SETUP BUSINESS IN Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC)
Ready to establish your business in Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC)? With expert guidance and a streamlined process, starting your journey in the leading health and wellness free zone is effortless
Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC)
Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) is a free zone committed to creating a health and wellness destination.
Since its launch in 2002 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the free zone has worked towards its vision to become an internationally recognized location of choice for quality healthcare and an integrated center of excellence for clinical and wellness services, medical education and research.
Located in the heart of Dubai, the world’s largest healthcare free zone comprises two phases. Phase 1, dedicated to healthcare and medical education, occupies 4.1 million square feet in OudMetha, and Phase 2, which is dedicated to wellness, occupies 22 million square feet in Al Jadaf, overlooking the historic Dubai Creek.
The free zone is governed by the Dubai Healthcare City Authority (DHCA) and regulated by the independent regulatory arm, Dubai Healthcare City Authority – Regulation (DHCR), whose quality standards are accredited by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua).
DHCC has close to 160 clinical partners including hospitals, outpatient medical centers and diagnostic laboratories across 150 plus specialties with licensed professionals from almost 90 countries, strengthening its medical tourism portfolio. Representing its network of support partners, close to 200 retail and non-clinical facilities serve the free zone.
DHCC is also home to academic institution the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, part of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Academic Medical Center. The free zone’s integrated environment provides leverage for potential partners to set up operations to promote health and wellness.
Commercial space options available inside DHCC - Dubai Healthcare City:
- Leasing solutions.
- Clinical spaces.
- Non-clinical (retail) spaces.
Business center:
Executive Desk: – perfect for companies that require minimum space.
Executive Office – full-fledged furnished office.
DHCC also offers:
Freehold.
Investment opportunities.
Types of licenses in Dubai Healthcare City:
Free Zone Limited Liability Company
Branch of a Foreign Company
Branch of UAE Company/Establishment
Advantages of establishing a business in DHCC - Dubai Healthcare City:
– 100% foreign ownership.
– Full repatriation of profits and capital.
– Guaranteed 50-year exemption from personal, income and corporate taxes.
– Exemption from customs duty for goods and services.
– 100% tax free.
– No restrictions on capital, trade barriers or quotas.
– Competitive pricing.
Commercial benefits:
Low operating costs.
State-of-the-art facilities.
Flexible real estate design to suit business requirement/industry.
Integrated healthcare community providing specialized high-quality healthcare.
Access to network of regional and international healthcare professionals.
Attractive investment opportunities and financial returns.
Increased brand exposure.
The minimum paid-up capital requirement to incorporate a Free-zone Limited Liability company (FZ-LLC):
Non-clinical facilities/companies are required to have minimum paid-up capital of AED 50,000.
Clinical facilities are required to have minimum paid-up capital of AED 100,000.
Hospitals are required to have minimum paid-up capital of AED 300,000.
For hotels, please refer to the below:
3-star hotels are required to have minimum paid-up capital of AED 1 Million.
4-star hotels are required to have minimum paid-up capital of AED 2 Million.
5-star hotels are required to have minimum paid-up capital of AED 3 Million.
* For branches, minimum paid-up capital does not apply.
Frequently Asked Questions
General
No. Business registration and licensing procedures are associated with smart services which require Emirates ID.
• Reserve a trade name
• Obtain a preliminary approval
• Obtain an approval from other authorities if the activity deems necessary
• Obtain the Memorandum of Association of the companies
• Provide a certificate of authenticity of the lease contract issued from the Real Estate Regulatory Agency
Yes, except in the case of engineering consultancy.
No
• Filling a registration and license application form and reserving a trade name.
• A copy of the service agent’s passport (with the details of residence/Visa for non-GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) nationals)
• A copy of the service agent’s identity card and family book
• A copy of the responsible director’s passport and a no objection letter from his current sponsor
• Approval of other governmental agencies concerned with the activity of the company
• The Board of Directors’ decision to open a branch and to appoint a director
• A copy of the Memorandum of Association and the Commercial Register which should be duly certified by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UAE embassy of the country in which the company is incorporated.
Conditions of licensing the activity of the business center:
• The total site area of the business center shouldn’t be less than 5000 feet where the area of each office is not less than 250 feet including hallways and facilities. The net area per office shouldn’t be less than 200 square feet.
• Having a lease agreement between the property owner and the business center of a period not less than 4 years.
• A written consent by the property owner authorizing the business center to sublease the property during the period of the lease contract.
• Submitting schemes for the site showing the number and the distribution of offices until the allowed number of establishments that can be registered in the site is determined by the commercial register sector in accordance with the aforementioned information in paragraph (A) of this article.
• An annual fee of 25,000 twenty five thousand AED is calculated for every site allocated for the business center activities.
Having educational qualifications, experience, and obtaining external approvals.
Professional activities are the activities that depend on mental and physical effort to be practiced. They include agriculture, fishing, education, health, social work, and community, social and personal services.
Issuing of a Business License
• Reserving a trade name
• Obtaining a preliminary approval
• Obtaining an approval of other authorities if the activity deems necessary
• Obtaining a Memorandum of Association of the companies
• Obtaining a service agent contract for occupational licenses
• Lease contract issued from the Real Estate Regulatory Agency.
• Reserve a trade name
• Obtain a preliminary approval
• Obtain an approval from other authorities if the activity deems necessary
• Obtain the Memorandum of Association of the companies
• Provide a certificate of authenticity of the lease contract issued from the Real Estate Regulatory Agency.
Yes, except in the case of engineering consultancy.
no
• Filling a registration and license application form and reserving a trade name.
• A copy of the responsible director’s passport and a no objection letter from his current sponsor
• Approval of other governmental agencies concerned with the activity of the company
• The Board of Directors’ decision to open a branch and to appoint a director and a copy of the Memorandum of Association and the Commercial Register
• The Ministry of Economy approval for the commercial and industrial companies where the rate of nationals is less than 51%
• The total site area of the business center shouldn’t be less than 5000 feet where the area of each office is not less than 250 feet including hallways and facilities. The net area per office shouldn’t be less than 200 square feet.
• Having a lease agreement between the property owner and the business center of a period not less than 4 years.
• A written consent by the property owner authorizing the business center to sublease the property during the period of the lease contract.
• Submitting schemes for the site showing the number and the distribution of offices until the allowed number of establishments that can be registered in the site is determined by the commercial register sector in accordance with the aforementioned information in paragraph (A) of this article.
• An annual fee of 25,000 twenty five thousand AED is calculated for every site allocated for the business center activities.
Having educational qualifications, experience, and obtaining external approvals.
The same usual conditions in addition to paying 500 AED. Yes. No
Yes
Paying 50 million and having a legal form as a limited liability company.
Commercial activities are the activities that require a capital to be practiced. They include wholesale and retail trade, construction, transportation, stockpiling, communication, financial intermediation, real estate, and leasing.
Industrial activities are the activities that require a capital to be practiced. They include manufacturing, mining, quarrying, electricity, gas, and water.
Professional activities are the activities that depend on mental and physical effort to be practiced. They include agriculture, fishing, education, health, social work, and community, social and personal services.
No, but the owner can.
Yes
You can apply for a trade name online or go through an authorized document cearing office or approved lawirm. Please note that to access online services, you need a user account.
It includes the trade of all kinds of goods and products that are mentioned in full details in the trade category of the activity classification guidebook except for those that require an external approval from concerned authorities.
To be qualified, and to have an experience in the required consultation field. The requirements of the consultations that require an external approval are determined by concerned authorities.
Manage Business License
• Providing a letter from the company or the institution requesting to stop the licensing temporarily
• Providing a letter from the Ministry of Labor indicating the absence of sponsored people on the license
• Providing a report from the inspection division in Dubai DED.
Providing a certificate of authenticity of the lease contract issued from the Real Estate Regulatory Agency and an appendix of the Memorandum of Association when modifying the status of partners.
Providing a certificate of authenticity of the lease contract issued from the Real Estate Regulatory Agency and an appendix of the Memorandum of Association when modifying the status of partners.
Cancel Business License
If the partnership has ended more than 2 years ago.
• The license expiration date should have ended for more than 2 years.
• The national partner shall acknowledge his liability towards the company.
• Providing supporting documents that strengthens the dissolution request such as the escape of a partner
• Providing a letter from the Ministry of Labor indicating the absence of sponsored people on the license
• For sole proprietorships, a no objection letter from the Ministry of Labor is required in addition to a residence cancellation proof for non-Gulf nationals.
• For civil works companies, a no objection letter from the Ministry of Labor is required in addition to dissolution of partnership contract from the notary public.
• For commercial companies, a no objection letter from the Ministry of Labor is required in addition to a residence cancellation proof for non-Gulf nationals, the minutes of Annual General Meeting to liquidate the company and appoint a liquidator, a letter from the liquidator of accepting the liquidation, and announcing the liquidation in the newspaper.