Licences & changes
Changing the company manager
The manager is named on the licence, holds the establishment card and is the person immigration and the authorities deal with. Replacing them touches the licence, the visa file and the bank mandate at once.
What it covers
What this licence actually permits.
Every UAE company has a manager or general manager named on the licence — the individual with authority to act for the company before the licensing authority and, usually, before immigration and the labour authorities. The manager's residence visa is commonly issued against the company, and the establishment card is held in their name. Changing the manager is a licence amendment requiring a board or shareholder resolution, a notarised MOA addendum where the manager is named in the constitution, and the new manager's identification.
What makes this more involved than a paper change is the number of things attached to the role. The outgoing manager's residence may be sponsored by the company and needs cancelling or transferring. The establishment card is reissued in the new manager's name, and while that is in progress visa transactions can be frozen — which matters if anyone is mid-renewal. The bank mandate names the authorised signatories and must be updated separately, and until it is the new manager cannot sign. Sequenced badly, a company can spend a fortnight with neither manager able to act.
At a glance
- Named on
- The licence, and often the MOA
- Requires
- Board or shareholder resolution, and usually a notarised addendum
- Establishment card
- Reissued in the new manager's name
- Visa
- The outgoing manager's residence may need cancelling or transferring
- Bank mandate
- Separate update — signing authority does not follow the licence
- Risk
- A gap in which neither manager can act
What it costs
The procedure
What the amendment involves.
- Pass the resolution and prepare the addendumBoard or shareholder resolution appointing the new manager, and an MOA addendum where the manager is named in it.
- File the licence amendmentWith the new manager's passport, photograph and, where required, attested qualifications.
- Reissue the establishment cardExpect visa transactions to be constrained while this is in progress.
- Update the bank mandate in parallelSigning authority does not transfer automatically with the licence.
- Deal with the outgoing manager's residenceCancel or transfer it, and confirm no dependants remain attached.
Related
Questions
The individual named as having authority to act for the company before the licensing authority and, usually, immigration and labour authorities.
Yes. The establishment card is reissued in the new manager's name, and visa transactions can be constrained while that happens.
Yes. Signing authority sits on the bank mandate, and it does not update automatically when the licence does.
Commonly yes, and in single-shareholder companies it is usually the same person.
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