The UAE entity is the easy half.
For most Indian founders the decision is made: a large Indian business community, a short flight, lower trade barriers under CEPA since 2022, 0% personal income tax, and a Golden Visa with no nationality restriction. The licence is rarely the hard part. The bridge before you leave India is FEMA, the treaty, and residency. Treat the India side as a later formality and you pay twice. Get the sequence right and the structure takes care of itself.
FEMA and ODI
How the investment leaves India, confirmed with your Indian adviser before any UAE entity exists.
Residency and the DTAA
Where your income is actually taxed. A trade licence alone does not settle it.
Structure and banking
The UAE entity, matched to where your customers are and how you fund it.
FEMA and ODI come before the licence.
An Indian resident investing outside India is governed by FEMA and the Reserve Bank's Overseas Direct Investment framework. Depending on the structure and source of funds, capitalising a UAE company can require ODI compliance, including reporting to the RBI through an authorised dealer.
We are precise about our role. We do not advise on FEMA, ODI, or any aspect of Indian law; we handle the UAE side alongside your Indian legal and chartered-accountant team. One thing we always say firmly: settle FEMA and ODI before any UAE entity is registered.
Incorporate first, treat Indian compliance as a later formality.
FEMA and ODI obligations attach to how the investment leaves India and how the holding is reported. Once the entity exists and funds have moved, correcting the position is slower than confirming it first. Most cross-border trouble is a sequencing error, not a knowledge gap.
What a UAE licence does not settle.
None of these appear on a setup quote. Each decides whether your structure holds up when India looks at it.
Residency is not the licence
The treaty protects a genuine UAE tax resident from double taxation. That status turns on the time you spend here and the UAE's domestic conditions, not on owning a company. A licence does not move your tax home.
Decided by: days, not documentsDisclosure follows you home
If you remain an Indian tax resident, your foreign holding and its income can carry disclosure obligations in your Indian return. Whether and how depends on your status. Confirm it with your CA before the entity is formed.
Decided by: your Indian CARemittance runs both ways
Funding the company out of India runs through FEMA limits and the LRS. Bringing profit back is generally unrestricted from the UAE side, but how India treats it on receipt depends on your status. Both directions carry India-side requirements to confirm first.
Decided by: India-side rulesWhere your customers are decides the structure.
Once the India side is understood, the UAE decision is familiar. It turns on where you sell and how you fund the entity, not a headline package. These are the routes Indian founders take most.
Eligibility, not a price. The Golden Visa has no nationality restriction, and Indian nationals are among the largest groups of holders. The UAE entity sits under corporate tax at 9% on taxable profit above AED 375,000, a threshold, not a quote. We map which structure fits privately. Our mainland versus free zone guide and company setup overview cover each route.
Indian founders bank in the UAE every week. Expect more documentation, not a closed door.
UAE banks make their own KYC decisions, and typically ask Indian-nationality applicants for more on source of wealth and source of funds than some other markets. That is a documentation exercise, not a barrier. It runs smoother when the file is prepared and placed at the right bank for your activity and structure, and a clean first submission is cheaper than a second. Our corporate banking page sets out how we prepare and place applications.
We tell you plainly when something belongs with your Indian CA, not with us.
A cross-border structure needs qualified advice on both sides, not a confident assumption on one. Confirm FEMA and ODI with your Indian adviser, settle residency and the DTAA, then build the UAE entity, banking, and visa around a structure that fits. We handle the UAE side in full. The line between the two is where founders get hurt when no one draws it. We draw it.
Founders who crossed it with us.
Everything was perfect, very fast, easy and super professional. You helped me and my family get our Golden Visas without any stress.
From the initial assessment to final implementation, the team demonstrated strong expertise, structured methodology, and clear communication.
They delivered what they promised without any hidden agenda and informed me of better and less costly ways to achieve what I need.
Thanks to Manish Kumar, we were finally able to speed up the process of getting our visa after months of struggling with other agents.
He was super quick to reply, very efficient and honestly the best I have worked with. He made the whole process so much easier.
Manish demonstrated deep expertise, professionalism, and a thorough understanding of the incorporation process. Proactive, responsive, and efficient.
They've assisted me and my family obtain golden residency in the UAE. All timelines were clearly defined and all processes transparent.
Communication was clear from the start, everything managed end to end with full transparency on costs.
Manish was instrumental in setting up our company in Dubai. Always responsive, readily available to answer our questions.
A trusted advisor, a skilled navigator of complex regulatory landscapes, with unshakeable integrity.
Great and professional support from Manish. I recommend working with him on any project.