Both a legal entity and an individual may act as shareholder or manager / director of an international company in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, virtually with no restrictions on nationality or country of residence, and for companies - the country of registration. At the same time, in practice, to appoint another legal entity as director is challenging because of a large number and costs of legalization of necessary documents, as well as possible difficulties at opening bank account in the United Arab Emirates for such a company.
Age threshold over 21 is set for a manager / director of the international company in Dubai. The acting legislation in some cases may limit a number of directors to seven.
There are no restrictions on citizenship and nationality of shareholders and directors of companies registered in the UAE free zones. For companies registered on the main territory i.e. outside Free Trade Zones, certain activities require mandatory participation of a local citizen in the company as its shareholder.
