Balmiki Kumar · Founder · 10 years UAE corporate services
Last updated · Reviewed against 2026 UAE regulations
Two vehicles, one decision
The UAE has exactly two offshore regimes. The split is clean: common-law + cheapest + fastest (RAK ICC) or Dubai jurisdiction + freehold-specific (JAFZA). Pick by what you actually need the entity to hold.
Ras Al Khaimah · common-law
Ras Al Khaimah International Corporate Centre
AED 3,500
Setup · 2d
The default for most offshore holdings.
Best for
Intellectual property holding, dividend consolidation, passive international investment.
Dubai · civil-law
JAFZA Offshore (Dubai)
AED 6,500
Setup · 5d
Dubai prestige + proven freehold route.
Best for
Dubai real-estate holding, family estate structuring, commodity-trading SPVs.
What an offshore company can do
What it can't do
If any of these is a deal-breaker, you need a free-zone or mainland company instead. The 60-second match will route you correctly.
Five real use cases
Most visitors don't need an offshore — they need a free zone. But when one of these five patterns matches your situation, offshore isn't just appropriate, it's the clean answer.
Group-structure holding
Sits above your operating company (free zone or mainland) to consolidate dividends and limit direct liability exposure.
IP holding vehicle
Register trademarks, patents, or software copyrights in the offshore entity; license them to the operating company for a royalty stream.
Dubai real estate SPV
Hold a single Dubai freehold title via JAFZA Offshore — standard approach for estate planning and privacy-conscious ownership.
International trading SPV
Invoice clients outside the UAE (UK / EU / US / APAC). No UAE VAT applies because there's no UAE operation.
Family office structuring
Multi-generation estate vehicle. Common-law jurisdiction (RAK ICC) simplifies shareholder agreements drafted by UK / HK advisors.
FAQ · offshore edition
No — UAE offshore entities must have a UAE-licensed registered agent, a full beneficial-owner register, and annual compliance filings. They're structurally simpler than operating companies but fully regulated by the authority.
No. Offshore vehicles can't issue an establishment card and therefore can't sponsor residency. If you need a visa, form a free-zone or mainland company instead — the /start assessment will route you to the right vehicle.
No. Both RAK ICC and JAFZA Offshore allow fully remote formation via a UAE-licensed registered agent. Formenzo is an approved intermediary for both.
Yes — that's the most common pattern. The offshore sits above an operating free-zone company, holding the shares and IP. We've structured this hundreds of times; the 60-second match flags when this pairing is appropriate.
Setup: AED 3,500 (RAK ICC) or AED 6,500 (JAFZA Offshore). Annual renewal: AED 2,500–4,000 depending on the registered agent. No VAT, no Corporate Tax (offshore income is outside the UAE tax base).
Pick the vehicle or talk it out
Seven questions, 90 seconds. If offshore is the right call, we send the registered-agent agreement same day. If it isn't, we recommend the correct alternative. Emailed. No phone call unless you ask for one.