A Limited Liability Company (LLC) is the most common mainland structure for businesses operating in Dubai, and since the ownership law reforms, most commercial and industrial activities now permit 100% foreign ownership without an Emirati partner.
The core steps
Forming an LLC in Dubai through the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) generally follows this sequence: reserve a trade name, get initial approval for your chosen activity, draft and notarise the Memorandum of Association (MoA), secure an Ejari tenancy registration for your office premises, then submit for the final trade licence. Certain activities still require additional external approvals (from ministries or regulatory bodies) before DET will issue the licence — confirm this early for your specific activity.
Ownership and management structure
An LLC can have between 2 and up to 50 shareholders (a single-owner LLC is also possible in Dubai under current rules), each liable only up to their share capital — the core benefit that gives the structure its name. A manager, who may or may not be a shareholder, is appointed to run day-to-day operations and is named on the licence.
Costs and timeline
LLC formation costs include the trade licence fee, MoA notarisation, Ejari, and any activity-specific external approvals — model your specific case with this site's Business Setup Cost Calculator and Formation Timeline Estimator rather than assuming a fixed figure, since costs vary by activity and office size.