Branch of a Foreign Company in Dubai UAE

Branch of a Foreign Company

 Branches and Representative Offices of Foreign Commercial Companies 
The Commercial Companies Law also covers the formation and regulation of branches and representative offices of foreign companies in the UAE and stipulates that they may be 100% foreign owned, provided a local agent is appointed. 

Only UAE nationals or companies 100% owned by Emirati nationals may be appointed as local agents (which should not be confused with the term "commercial agent"). Local agents - also sometimes referred to as sponsors -- are not involved in the operations of the company but assist in obtaining visas, labour cards, etc and are paid a lump sum and/or a percentage of profits or turnover. In general, branches and offices of foreign commercial companies are not licensed to engage in importing activity except for re-export or in the case of products of a highly technical nature. 

To establish a branch or representative office in Dubai, a foreign commercial company should proceed as follows: 
 Apply for a license from the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, submitting an  
agency agreement with a UAE national or 100% UAE owned company. Before 
issuing the licence, the Ministry will: 
 forward the application to the Department of Economic Development to obtain the approval of the Dubai government; 
 forward the application specifying the activity that the office or branch will be 
authorised to undertake in the UAE, to the Federal Foreign Companies 
Committee for approval; 
 Once this has been done, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce will issue the required Ministerial licence specifying the activity to be practiced by the foreign company; 
 The branch or office should be entered in the Economic Department's Commercial Register, and the required licence will be issued; 
 The branch or office should also be entered in the Foreign Companies Register of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce; 
 Finally the branch or office should be registered with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

 Branches and Representative Offices of Foreign Professional Companies 

Branches and representative offices of foreign professional firms may be 100% foreign owned provided UAE nationals or 100% UAE owned companies are appointed as local agents. Such agents are not involved in the operations of the firm but assist in obtaining visas, labour cards etc and are paid a lump sum as remuneration. The Department of Economic Developmentt is the authority in charge of licensing such branches or representational offices The applications to set up a branch in the UAE must contain the trade name, legal form, address of headquarters of the foreign company and the country where it carries its activities, nature of activity intended to be exercised in the UAE, name of national agent (if the agent is a legal entity, then its legal form), capital, names of partners, their nationality, and addresses. The following documents are required: 

• Certificates of registration of the foreign company; 

• Resolution adopted by the authorized body in the parent company to set up a branch in the UAE; 

• Power of attorney for the company’s representative who submits the application; 

• Original copy of the articles of association of the parent company, legalized by the competent authorities; 

• Balance sheet of the parent company for the last two fiscal years and auditor’s report; and 

• Notarized copy of agreement between the parent company and the agent.