Foreign companies are allowed to open either branch or representative company on Mainland UAE. Following are the important points need to be understood while registering branch of a foreign company on mainland UAE or Representative office of a foreign company on Mainland UAE.

• A branch of a foreign company is not an independent company. It is an extension of its parent company.
• A branch can undertake all activities of parent company other than trading on Mainland UAE. However it also requires approvals from various departments.
• A representative company is also not an independent company. It is also an extension of its parent company. Representative company cannot conduct all activities of its parent company. It can only promote and market products or services of a parent company.
• In both cases, approval from Ministry of Economy is required.
• In both cases, UAE national service agent is required. UAE national will not be a share holder of the company.
• AED 50,000 bank guarantee favoring Ministry of Economy is required for license processing.