Branch/Representative Offices of Foreign Commercial Companies

The Commercial Companies Law covers the formation & regulation of branches & representative offices of foreign companies in the UAE and stipulates that they can be 100% foreign owned, provided a local service agent is appointed.

A branch office, legally regarded as part of its parent company, is a fully-fledged business, permitted to perform contracts or conduct other activities as specified in the licence. A branch can only be engaged in activities similar to its parent.

A representative office, however, is limited to promoting its parent company's operations, such as: Gathering information & soliciting orders & projects to be carried out by the company's headquarters. Representative offices are also limited in the number of employees they may sponsor.

Only UAE nationals or companies 100% owned by UAE nationals may be appointed as local service agents. Local service agents - sometimes also called sponsors - aren't involved in running the company but assist in obtaining visas, labour cards, etc. and are paid a lump sum fee per annum. The time required to form a branch of a foreign company will be approximately 3-4 weeks from date of receipt of all documents.

Business Plan, current profile and the last two years accounts should be submitted to show the credibility of the company. All branch ventures are subject to approval from the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Procedures are almost the same for the representative office set-up but 2 years of financial statements isn't mandatory.

Procedures & costs division will be provided on request.