Foreign Ownership Rules in UAE

Ministry of Economy UAE has announced and implemented, the new rules on May 19^th 2021, which allows complete ownership in specific areas of UAE. It allows 100% ownership now. It was the addition to the last Law that came in 2020(Federal Law), where amendments were made in the Federal Law, in order to provide 100% ownership. This Law also removed the need of having a company here in which the local owner used to own 51% and the expatriate used to own 49%. Now for buying property in UAE, there is no need to open a company. We will discuss here some necessary steps, by different Emirates in UAE. Please be noted that a few categories are kept exempted, due to some business and strategic reasons.

The Economic Department of Abu Dhabi publishes business activities, where 100% ownership is granted. These are 1100 activities, including Construction, Healthcare, Industrial etc. Trading Activities have not been made part of this. Further expansions are coming day by day.

Economic Department in DUBAI also known as DED, has announced the business activities too, where 100% foreign ownership is allowed now. DED issues a list of allowed and restricted activities. Check with DED for details.

Sharjah Economic Department takes similar actions DED, for granting 100% foreign ownership, with allowed activities and restricted activities. The Implementation of Amendment Laws allows the new rule to be executed in the Emirate of Sharjah. Check with Sharjah DED for further details or book a legal appointment with our Lawyers.

Because the other Emirates are also under Federal Union, therefore the new laws are also implemented there where foreign ownerships are granted but with little variations. The Local Emirate rules are not too much different from others. Readers check with the relevant Emirate Economic Department online for the details. Our Advocates and Legal Consultants can also help in this regard by sharing details.