Cut Above for Corporate Services & PRO (UAE)
Company formation, licence renewals, visas, government relations (PRO), banking introductions and corporate compliance for businesses setting up and operating in the UAE, on the mainland, in free zones and offshore.
What the system calls things
| Cut Above calls it | You call it | |
|---|---|---|
| Lead | → | Enquiry |
| Opportunity | → | Quotation |
| Engagement | → | Case |
| Milestone | → | Stage |
| Task | → | Step |
| Proposal | → | Quotation |
Your pipeline
The work you do
Every job is one of these, and each carries its own defaults and paperwork.
Plans that build themselves
Mainland LLC formation (Dubai DET)
Day 0 is the engagement letter signed and KYC documents received. Assumes a standard commercial or professional activity with no external approvals; add two to four weeks where an approval from a ministry or regulator is needed. Visa steps assume one partner visa; add the employment-visa scaffold per additional visa.
6 phases, 18 tasks created for you.
Free zone company formation
Day 0 is the engagement letter and KYC documents received. Timings suit a mainstream zone (IFZA, Meydan, RAKEZ, SHAMS, DMCC on a flexi-desk); DMCC and DIFC with a physical office run longer. One shareholder-visa included.
5 phases, 13 tasks created for you.
Offshore company formation (RAK ICC / JAFZA Offshore)
Day 0 is KYC received. Offshore companies have no visa, no office and no UAE trade; the case is the registered-agent filing and the corporate documents. The long pole is usually attested documents for a corporate shareholder.
3 phases, 6 tasks created for you.
Branch of a foreign company (mainland)
Day 0 is receipt of the parent company's attested documents, which is the step that takes longest, and sits BEFORE day 0 on purpose. Ministry of Economy approval and a local service agent (where required) drive the timeline.
5 phases, 10 tasks created for you.
Trade licence renewal
Day 0 is 45 days BEFORE licence expiry, open the case then, not on the expiry date. The Ejari must be valid to renew a mainland licence, the establishment card is often due at the same time, and every day past expiry costs the client a fine.
4 phases, 10 tasks created for you.
Licence amendment
Day 0 is the signed instruction. Covers adding or removing an activity, a change of shareholder or manager, or a change of trade name. A shareholder change needs a notarised MOA addendum; an activity change may need an external approval.
3 phases, 7 tasks created for you.
Employment visa, new (mainland, MOHRE)
Day 0 is the signed offer letter and the employee's documents received. Assumes the establishment has quota; add the quota step time if not. Inside-country status change assumes the employee is already in the UAE on a visit visa.
4 phases, 10 tasks created for you.
Visa renewal
Day 0 is 30 days before visa expiry. Renewal is medical, Emirates ID and stamping again; the labour contract renews with it on the mainland. Open the case early, an expired visa attracts daily fines and a grace period is not a plan.
3 phases, 7 tasks created for you.
Family / dependant visa
Day 0 is the sponsor's documents received. The sponsor's salary certificate, attested marriage or birth certificate and tenancy contract are the usual blockers; the government steps themselves are quick.
3 phases, 6 tasks created for you.
Golden visa (10-year residence)
Day 0 is the eligibility check done and evidence collected. The category decides the evidence, property title, salary and qualification, investment, or a nomination, and the evidence is where cases stall. Government processing itself is a few weeks.
3 phases, 7 tasks created for you.
Corporate bank account introduction
Day 0 is the licence pack complete. The bank's compliance team controls the timeline; the firm's job is a clean KYC file, a credible business profile and quick answers. Set the client's expectation at four to eight weeks.
4 phases, 6 tasks created for you.
VAT & corporate tax registration
Day 0 is the licence and financial information received. VAT registration is mandatory above the threshold and voluntary above the lower one; corporate tax registration is required for every licensed entity within the FTA's deadlines, and late registration carries a penalty.
3 phases, 7 tasks created for you.
Annual compliance, UBO, ESR & AML
Day 0 is the start of the client's financial year. UBO changes must be filed within days of the change; the ESR notification and report have fixed windows after year end; AML registration applies to designated businesses. Run on a retainer or as a yearly package.
4 phases, 6 tasks created for you.
Company liquidation & deregistration
Day 0 is the shareholders' resolution to liquidate. Every visa must be cancelled, every liability cleared and a liquidator appointed before the licence can be cancelled; the newspaper notice period is fixed by the authority.
4 phases, 8 tasks created for you.
Monthly PRO retainer, service month
Day 0 is the first of the month. A retainer case per month keeps the firm's time and the client's transactions in one place. Nothing here is a government deadline; the deadlines live on the client record and open their own cases.
3 phases, 5 tasks created for you.
Attestation & legal translation
Day 0 is the originals received. A full attestation chain for a foreign document runs notary → foreign ministry (or apostille) → UAE embassy → MOFA; a document already attested abroad needs only MOFA and translation.
3 phases, 6 tasks created for you.
Things it watches
- Stage due within a week
- Case waiting on the authority or the client for two weeks
- New case, collect KYC pack and government fee advance
- Large engagement, partner sign-off before submission
- Quotation unanswered for a week
- New enquiry, respond the same day
- Invoice overdue, government fees are our cash
- Hourly advisory approaching its estimate
- Fee received: release the next step
- Government task overdue
- Trade licence expired yesterday
- Ejari or lease expiring
- Establishment card expiring
- KYC review due
- Power of attorney expiring
Where this fits, and where it does not
A very good fit with one difference in thinking. A corporate services firm works in cases against government deadlines rather than in engagements. Here a case is an engagement whose phases are set by the authority rather than by the firm: initial approval, MOA, licence, establishment card, visa stamping. Money works differently too. Government fees are paid on the client's behalf and make up most of a typical invoice, so the pack keeps them as disbursements and never counts them as revenue. Renewals are the core of the business. Each one starts 45 days before expiry, so every renewal case carries its own countdown.