Before doing business with any company in the UAE, you should verify if the company actually exists and is dully registered.
The question you need to keep in mind is: is this company legitimate?
We have seen many people being fooled by scammers, and the last thing we want is for anyone to be a victim of a crime. Making sure that a business is legitimate is a precautionary step which is imperative to avoid scams or suspicious offers that sounds “too good to be true”. Illegitimates companies do not hesitate to commit crimes and then disappear without trace.
First of all, business owners can do their own company verification, with the basic information they have about the company they are planning to deal with, they can:
- give a call to the company,
- if the office address has been displayed in your communications, you can visit the office by yourself.
The other ways to make sure a business is registered in the UAE.
Firstly, every registered company in the country must have a trade license to operate. You can ask them to send you a copy of it or check online with the DED (Department of Economic Development). Note that trade licenses are not confidential documents as they must be publicly displayed in any office or shop. It is a public right to have access to this document or ask for it.
Keep in mind, most of illegitimates companies will provide you with an invalid registration number. This can easily be verified and help you avoid getting into a complicated and unprofitable business relationship.
Remember that you don’t need to be Inspector Gadget to find out if a company exists or not. There are a several methods you can use separately or in combination for your own security.
A few steps you can take to verify business information:
- As mentioned above, you can request their business license and check directly on government platforms if the license is registered or not. If you are planning to start a business with a Dubai based partners, then he should be able to provide by himself the necessary documents. If you feel any reticence, it should immediately put you on alert. Indeed, in a trade license there is no confidential information. The only details you will find are the name of the company, office address, registration number, license number and name of the manager. Someone refusing to share it with you means his business might be illegitimate;
- If the company is registered in one of the UAE Free Zones, you might not be able to verify the license online. The only option you have is to contact the registry by email stating the name of the company and ask if the company is actually registered and if the license is active (and not cancelled). Or another way is to visit the registry directly by visiting their offices in person;
- You can request a Certificate of Good Standing from the local registration authority. Generally, a Certificate of Good Standing indicates that the entity has filed all reports and fees with the authorities. It serves as proof, or evidence, that the entity both exists and is authorized to do business in the Emirates;
- You can also use the social media to verify a business. Verify that the company has an online presence. For example you can check if they have professional profiles on Instagram, Facebook? Another way is to check if they have staff members on online platforms such as LinkedIn…;
- Google the company: try to find information on online forums, testimonials… If the company has been involved in any scams or illegal activities, there is a high chance you will find this information on internet.
Last, but not least, you can check on governmental portals and free zones portals to make sure you are in business with a real and legitimate company. For this, several channels and platforms can be used to get information about a business license. These include websites of DEDs in each emirate and National Economic Register.
We are giving you some useful links where you can check by yourself if a company is registered in the country or not. You can use the name of the company or the license number to verify:
- If you are dealing with a local UAE company, you can check on the DED website of the relevant emirates.
- For Dubai companies, you can check online on this link: CLICK HEREand click on “ Search License Information”
- For Sharjah you can visit: SEDD.AE on “Search for License”
- For Abu Dhabi you can visit: ADBC.GOV.AE
- If the only information you have is the name, then you can visit the National Economic Register website and check if the company exists or not. Follow this link: CBLS.ECONOMY.GOV.AE
- For Free Zone companies, you can directly check on the Free Zone website and you might find the Company Directory which consists in a list of all companies licensed and operating in the Free Zone. Here are a few Company Directories of the major Free Zones:
Take all of these precautionary measures before involving yourself in a business. Make sure the company exists and it is legally registered in the country before signing any contracts or documents.
Would you like us to verify for you whether a company in the Emirates really exists? We offer a service to verify the existence of a company in the Emirates including Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
