Licences & changes
Opening a branch of an existing company
A branch is the same legal person in another place — no share capital, no separate liability, and the parent guarantees everything it does. Sometimes that is exactly what you want.
What it covers
What this licence actually permits.
A branch is an extension of an existing company rather than a new one. It has no share capital and no separate legal personality: the parent company is the contracting party, carries the liability, and guarantees the branch's obligations. Branches are used to extend a free zone company into the mainland, to establish a foreign company's presence in the UAE, and to open in a second emirate. Registration requires the parent's corporate documents, attested where the parent is foreign, and a board resolution authorising the branch and appointing its manager.
The choice between a branch and a subsidiary usually comes down to liability against simplicity. A subsidiary is a separate company with its own capital and its own liability, which ring-fences the parent — but it is a separate incorporation with its own accounts, its own audit and its own tax position. A branch is faster, cheaper and carries the parent's track record with it, which can materially help with banking and with tendering. What it does not do is contain risk: a claim against the branch is a claim against the parent, and for a business in a sector with real liability exposure that is usually decisive.
At a glance
- Legal form
- Not a separate legal person — an extension of the parent
- Share capital
- None
- Liability
- The parent's, without limitation
- Documents
- Parent's corporate documents, attested where foreign
- Activities
- Generally limited to those the parent is licensed for
- Alternative
- A subsidiary, which ring-fences liability at the cost of complexity
What it costs
The procedure
What the amendment involves.
- Decide branch or subsidiary on liabilityIf the activity carries real claim exposure, ring-fencing usually wins over simplicity.
- Get the parent's documents attestedWhere the parent is foreign, its certificate of incorporation, MOA and resolutions need attestation in the home jurisdiction.
- Pass the board resolutionAuthorising the branch, appointing its manager, and defining its scope.
- Check the activity alignmentA branch is generally limited to activities the parent itself is licensed for.
- Register and open the immigration fileThe branch has its own establishment card, quota and premises requirement.
Related
Questions
A branch is the same legal person as the parent, with no separate capital and no limitation of liability. A subsidiary is a separate company with its own capital and its own liability.
There are routes to do so, and it is one of the standard ways a free zone company reaches domestic customers.
Requirements vary by authority, but the branch's results form part of the parent's accounts since it is the same legal person.
Generally not. A branch is normally limited to activities the parent is itself licensed for.
One question
What are you actually trying to change?
Name, activity, manager or address — each is a formal amendment with its own fee, and most require a fresh MOA addendum before the licence is reprinted. Bundling several amendments into one submission usually costs less and takes no longer than doing them one at a time.
How amendments runOr just ask usShare transfers are notarised, not administrative. Every shareholder signs or is represented under an attested power of attorney, the bank has to be told, and the UBO register updates within days rather than at the next renewal.
Transferring sharesOr just ask usThen do it properly rather than letting the licence lapse. An abandoned company accrues renewal penalties, immigration liabilities and a corporate tax deregistration fine, and it blocks the shareholders from clean incorporations later.
Closing down cleanlyOr just ask us