# Self-employed in Dubai, but doing business outside of the UAE – feasible?



## merlinthecat (Oct 26, 2011)

hello,

I am brand-new to this forum and pleased to be here!

I would like to relocate to Dubai. I have been self-employed for 25 years now and have business interests in two separate areas – one is event management and planning, the other is online marketing. I have clients in the EU, the USA and China. I am a UK citizen, but currently based in the US.

I understand that it might be possible for me to establish a business operation in one of the free zones, possibly using an organization such as Creative Zone? I will not be conducting any business with clients in the UAE, at least to start off with, but I would like to relocate myself and my business operations to Dubai, especially as it is essentially midway between Western Europe and China.

cost wise, something in the region of 25,000 AED to set this up?

Are these realistic options?

I'm grateful for any comments.


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## Elphaba (Jan 24, 2008)

In theory yes, this is a possibility. You need to have a residency visa to live in the UAE and if you set up a free zone company you can get a residency visa on the back of it.

You need to make sure you have the right free zone licence for the type of work you want to do. Not all free zones are the same and there are several options.


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