03/07/2021
A mainland company is an onshore company which its license should be registered by the economy department, and different governmental body of each city in the United Arab Emirates. A mainland license allows the business to trade with the local market and international market without any restriction. In order to form a mainland company, a foreigner needs to have a UAE national sponsor whom will hold 51% of the share in the company, and the remaining 49% will be allotted to other shareholders of the company. However, if the business activity requires professional license, the foreigner can have 100% of the shares whom still requires a UAE national to act as his national service agent. The contract between foreign investor and local sponsor depends on their agreement and he is not involved in their daily operation. Usually, he either agree on an annual fee to be paid up front, or percentage from sales. If the company capital is of high value, the foreigner investor can have 100% share of the company which will be decided case by case of DED.
Every Mainland business requires a tenancy contract which needs to be a space of 200 square feet to be leased annually in order to issue a license. The mainland business can choose their office location to be anywhere depends on the city which their license is issued upon. However, they can have branches in different cities to establish their presence within UAE.
As of visa eligibility of visa for a mainland company, an electronic Quota is issued by the ministry of labor which shows how many visa can be issued depends on the size of your office space. Every 80 square foot gives you the provision of 1 visa which means that the more office space, the more visas. However, if you have staffs who are working outdoors for sales and delivery, the office space size is not related to number of staffs. For more information about setting up a business within UAE, please book your free consultation with us.
