FREELANCE PERMITS in Dubai,UAE license cost details and provider

[timonka]

Statying 183 days a year in UAE isn't doable⁣ for me.
That's Martin who confused me: I didn't claim that I required tax residency,⁢ I said simply 'UAE residency' with proper documents. And UAE tax residency, as a suppliment︀ if it came automatically with it, would be even better.

Therefore, at least with that︁ freelance visa I'll at least get a proper official, although temporary, UAE residency and documents,︂ such as UAE ID card, that prove it?

But what would it be useful for︃ if I don't want to stay in UAE and provided that UAE tax residency doesn't︄ come with it?

 

[Fred]

CRS shielding.

The local UAE bank accounts opened with the resdience visa are︀ considered fully as local UAE account so no reporting under CRS will be triggered. That's︁ one of the main things why the UAE is so popular beside of the 0%︂ tax.

In reality many people incorporate in the UAE and keep living abroad - they︃ go away with it because of the above mentioned even if many people even don't︄ know about it - never have seen a place like the UAE with so many︅ newbies never heard about CRS but living a life because of that trick - called︆ residence by investment.

https://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-...sistance/residence-citizenship-by-investment/
2-3 years ago all the so called digital nomads just canceled︇ there previous residence used there TransferWise or Revolut account with the old residence and lived︈ with that.
Nowadays most digital nomads, dropshipper, online gurus or whatever simply setup a Dubai︉ company that grants a residence visa and get real local UAE bank accounts. Only requirement︊ is to stay every 180 days for at least 1 day in the UAE to︋ keep the residence active and even that is currently not stricly enforced due to covid.︌ Some clients feard they will loose the residence but some of them even entered the︍ UAE after 12 months this year again - all good.

In case you plan never︎ to relocate back to your home country or remit the funds accumulated in the UAE️ back to your home country a tax residence certificate is most of the time not‌ necessary. If you plan to relocate and remit UAE funds back to your home country‍ simply get 2-3 tax residence certificates before you do it. With a little bit knowledge⁠ you can let it easily look like all the accumulated funds were generated within the⁤ years you have the tax residence certificate for.

Again it's plain theory vs. my personal⁣ experience as well as the experience from 100+ clients.

Regarding the Freelance visa keep in⁢ mind that you won't get any local UAE bank account as the banks don't like︀ to open you a personal bank account that can conduct business activity. Freelance visa was︁ introduced 2018 and till today the banks didn't have additional compliance team for so called︂ Freelancer or natural persons that concduct businss like we know it from EU. If you︃ open personal account and conduct business they shut you down within 1-2 months.
So if︄ you are fine banking with EMI it can work. But as always in the UAE︅ you find something like that out after you already went with the Freelance visa.

 

[timonka]

Alright, thanks.

* Will a bank in UAE open me a personal account on freelance‌ visa if I don't want to conduct business activity? In reality I do, but my‍ income for now is small so it won't trigger red flags. And I won't use⁠ my UAE accounts only, for that - I have accounts in other countries too and⁤ Transferwise...

* How much more expensive will it be, approximately, to open a company, without⁣ an office, in a Free Zone I think, compared to getting a freelance visa?

* Will using that UAE ID or UAE freelance residency thing for opening banks accounts elsewhere,⁢ not in UAE -- will that, generally speaking, deem me as UAE tax resident for︀ them? That is, they won't send reports to UAE?

 

[Fred]

They will reject you with the Freelance license but open you a personal account for personal︂ use just with the residence visa. As soon as you conduct business activity they shut︃ you down sooner or later I mean you have some turnover otherwise you wouldn't moving︄ to the UAE. Transferwise doesn't work any longer for UAE residence but there are some︅ options.

The Dubai Company solution is just the license the double price everything else is︆ exactly the same like visa fees and so on.

I wouldn't stick to banks outside︇ the UAE because I don't trust them in regards to reporting under CRS. The banks︈ here know what's going on and don't report.

 

[timonka]

Is residence visa given, automatically, to those who⁣ obtain freelance visa/permit? Or is obtained and paid independently?

 

[Fred]

Paid independently.

Dubai Company License with 1 Visa‍ is 18.450 AED

Depending on the freelance license it's around 10.000 AED for the license⁠ only.

I would always stick to a Dubai Company simply because it's additional layer of⁤ privacy and security.

I mean what do you want achieve if you can't afford 8.000⁣ AED more the UAE isn't the right place for you.

 

[troubled soul]

Very true , UAE is expensive and⁣ there is reason for that . UAE is not a small island country . If⁢ you have dissent income , than it is worth . otherwise find other solution .︀

 

[troubled soul]

What are you trying to prove??⁣
I do not get it

 

[EuroKiss]

Me neither. Trolling maybe?

 

[troubled soul]

Thanks for Trolling . Very kind of you

 

[exprtadvisrdev]

He is trolling, he's not going to do/open anything in the UAE

 

[timonka]

Yeah, he's trolling, he's not going to do open a company in UAE.

 

[Rprox]

I just found this post, some⁠ helpful figures thank you, Would it be advisable to embark on this application process remotely⁤ or should the applicant be present ?

 

[troubled soul]

For Visa stamping and emirate Id process,‍ Your Physical presence is required.

 

[EliasIT]

You won't avoid to visit the UAE / Dubai to get the VISA - however,‌ if you re serious why not take a tripe there, it won't be your last.‍

 

[Rprox]

thank you!, I will be reaching out to some organizations regarding the license‌ and application process

 

[karishi]

I did the freelance visa with gofreelance. bank with CBD. Never actually⁠ freelanced in the UAE as I own a company in the caribbean and just distribute⁤ dividends. CBD asked questions but I gave them all documents about my LLC, contracts with⁣ clients, invoices for dividend distribution, no issues in one year. Read well for the freelance⁢ permits, some freelance permits are not real permits, you are basically hired by one company︀ and all your invoicing passes through them. Biggest pain point is if you need a︁ ccredit card, the only way as a freelancer is to leave a deposit somerhwere and︂ use that to get a credit card.

 

[Rprox]

@shikari , thank you for your︁ reply and valuable advice, I highly appreciate it and its very helpful. I am doing︂ this for the first time so its also a learning process for me and thanks︃ for pointing out the pain points. I have emailed TEACOM, AFZA about 4 days ago︄ and yet waiting on their reply. I will attempt to email gofreelance on Monday morning.︅

 

[Rprox]

I just initiated the application process for a freelance permit via gofreelance, just to get a︀ feel for the costing, and I was redirected to axsDotforceDotCom on behalf of TECOM. It︁ seems this will be the approximate breakdown of the costs:
- 10,000 AED for a︂ freelance permit and includes 1 annual license fee
- 2,000 AED for an establishment card︃
- residency visa, I don't think it is included as it may be a separate︄ cost

In my currency it be a cost of roughly 100k in total, I guess︅ they don't guarantee that this will help me find work / clients, I will try︆ to compare this to other agencies.

I just viewed this post, and it seems my︈ figures based on the research is somewhat aligned with these

 

[karishi]

The figures @Martin Everson put out where mostly correct:

GoFreelance
AED 7,500 Permit (Annually)︃
AED 2,000 Establishment Card (Annually)
AED 3,900 Residency Visa (3 years incl. Medical Test, Visa︄ Stamping, Emirates ID Card)
AED 10,000 Private Health Insurance (Annually)
AED 17,000 Studio Apartment (Annual︅ Cost)

I put the last two in bold as if you don't plan to actually︆ live in the UAE you can get a basic insurance like Orient for 920 Dirham︇ a year ( a little more than 200 dollar ) and then you can have︈ one insurance like Foyer Global Healt as you real insurance, which will cost you around︉ 1700 Euro each year, and for the Ejari which you need as a proof of︊ residence for opening the bank account you can make an agreement with someone, pay three︋ months of rent up front, keep the contract valid for the time it itakes to︌ open the account and then close the contract. One thing that I always point out,︍ if you move your residence from your home country to Dubai you will probably be︎ under a lot of scrutiny, so act accordingly.