Offshore / JAFZA Offshore

JAFZA Offshore Company Formation

A JAFZA offshore company is registered under the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority Offshore Companies Regulations 2023. It is not a JAFZA operating company, and it is not described here as a Dubai free-zone licence.

What the regulations allow

The company may be formed to conduct lawful business the registrar permits. Its name ends with “Limited”. Carrying on business in the zone or another jurisdiction still needs the licence or permit that jurisdiction requires. The regulations do allow the company to own a stake in another operating company in the UAE, own designated freehold property, keep records in the UAE, and hold a UAE bank account. Holding an account is a permission in the company rules. It is not a bank’s approval.

A registered office is required: an office in the zone, property the company owns in a designated UAE freehold area, or the registered agent’s office in Dubai. A registered agent is required at all times, unless the company maintains an office in the zone. A company that owns designated freehold property may apply for a residency visa for its members. Approval depends on the authority’s eligibility rules. That is not the visa position of an operating company.

How the application works

1. Registration is processed through a JAFZA registered agent. The agent holds the forms and deals with the offshore section.
2. The published steps use the Dubai Trade Portal: Registration, then New Offshore Company, then a new request with the application and documents.
3. The agent prepares the legal documents. The registrar can ask for more.

Document categories on the current guide

• Offshore application, memorandum and articles, and a letter appointing the registered agent.
• Passport copies for the directors and the secretary.
• For an individual applicant: founder details, a specimen signature, and a passport copy.
• For a company applicant: registration, good standing, incumbency naming the last beneficial shareholder, constitutional documents, a board resolution, and a power of attorney. The guide says these corporate papers are notarised and attested by the UAE Embassy.

Those attestation rules are JAFZA’s. They are not the RAK ICC position.

Timing and published fees

The new-offshore-company guide, dated 8 July 2024 and read on 1 October 2026, states a processing time of 5–7 working days. It also publishes these charges. They are the guide’s figures, not a 2026 fee schedule, and they can change.

A separate JAFZA guide covers becoming an offshore registered agent. That agent-registration fee is not the company registration fee above, so it is not added into this company price.

RAK ICC is a different registry with different documents and fees. The side-by-side page is RAK ICC vs JAFZA Offshore. Also start from offshore uses and limits or banking preparation.