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I'm coming from the States next month and I am looking at opening a business banking account at a bank in Dubai.

I was wondering if you have any suggestions on which bank would be the best for business banking.

Also, what are the requirements needed to open such an account in Dubai? Does is vary from bank to bank? Or are there standard sets of laws that they all follow?

Outside of my legal corporation documentaion, will I be needing any other types of documents and permits?

I'm not quite sure I will be coming with a work visa at the start, I plan on only being there for about 6 weeks, then coming back to the states, then returning to DXB about in 3 months for an extended period of time. But I would essentially like to open my account when I arrive next month.

Any information will be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

As far as I know you need a residence visa to open a personal bank account and a trade license to open a corporate (business) bank account. If you're planning to establish a business in the UAE (either a genuine company or a branch for an overseas business) you would need to do that first before opening a bank account.

Don't take my word for granted, you can google any bank and ask their customer service regarding your specific case, and yes, the requirements for corporate accounts are the same so you just need to ask any bank...

Here are some banks websites:

Union National Bank: www.unb.ae
Mashreq Bank: http://www.mashreqbank.com/
Commercial Bank of Dubai: www.cbd.ae
HSBC: www.hsbc.ae

Good response Bedro.

Yes, you do need a trade license to open a buisness account. If you are a branch office of a foreign company, you will need a registered office address here in Dubai that the trade license can be registered to. This must be a commercial premises and already registered with the Municipality. This is just an excuse to ensure you pay a very high office rent to a local.

You may find that you need to submit a 'paid up capital' certificate to the Economic Depertment, which is to prove you have sufficient funds in that account. This can be up to 250,000Dhs. The bank will do this once the funds are lodged.



Knight

thank you for the responses,


here in lies my question, if I come for 6 weeks, I will not have a work visa, but my trade license should be complete by then, would I still need a work visa if I already had the trade license in hand to open the account? I just want it setup so that when I return for my longer stay, it'll be ready to go

Well, u gonna need to have a residence visa anyways to stay in the UAE for an extended period and u either will have to setup a free zone establishment (FZE), a foreign branch to an overseas company or the worst: have a local partner (usually a dummy partner with no contribution or profiting and just against annual fees).

Despite the fact that (assuming ur holding a US passport), you are entitled to a free 2 months visa each time you enter the UAE. U won't be able to do a lot of things without a residence visa, such as owning a car,issuing a driver's license,renting a property,... etc

U will get a residence visa as an investor once your trade license is issued but from my experience 6 weeks is a tight schedule unless u know the procedures and know how to deal with the municipality folks...

I suggest that you have a PR company to do all the paperwork for you and they would be more aware of the constantly changing procedures. They will save u a LOT of time and their fees aren't that much. You can look for them on Gulf news Ads(http://www.gnads4u.com) or I can PM u some contacts I know, and you can even start the process prior to your arrival.

P.S.: Thanks Knight

the new immigration rules are now in force

Brits and Yanks now only get 30 days and that is what is on the visa stamp.

And yup, the no return rule is now in force too

You can apply for a multi entry visa if you get your wallet out.