Dubai is considered the world’s largest business hub because of its wide range of business opportunities for both local and international investors. Every foreign business investor or entrepreneur wishes to set up their venture or branch office in the heart of Dubai. The reasons behind this include a supportive work environment, 0% taxation facilities, advanced corporate infrastructure & the list keeps growing.
As Dubai is a versatile & diversified country to start a new business, you need a clear understanding of their economic zone, business entity according to those zones, types of business license & business activity.
Out of all the Free Zone in Dubai, Jebel Ali free zone is the most competitive location for Free zone company formation. JAFZA has been developed to facilitate the unique needs of manufacturing, import & export to support business development with global connectivity.
This article will provide you with a basic step-by-step guide of JAFZA company formation.
What is JAFZA Free Zone?
Established in 1985, Jebel Ali Free Zone is one of the oldest Free Zone & business networks in the Middle East. It is the first free zone in Dubai to achieve ISO certification in 1996. After its inception, JAFZA used to facilitate only office units. Since 1990, It has expanded business opportunities by catering to industrial facilities also. Right now, 8000+ companies from 1000 countries around the globe are running their business in a full swing.
Providing 135000 jobs, JAFZA holds 20% of the UAE foreign investment & 50% of overall exports. JAFZA has contributed an attractive business growth in the UAE marketplace. JAFZA also provides other facilities like lavish & luxurious business towers/ hotels & convention center complexes to its business community.
Advantages of company formation in JAFZA are huge:
- 100% full ownership for foreign companies
- No currencies restriction
- Provide advanced warehouse facilities
- 0% corporate & personal income tax( upto50 years & renewable)
- No restriction on capital repatriation for the easy registration process
- 0% import or re-export duties
- No restriction on hiring foreign employees
- On-site customs
For JAFZA offshore company formation services feel free to contact us. We provide offshore company formation services in Dubai and All over the UAE
Steps to Create JAFZA Free Zone Company
The key sectors JAFZA provides unlimited business opportunities with advanced facilities-Petrochemicals, logistics, Automotive & spare parts, Retail & Ecommerce, Food & Agricultural Commodities. The reasons why investors choose JAFZA are the strategic locations, advanced office & warehouse facilities, easy operating business environment, and easy transportation.
Step1: Choose the Right Business Entity
JAFZA allows investors 4 types of company formation depending on the shareholders & branch types.
- Free Zone Establishment(FZE): This type of company formation requires a single managing shareholder & acts as an individual or company.
- Free Zone Company(FZCO): This type of company formation requires 2- 50 shareholders & act as an individual, company, or both.
- Branch Of UAE Company: A company outside of JAFZA can open a branch office here with valid registration documents & licenses. The parent company can have 100% control over this branch & run the same business activity
- Branch Of Overseas Company: An offshore company can open its branch at JAFZA & run a business as an individual or a business entity under JAFZA Companies Regulations Act 2013
Step2: Select Trade Name
After deciding the legal entity, you need to finalize a trading name and maintain all the laws & regulations of the respective free zone. While choosing your company name you should keep in mind that, you may not choose any random name which is –
- Not related to any religious or political name
- If the business name refers to a person, he/she needs to be a partner of that business.
- Name that doesn’t hurt any public moral
- Name that is legally relevant to the specific business activity
Step3: Submit the Application Form with Related Documents
Initially, investors have to fill up an application form issued by the JAFZA authorities with some primary information & documents. Application related documents related to all types of company registration are listed below:
- Environment, Health & Safety Form (EHS) for license undertaking
- Provide company profile & business plan briefly
- Parent company license company & list of shareholders for UAE branch company
- Clear & valid passport copies & UAE residence visa of the Shareholders of the parent company also the company director.
- Ultimate Beneficiary Owner (UBO) Form
- NOC signed by local sponsors for UAE resident shareholders
Apart from these documents, some legal documents are required for the company registration purpose:
- Original Certificate of Incorporation or Original Certificate of Good Standing
- Memorandum and Articles of Association
- Valid Passport copies of Appointed Manager & POA(Power of Attorney) Holder
- Specimen Signatures of Appointed Manager & POA Holder
All the legal documents must be attested by the UAE Embassy/Consulate for Registration of Company. In the absence of the UAE Embassy, the documents must be accepted & attested by any GCC/Arabic Embassy/Consulate in the Country of origin of the Parent Company. Besides these documents, JAFZA reserves all the right to demand any other technical document at any time without any prior notice.
Step4: Apply For License
The next step is to obtain a trade license to manufacture, import, export, distribute & store all the items maintaining the laws of JAFZA. 4 types of license JAfZA offers:
- Trade license allows manufacture, import, export, distribution, sorting of all types of products.
- Service license allows practicing or carrying out any service specified in the license.
- The industrial license allows implementing industrial activity like manufacturing products or raw materials.
- The commercial license allows trading any goods or services.
After completing all the above-mentioned steps you need to clear the application & registration fees according to the authority. Then, the JAFZA Authority will validate your application with all the legal documents & give you the permission or clearance letter to go ahead with further company formation process.
Wrap Up
JAFZA may be your perfect choice for investment opportunities in Dubai because of its strategic business location, world-class infrastructure, advantages of local seaports & airport, speedy eco-system & many more business facilities.
In this digital era of startup business ecosystem & entrepreneurship, you can prefer a top-notch business support service in Dubai to make your business formation process hassle-free.
For more business consulting advice contact KWS Middle East. KWS Middle East is a leading company formation consultants Dubai that provides- any kind of business setup(Mainland, FreeZone & Offshore) in Dubai, business support(Trade license, Visa service, Legal Translation service, Trademark Registration, Company liquidation, Finding local sponsors) & so on.
