Procedures and requirements for opening a branch of an offshore in the UAE

Hi,

Absolutely. Free zone companies allow for 100% foreign ownership. Therefore, no local sponsorship is required.

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Hello,

Yes, this is possible. In the UAE, we have both mainland and free zone companies.

Registering a mainland company requires a 50% local sponsor. However, if you register a company in a free zone, then this company can be 100% owned by you.

There are multiple free zone options, both offshore and onshore. Deciding which one to choose will ultimately depend on your business activity and the particulars of what you are looking for.

Should you require further tailored substantive legal advice, kindly contact my firm email or phone.

Regards,

Ludmila

Dear Sir,

Of course, you can. But in the free zone as it's totally 100% foreign ownership.

For further legal advice please contact us by email or phone.

Assuming by a branch of offshore company in Dubai you mean to register a branch of a local or international offshore company in Dubai as a mainland company to be registered with DED "Dubai Dept. of Economic Development" as you mentioned a local sponsor in your question.

First, I would like to clarify that the word "Sponsor" is not very accurate here because for a branch of a company you need a local service agent "LSA".

The local service agent will act as the sponsor, but will not own any shares of the entity and will only represent the branch before the local authorities on papers.

So, no liabilities and no authorities except before the Dept. of Immigration and Ministry of Labor. However, in both cases, we can include you as the signatory as well to have better control of the operations of the branch.

Second, answering your question as per the above assumption, that you want the branch to be registered with DED. The answer will be NO.

You cannot have a branch of an offshore company registered without an LSA or what you called a Sponsor.

Third, answering your question assuming that you might consider registering the branch in any of the Dubai based Free Zone Authorities, then the answer is YES.

You can establish a branch of the offshore company in Dubai.

Fourth, and this is a very important note:

In case the offshore company is a local offshore company, like RAKICC or JAFZA company, I believe that none of the free zones is going to accept such registration of a branch.

It is more likely to accept a foreign offshore company than a local offshore company.

Local offshore companies are able to own shares in the free zone and local companies but I have seen a few rejections to establish a branch office of a locally registered offshore company.

Of course, more information will guarantee more relevant advice.

Best regards,

Ahmed Elnaggar

In one case, the branch may have a representative office.