Foreign entrepreneurs in Dubai get the comfort of doing business by collaborating with UAE nationals as business partners. The UAE Civil law and Commercial Companies law necessitates the participation of a local sponsor in the UAE mainland company formation. That is, for a mainland business, an ex-pat business owner needs a UAE national sponsor. The local sponsor is either a UAE national or a company fully owned by UAE nationals. The local sponsor may also serve as an LSA or a Local service agent. The foreign company is required to pay a yearly fee for the services offered by the local service agent.

The term UAE national sponsor refers to a patron of UAE citizenship (Emirati) with a family membership card and a valid Dubai passport. The UAE national sponsor or local sponsor owns 51% of the total shares of the company in Mainland LLC company formation and it is mandatory. However, this is not applicable to Professional companies and Representative Office setups in UAE. The foreign or ex-pat investors have 100% ownership of the company in the case of a Professional or Representative Office set up.

The local sponsor has no role or involvement in the daily operations of the company. The local sponsor serves as an intermediary between the company and the UAE government and helps the company pursue various official formalities. The official formalities include immigration and visa approvals, license issuance formalities, etc. The UAE national sponsor, corporate sponsor, or local service agent can be a total stranger with an entirely different background. Yaqoot Al Azraq is one of the leading business consultants in UAE helping ex-pat entrepreneurs to find a local sponsor for their business venture. We help you to choose a reliable local or UAE national sponsor as your business partner.