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Checklist · GB-025

Questions to Ask Before Paying for UAE Company Setup

Use this UAE setup checklist to test activities, legal form, fees, premises, visas, approvals, banking, tax, renewals, refunds and provider scope before paying.

Questions to Ask Before Paying for UAE Company Setup: GulfBlueprint editorial guide illustration

A setup quote is easier to evaluate when you ask questions that force the assumptions into the open. The goal is not to catch a provider out. It is to make sure you and the provider are pricing the same company.

Before paying, record the answers in writing.

Activity and authority

  1. Which exact economic activities will be on the licence? Ask for the authority wording, not only your brand description.
  2. Does the authority permit all activities together? If not, which item requires another licence or approval?
  3. Which authority will issue the licence? “Dubai” or “free zone” is not specific enough.
  4. Which external approvals are known or potentially required? Ask who owns the confirmation.
  1. What legal form is proposed and why? The answer should relate to ownership, liability and governance.
  2. Who will be shareholder, manager and authorised signatory? Confirm whether changes later create fees or new documents.
  3. If a corporate shareholder is involved, which foreign documents need authentication or translation?

Quote scope

  1. Which charges are government or authority fees and which are commercial service fees?
  2. What is mandatory, optional or only estimated?
  3. What is excluded? Ask specifically about premises, visas, establishment records, medical/ID processes, approvals, accounting and tax work.
  4. What is refundable and under which conditions?
  5. What will renewal cost under the same assumptions?
  6. What will common amendments cost? Activities, manager, shareholders and premises are useful examples.

Premises and people

  1. What physical address or facility does the activity require?
  2. What staffing or visa capacity does the quoted facility actually support?
  3. Which employment and immigration steps remain after the licence is issued?

Banking, tax and operation

  1. What does the provider do for banking, and what does it not guarantee? No provider can honestly guarantee a particular bank approval.
  2. Which Corporate Tax or VAT actions are included, and which require separate assessment?
  3. What evidence will I receive when each service is completed?
  4. If the setup cannot proceed as expected, what is the documented change, refund or exit process?

A strong provider should be able to answer most of these questions clearly and distinguish facts from estimates. If the answers keep changing as you ask for detail, the risk is not merely service quality. It may mean the underlying setup assumptions were never properly defined.

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