Why would someone need to wait 3 years? For UAE banks once you have the residence visa stamped, have local PO Box and local address (which can be hotel) you are considered as resident.
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- Thread starter kriyazen
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Now we are finally getting to the point. Thank you @BlueMist . My initial and primary idea is to get visa/residency in UAE, officially change my address in companies house in the UK and company registry in Estonia to avoid reporting to my country of residence. That's the primary goal. It obviously goes deeper e. g. minimizing the corporate tax burden by channeling the funds out of UK/EE.
How hard/easy was it to open a bank account once you got your visa?
How long did it take?
What region are you a national of?
Once you have a residence visa stamped in your passport and Emirates ID issued, any bank in UAE will open you a personal checking/saving account. I would suggest sticking to the top 3: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Emirates NBD, Bank FAB. I bank with all of them on the premium level and if I had to pick one it would be ADCB. I am EU citizen but it doesn't matter for personal account opening once the residence visa is issued. It should take few days to get your debit card via courier, while accounts would be opened on the spot or within 24-48 hours.
It depends on the bank and your status. For example ADCB Excellency (AED 500,000 deposit) used to give AED 100,000 credit card upon account opening, pretty much no questions asked, no security cheques etc. Citi Gold seems to have the same policy (AED 100k credit limit, no security cheques), although deposit requirements are higher USD 200,000. Some banks are not that generous, like Bank FAB, which has AED 500,000 requirement for their Elite status, but they will ask for some documents and ask you to sign a security cheque.
So these are basically secured credit cards?
Is the deposit required to stay there the whole time to get the credit card?
These are the minimum deposit to get Elite status at these banks, so it is easier to get a nice credit card approval and limit etc. Obviously you can open a basic account and apply for credit card as well. Basic accounts have low min. deposit requirements like AED 2000 I think.
I’m just come back from dubai and i‘ve talk with local consultant and bank confirm that if you incorporate FZE and get visa and emirates id you will get Resident bank account and there will be no report... some banks need uae address other not need it...
I'll bring in my 0.02 if you let me ...
It's not that simple. @BlueMist you know your way around and I mostly agree with everything you say (I'd also recommend ADCB -especially if you can get to the 'excellency account' level- above all the rest, as I'd put hands down any Abu Dhabi bank on top of the others), but your point about the easiness of opening a bank account (even a personal account) after setting up a company is not accurate, let alone when you're talking about setting a sh*itty freezone company (the suggested thread title Ajman Media City FZ Co is totally worthless, so don't waste your money or time on it, free advice), which raises more than a gazillion red flags with the banks these days.
The only 'easy bank account opening' process comes IF you're obtaining your ID as an employee of an established firm (LLC or on-shore, preferably), and have a salary certificate you can show the bank (your payroll). In all other cases where you're part (as a shareholder/partner) of a company, you'll be given a hard time to open an account. In this regard, you'll forget opening with Emirates NBD, FAB (unless you can show them 6 months of company statements, which you won't because it's a bloody NEW company...), RAKBank and Emirates Islamic Bank. Others like Noor Bank, Mashreq and ADCB will probably accept you, but I've been told refusal rates are high at the moment for FZ Cos (and I'm talking Dubai FZ Cos...Ajman's, RAK's or Fujairah's you can just forget it altogether), they just don't like them anymore, as the Central Bank is pressuring the regional banks not to on-board these entities or the people behind, not even for a personal account, as a means to show the world they are 'tackling' the offshore tax evasion "problem".
Like I said in another thread, what used to work even in 2018 you can forget it straight away, even what used to work last year is -in most cases- not applicable anymore re: banking in the UAE. So while obtaining the residence ID is still a pretty quick and seamless process (refusal rates still very low and negligible for 1st world applicants), the banking environment is changing rapidly and so it needs careful monitoring and update prior to starting any set-up.
It's not that simple. @BlueMist you know your way around and I mostly agree with everything you say (I'd also recommend ADCB -especially if you can get to the 'excellency account' level- above all the rest, as I'd put hands down any Abu Dhabi bank on top of the others), but your point about the easiness of opening a bank account (even a personal account) after setting up a company is not accurate, let alone when you're talking about setting a sh*itty freezone company (the suggested thread title Ajman Media City FZ Co is totally worthless, so don't waste your money or time on it, free advice), which raises more than a gazillion red flags with the banks these days.
The only 'easy bank account opening' process comes IF you're obtaining your ID as an employee of an established firm (LLC or on-shore, preferably), and have a salary certificate you can show the bank (your payroll). In all other cases where you're part (as a shareholder/partner) of a company, you'll be given a hard time to open an account. In this regard, you'll forget opening with Emirates NBD, FAB (unless you can show them 6 months of company statements, which you won't because it's a bloody NEW company...), RAKBank and Emirates Islamic Bank. Others like Noor Bank, Mashreq and ADCB will probably accept you, but I've been told refusal rates are high at the moment for FZ Cos (and I'm talking Dubai FZ Cos...Ajman's, RAK's or Fujairah's you can just forget it altogether), they just don't like them anymore, as the Central Bank is pressuring the regional banks not to on-board these entities or the people behind, not even for a personal account, as a means to show the world they are 'tackling' the offshore tax evasion "problem".
Like I said in another thread, what used to work even in 2018 you can forget it straight away, even what used to work last year is -in most cases- not applicable anymore re: banking in the UAE. So while obtaining the residence ID is still a pretty quick and seamless process (refusal rates still very low and negligible for 1st world applicants), the banking environment is changing rapidly and so it needs careful monitoring and update prior to starting any set-up.
Yes, that's right. Why you consider that 'not good' when precisely what you want to show is your other/new residency is beyond me
Good luck with that. Your 'consultant' will get his fee from you quicker than you'll notice, and then it'll be a long walk before you get any banking, if at all (FZE you say? Well you'll need more than just good luck there...). Consultancy companies are pretty much useless these days over there. One way around it is to hold the payment until you've got your bank account set-up, if you find someone that accepts that, then I'd suggest to give it a try. We're talking €6-7K for this (actually the cheapest) set-up, anyway it's money you wouldn't want to part with with no results......
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UAQ, but i’ve talk with banker from Rak should be opened in 3/4 weeks around and if you invest something in bank products you will get more chances and more speed
I have a friend who opened in Ajman Media City (E-commerce license) with a small office 10sqm and got an account at Noor bank. The most important is the lease agreement.
Business account. Personal account is easy in lot of banks as soon as you get your Emirates ID.
Is there a risk to not be ablet o open a personal bank account once u get the visa and all ?
Personal account doesnt require older bank statements or so once u get ur visa ? Is there a risk to be stucked without a personnal bank account for a 1st world citizen, are they asking some more data than only your passport and your visa ?
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