you just have a consulting callwith someone, a few hundred dollars,
whatever, to have a call, to talk youthrough that process, things that you need
to adhere to, the steps that you need tofollow, because you could find yourself
in a whole world of shit if you don't.
Okay, so that's my advice to you.
(26:55):
It's free.
You're welcome.
anyway, I hope that was useful for you.
So if you want help moving your businessto Dubai click the link in the description
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