Why Trade License

• In Dubai or the United Arab Emirates [UAE] any activity which is a business is legal only if the owner has a ”Trade License” to practice it
• Otherwise, he is violating the law and can be penalized
  This license allows you to do business inside the UAE and internationally too
• All Trade Licenses have renewed annually for a fee which could be equal to or less than the fee you paid at the time of registration

Activity Restriction

• A business license officially called a “Trade license” allows you to do only a specific set of business activities
• So the scope is restricted to what is mentioned on the license. A detailed description is available
• There are more than 5,000 activities licensed in the UAE through 40+ jurisdictions
• In the Sharjah Media City Free Zone [SHAMS] you will be allowed to do business in 6 different activities via 1 license
• One group of activities will be available in the license package
• You can choose 5 more business activities to add to your License by paying AED 2,000 for every additional activity

What is a Free Zone?

• In the UAE there are designated areas in every Emirate managed by their own authority, which are set up to promote new business
• These Free Zones allow 100% foreign ownership and there are no taxes to pay except customs duty and VAT
• Free Zones have their own charges of registration, visa, and office space requirements, and factory space
• Free Zones compete with one another to attract businesses
• Free zone companies are not allowed to be located outside the free zone
• Free zone companies can do business all over the world, however, to do business on the mainland they have to follow certain procedures
• There are more than 30 Free Zones in the UAE
• Free zones register companies, issue trade license, sell or lease office and factory space and also issue residence visa

A free zone residence visa allows the visa holder to live in any part of the country outside or inside the free zone. SHAMS is a free zone that came up in 2015 and has become very popular because of minimal red tape.

A free zone’s popularity is because of its low costs or location or reputation or the facilities it provides or its convenience of procedures and facilities.

SHAMS provides only Shared Desk space. But not larger physical offices or warehouse facilities yet. If your business activities require space you will not be able to do so in SHAMS.

You can do trading if your goods don’t require your own warehouse. However, you could appoint a Freight agent or Distributor to keep and distribute the goods on your behalf.

For example, if you want to print a newspaper it will require a plant with space for printing. This will be infeasible in SHAMS in the absence of space.

SHAMS provides only Virtual offices or “Flexi Desk”.

Local Distributor

For a free zone company, and SHAMS being a free zone, conducting business inside the UAE mainland will need a “distributor” which must be a mainland company.

Any such company which is registered with customs can take goods directly from the free zone.

For a services business where no physical goods pass boundaries, no such constraint exists except that services must be rendered from within the free zone.

Visa Eligibility

Visa, in this case, means a residence visa. Anybody who lives in UAE must have a valid residence visa. 80% of UAE residents are ex-pats on residence visas.

A residence visa can be sponsored by an employer or by the spouse or parent as their dependent. Thus a person can have an employment visa or a dependent visa.

SHAMS residence visa allows 3 years of residence in UAE. You must renew your visas after 3 years.

The Visa application is separate from the company registration application and requires separate approval from the UAE ministry of immigration.

Visa eligibility also called visa allocation means the number of residence visas your company is allowed to take now or in the future.

The number of visas you are allowed is governed by the size or type of office space you have taken in your package. The cost of the Flexi Desks goes up if you need more visas.

It is not compulsory to take the visas in your package immediately. You can have no visas issued or part of allocation issued or the whole of it issued. The leftover allocation remains in your account for future use.

Once you exhaust your allocation, your next visa application will be rejected unless you upgrade your package.

The total number of visas allowed will include all types of visa users i.e. owner and employee both.

However, the visas of the dependents of the owner or employees are not counted as part of the visa allocation of the company. They are allowed extra.

It is not compulsory for owners to take a residence visa.

SHAMS is the only Free zone with a Flexi desk facility, which allows zero to six visas.

If you have chosen a product that allows 0 residence visa to start with, you will be eligible to enhance up to a maximum of 6 visas by paying for an additional Visa allotment.

Hiring Employees

A company can hire employees and apply for their visas.

All employees under the company need to have a valid residence visa either an employment visa or a dependent Visa.

Dependent visa holders must apply and receive employment cards to work as employees in your company.

A company does not need to apply for an employment visa for dependent visa holders.

Lease Agreement

In SHAMS if you want a Flexi Desk Lease agreement for address proof for the 0 visa package which you have chosen, such an agreement costs extra.

If you choose higher visa packages then the lease agreement costs are included.

Bank Account Opening

You will also be eligible to get a bank account provided you meet all the requirements of the bank. The decision to open your company account rests with the bank.

Bank account opening can be initiated only after the company is registered and the business license is obtained.

Bank accounts opening assistance is included in the price.

Chances of the bank opening an account for your company improve if you have a residence visa.

What do you get for the charges paid to Varal

• You will be given the following documents

1.  Business License
2. Certificate of Incorporation
3. Share certificate
4. MOA & AOA
5. Lease agreement (if applicable)
6. Establishment card (for one or more visa package)

• All application forms will be prepared and submitted to the jurisdiction
• All the jurisdiction’s queries will be answered and resolved
• Follow-up with the jurisdiction to get the work done
• You eliminate the possibility of errors and misses leading to rework
• Extra costs can be avoided due to loss of time and the monetary value of extra stay can be substantial
• Varal stays on top of the changing requirements which can also cause rework
• Buying on this platform makes you a permanent part of our lists for services
• You will always be able to access services
• Your company renewal will be tracked and reminders sent to you on time to avoid penalties
• Any changes in requirements will be informed to you and built into the process
• Amendments, as required by you, will also be available to you
• You can also apply for visas for you and your employees through us