Anyone can open a translation shop in Dubai. Almost nobody can produce a translation a court will accept. That gap is the whole business, and it is the thing most guides blur. The valuable, defensible work, translations accepted by courts, notaries, ministries and embassies, must be stamped by a sworn legal translator accredited by the UAE Ministry of Justice (MOJ). That accreditation is a personal licence tied to one individual and one language pair, usually English and Arabic. It is not a company licence, and it does not transfer. A translation company can hire many staff, but only work carrying an MOJ-registered translator's number and stamp counts as legal translation.
There is also a freshness trap. Nearly every translation-agency blog, and most generic answers, still cite "Federal Law No. 6 of 2012" as the governing law. That law has been repealed. The current instrument is Federal Decree-Law No. 22 of 2022 on Regulating the Translation Profession, in force since the start of 2023 [1]. A guide quoting the 2012 law is quoting a dead statute, and it usually misses the newer rules too, including the professional indemnity insurance that became mandatory in 2024.
This guide covers the general-versus-legal distinction, the MOJ sworn-translator licence that is the real barrier, the two business models, ownership, and why the free-zone "0% tax" pitch does not apply. Since 2013, our team has set up professional and regulated firms across the UAE, so the traps here come from real files. This is a guide, not legal advice on your specific licence.
General translation or legal translation: which are you setting up?
Two different businesses, and the money is in the regulated one. Getting this straight decides your whole plan.
- General translation covers marketing copy, subtitling, websites, business documents and interpreting. It needs only a trade licence with a translation activity. No MOJ accreditation is required, the barrier is low, and so are the margins.
- Legal, or certified, translation covers documents for courts, notaries, government departments, embassies and immigration. It must be produced by a translator on the MOJ's roll of translators and stamped with that translator's number, official stamp and signature. Without it, the translation is not accepted for any legal or administrative purpose [1].
The premium and the repeat volume live in legal translation: visas, court cases, powers of attorney, company formation, marriage and divorce papers. Government offices verify the translator's number and stamp against MOJ records before accepting a document, which is exactly why the accreditation is worth having.
Common Mistake: Setting up a "translation company" and assuming you can certify documents for courts and ministries. You cannot, unless the work is stamped by an MOJ-registered sworn translator. A general translation licence with no accredited translator can do business documents and subtitling, but not the certified work clients actually pay a premium for.
What is the MOJ legal translator licence, and why is it the moat?
It is a federal, personal accreditation that turns an individual into a sworn translator, and it is scarce by design. This is the real barrier to entry, and it protects the margins of the firms that hold it. The requirements, drawn from the MOJ and the 2022 law [1][2]:
- A university degree, preferably in translation, languages, linguistics or law, recognised and attested in the UAE.
- At least five years of translation experience for expatriates; UAE nationals are exempted from the experience requirement.
- Passing the MOJ examination, written and oral, testing legal terminology and accuracy in the specific language pair.
- Valid UAE residency for expatriates, plus good-conduct and health certificates.
- Professional indemnity insurance, now mandatory (see below).
- Registration under a specific language pair; the stamp is valid only for that pair, which is why English and Arabic, the language of the courts, is where the core market sits.
The registration fee is around AED 3,000, renewable every three years, with processing that runs to roughly two months, and the translator takes an oath before a judge and receives an official stamp [2]. Because only the sworn translator's stamp carries legal validity, this one accreditation, not the company licence, is the thing that unlocks the high-value pipeline.
Pro Tip: The scarce ingredient is the licensed translator, not the company. If you are not an MOJ-accredited translator yourself, the practical route is to be the owner who employs or partners with one whose stamp validates the office's certified work, or to run a general translation agency while you build toward accreditation. Decide which of those you are before you sign an office lease. Get your translation office scoped around the accreditation→
What changed in 2024, and why does it matter?
A new cost became mandatory that most articles miss: professional indemnity insurance. Under a 2024 Ministerial Decision, every translator and translation house must carry professional indemnity cover, with a minimum of AED 1 million for an individual translator and AED 5 million for a translation house [3]. It is a recurring cost and a licensing precondition, not an optional extra, and it is one more reason to distrust any guide that only cites the old 2012 framework.
Registration has also moved online through UAE PASS and the MOJ's e-services, with translators receiving a legal-translator card and digital stamp. The direction is clearly toward digital certified issuance, which matters for how you set up your workflow.
Do you need to be a translator to own the company?
No, but you need one to do the certified work. Ownership and accreditation are separate questions, and people conflate them.
100% foreign ownership is available. Since Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021, most professional activities including translation allow full foreign ownership on the mainland, and free zones already do [6]. So you can own a translation company outright without being a translator.
What the company cannot do without an MOJ-accredited translator is issue certified legal translations. A translation house's certified output must be produced under a registered translator's stamp, so a legal translation office must employ or retain at least one sworn translator, very commonly the owner or manager. The general manager need not personally be licensed, but the certified work must carry a registered translator's number. So the ownership is open; the accreditation is the gate on the regulated work.
Because certified translation requires a Ministry of Justice sworn translator and its clients are courts, notaries, government departments and local law firms, the mainland is the default structure for this business rather than a preference. Our mainland company setup page walks through the DET professional licence, the notarised MOA and the office requirement that a legal translation office needs before MOJ approval is even worth applying for.
Can you run a legal translation office from a free zone?
You can license general translation in a free zone, but court-accepted legal translation is in practice a mainland business. The MOJ sworn-translator accreditation is federal and personal, independent of where the company sits, but the legal translation offices whose stamps courts, notaries and ministries actually accept operate on a mainland DET licence with MOJ approval [1]. Free zones such as DMCC, IFZA and Meydan commonly license general "translation services" but are not the route to court-accepted certified translation, and a free-zone company generally cannot serve the mainland market directly without a mainland presence.
So the honest rule is: general translation, anywhere; legal, court-accepted translation, mainland with MOJ. If certified work is your business, plan for a mainland DET professional licence with the legal-translation activity and MOJ approval. If instead you are building a corporate and technical translation and localisation agency for international clients, with no court or ministry work at all, a free-zone licence is a sensible and cheaper home for it, and our free zone company setup page compares the packages, visa allocations and office options across the zones. Our free zone versus mainland guide covers the trade-off.
Is a translation business subject to VAT and corporate tax?
Yes to both, at standard rates, with a zero-rating route for genuinely foreign clients. Translation services supplied to UAE clients are standard-rated at 5% VAT, and you register once taxable turnover exceeds AED 375,000. Work for a client genuinely outside the country can be zero-rated as an export of services, but Cabinet Decision 100 of 2024 tightened the test: the client must be outside the UAE with presence of less than 30 days over a rolling 12 months and not connected to the supply, otherwise 5% applies [7]. Our VAT registration and compliance guide covers the mechanics.
For corporate tax, the standard regime is 0% on the first AED 375,000 of profit and 9% above, with Small Business Relief while revenue stays at or below AED 3 million, for periods up to the end of December 2029. The free-zone 0% rate does not apply: translation is a professional service, not a Qualifying Activity under Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025, so a free-zone translation firm is taxed at 9%, not 0% [8]. Our corporate tax filing guide covers the conditions.
What does it cost, and is it worth it?
Split the company licence, which is modest, from the translator accreditation, which is the real asset. Here is a realistic 2026 picture in AED.
| Item | Typical range (AED) |
|---|---|
| Professional trade licence (mainland or free zone) | 12,500 to 30,000 |
| MOJ legal-translation office approval | Budget a few thousand |
| Office and Ejari | Flexi-desk 8,000 to 15,000; office 25,000+ |
| Visas | ~4,000 to 7,000 each |
| MOJ sworn-translator registration | ~AED 3,000, renewed every 3 years |
| MOJ exam | Modest exam fee, per candidate |
| Professional indemnity insurance | From ~AED 6,000 (individual); higher for a house |
A legal translation office with one accredited translator can be set up all-in for roughly AED 25,000 to 60,000 in the first year. The market rewards it: the GCC translation market was worth over USD 2 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow past USD 3.8 billion by 2032, with the UAE leading the region, driven by an 88% expatriate population and courts, government, immigration and business that all require Arabic legal translation [8]. Certified work commands the premium, with legal pages commonly running from AED 80 to 250 and specialised work higher, plus rush and attestation add-ons. Margins are strong because the main cost is skilled people, and the scarce sworn-translator licence is what protects them.
Is a translation services company a profitable business in Dubai?
Yes, if you own the certified side of it. Almost every residency visa, court filing, corporate registration and government submission that starts life in a foreign language needs an Arabic version a UAE authority will accept, and only a Ministry of Justice sworn translator can produce one. That bottleneck, not the trade licence, is what protects the margin.
The demand is structural rather than seasonal. The UAE population is heavily expatriate, so a large share of the documents moving through courts, notaries, immigration and the ministries arrive in English, Hindi, Urdu, Russian, Chinese or French and must be rendered into Arabic before anyone will act on them. Company formation alone generates a steady flow of memoranda, board resolutions, powers of attorney, shareholder passports and parent-company documents. Add court cases, employment disputes, property transfers, and marriage and birth certificates for family visas, and the pipeline refills every month with no marketing effort at all.
Real Talk: The honest counterweight is machine translation. Marketing copy, product manuals, subtitles and website content are now routinely drafted by software and cleaned up by a person, which has pushed non-legal per-word rates down and will keep pushing them down. That pressure does not reach the certified side, because no UAE court accepts a machine output and the Ministry of Justice licenses people, not tools. The licensed-translator bottleneck is the moat. Build the business around the stamp, and treat general translation volume as the work that keeps staff busy between certified jobs.
The three service lines inside a translation business behave very differently, and it is worth seeing them side by side before you decide which one you are actually building.
| Service line | Regulator or licence requirement | Who signs off | Margin profile | Typical client |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legal and certified translation | MOJ sworn-translator registration on a mainland DET licence with MOJ approval | The MOJ-registered translator's number, stamp and signature | Highest, protected by the scarcity of the licence | Courts, notaries, law firms, ministries, immigration applicants |
| Corporate and technical translation | Trade licence with a translation activity, no MOJ accreditation | The agency, on its own letterhead | Moderate and under machine-translation pressure | Marketing teams, software and engineering firms, publishers, overseas agencies |
| Interpretation services | Trade licence with the activity; court work goes to MOJ-approved translators | The interpreter, in person, on the day | Good hourly rates, capped by the hours available | Courts and arbitration, conferences, government meetings, corporate delegations |
If your plan is the middle row, a corporate and technical translation and localisation agency serving international clients with no court or ministry work, a free-zone licence is a reasonable and cheaper base for it, and our free zone company setup page sets out the packages, visa allocations and office options. Just be clear about what that choice gives up: the certified pipeline, which is where the pricing power sits. Law firms are among the steadiest buyers of certified pages, and our legal consultancy setup guide describes the kind of firm that instructs a translation office every week.
What documents and steps does it take to start a translation company?
A professional trade licence, an office with an Ejari, and then the Ministry of Justice accreditation for the named translator. The company paperwork is ordinary and quick. The accreditation is the slow part, because it tests a person rather than a file, and it is the step that turns a trade licence into a certified translation office.
Here is the document checklist we work from on a legal translation office file.
- Shareholder documents: passport copies and photographs for every shareholder and the manager, plus a visa or entry-stamp copy for anyone already in the UAE.
- Trade name reservation: a name that carries the translation activity and passes DET's naming rules.
- DET initial approval: the no-objection to proceed with the activity, secured before any lease or notarisation.
- Memorandum of Association: the notarised MOA and, where a manager is appointed, the manager's appointment document.
- Office and Ejari: a registered tenancy contract. A legal translation office is public-facing and receives walk-in document work, so plan for real premises rather than the cheapest desk.
- MOJ legal translator licence: the sworn-translator registration for the named individual whose stamp will certify the office's work, tied to one language pair.
- Translator qualifications and experience: an attested university degree, proof of at least five years of translation experience for expatriates, plus good-conduct and health certificates [1][2].
- Language pair approvals: each additional pair is a separate MOJ registration for a separately qualified translator, not an extension of an existing stamp.
- Professional indemnity insurance: the policy certificate at the mandated minimum cover, AED 1 million for an individual translator and AED 5 million for a translation house [3].
Foreign-issued documents usually need legalisation in the country of origin and MOFA attestation in the UAE before a sworn translator certifies them for local use, and the attestation, notarisation and typing-centre runs that surround certified work are the same errands a document-clearing business handles all day. Our PRO and document clearing guide covers that adjacent activity, which many translation offices add once the certified volume justifies it.
The sequence, with realistic timings, looks like this.
| Step | What happens | Realistic timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Trade name and DET initial approval | Reserve the name with the translation activity, clear initial approval | 2 to 5 working days |
| DET professional licence issued | MOA notarised, fees paid, licence in hand | 1 to 2 weeks after initial approval |
| Office and Ejari | Sign the tenancy, register the Ejari, tie the address to the licence | 1 to 3 weeks, unit-dependent |
| MOJ translator licensing | Application, document review, written and oral exam, committee decision, oath before a judge, stamp and card issued | Around 2 months |
| Activity and language-pair approvals | MOJ approval for the legal translation office and for each registered pair | Runs alongside the translator licensing |
| First certified client invoiced | Stamp in hand, indemnity policy active, work billable | Roughly 2 to 3 months from day one |
The company can be trading in two to three weeks. The certified business only starts when the stamp arrives, so start the accreditation early and use general translation work to carry the costs in between. Talk to a setup expert→
What are the ongoing costs and compliance for a translation company?
Two renewal cycles run in parallel here: the company's, which is annual, and the translator's, which is every three years. Miss the second and the office keeps its trade licence but loses the ability to certify anything, which is the only part of the business that carries a premium price.
On the company side, the DET professional licence and the Ejari renew every year, the establishment card and staff residence visas renew on their own cycles, and payroll runs through the Wages Protection System once you have employees. Office rent is usually the largest fixed cost for a mainland legal translation office, because clients and couriers need an address they can reach, and a shared flexi-desk does not serve that.
On the regulated side, the MOJ sworn-translator registration renews at around AED 3,000 every three years, and the mandatory professional indemnity policy renews annually at the minimum cover set in 2024 [2][3]. If your certifying translator resigns, the office cannot certify a single page until another registered translator is in place, so retaining that person is a compliance matter rather than an HR one.
On tax and filings, corporate tax registration and an annual return apply from the first tax period, VAT registration becomes mandatory once taxable turnover passes AED 375,000 with periodic returns after that, and the Ultimate Beneficial Owner register has to be kept current and updated whenever the shareholding changes. Economic Substance Regulations reporting was narrowed to financial years ending on or before 31 December 2022, so newer periods generally fall outside it, but keep the older filings on record. These renewals, returns and register updates are the recurring work our post-setup services handle, so the stamp, the insurance and the filings stay current while you run the desk.
Quick Math: A one-translator legal translation office in its second year carries the licence and Ejari renewal, the indemnity premium, a visa renewal or two, the amortised share of the AED 3,000 MOJ registration, and an accountant. Against certified pages billed from AED 80 to 250, plus rush and attestation add-ons, a translator turning out a steady daily page count clears that fixed base well before the year ends. The real risk in this business is idle capacity, not the cost line.
Can you open a corporate bank account for a translation company?
Yes, but not remotely and not overnight. UAE banks do not open corporate accounts fully online for a newly formed company, and a service business with no stock and no equipment attracts more substance questions than a trading company. Plan for in-person know-your-customer meetings and several weeks from application to activation.
The bank will ask for the trade licence, the MOA, the Ejari, passports and Emirates IDs for shareholders and the manager, and personal bank statements from the shareholders' home countries. Every UAE bank runs its know-your-customer checks face to face, so at least one signatory has to attend a branch meeting in person. There is no fully-remote account opening for a new UAE company, whatever an offshore agent promises.
The substance question is the one worth preparing for. A translation company holds no inventory and no machinery, so the relationship manager is really asking whether the business is real and where the money will come from. What settles that quickly is a mainland licence with a physical office, the MOJ registration sitting in the file, a short list of named UAE clients such as law firms, notary offices or corporate service providers, and a plain monthly turnover forecast. A free-zone translation licence with a flexi-desk and only overseas clients is the profile banks push back on hardest.
Based on our experience, the accounts that open fastest are the ones where the certifying translator is also a shareholder or the manager, because the bank can see the licensed person behind the revenue. Expect a maintained minimum balance, and apply once the MOJ stamp is issued rather than before, so the whole file tells one consistent story.
Real Client Stories
The office that could not certify. A founder set up a translation company and started quoting law firms for court-ready certified translations, only to find nothing he produced would be accepted, because no one in the office held an MOJ stamp. We restructured around an accredited sworn translator, and the certified pipeline opened. The company licence was never the thing that unlocked the work.
The guide that quoted a dead law. A client had planned his office around "Federal Law No. 6 of 2012," found online, and had budgeted nothing for professional indemnity insurance. The 2012 law is repealed, replaced by the 2022 decree-law, and PI insurance became mandatory in 2024. Once we corrected the framework, his setup was compliant and his costs were realistic. The stale source had understated both the rules and the budget.
The free-zone tax assumption. A client set up a translation firm in a free zone expecting 0% corporate tax on his fees. Translation is a professional service, not a Qualifying Activity, so the income was taxable at 9%, and the free-zone base could not produce court-accepted certified work anyway. He moved the certified business to a mainland structure. The activity, not the address, decided both the tax and the ability to work.
Set up your Dubai translation company the right way
Translation rewards operators who understand that the sworn-translator accreditation, not the company licence, is the real asset, and it frustrates those who work from stale guides. Since 2013, BusinessDubai.ae has completed 700+ company registrations across the UAE, including professional and regulated firms. We will help you decide between a general agency and a legal translation office, license it correctly on the mainland or in a free zone around your work, plan the MOJ accreditation and the mandatory insurance, and get the VAT and corporate tax treatment right, all with clear itemised pricing. Talk to a setup expert→ for a plan built around your accreditation. For the professional firm that instructs you most, see our legal consultancy setup guide, and post-setup services covers ongoing renewals and compliance.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I start a translation company in Dubai?
Choose your model, general or legal translation, get a professional trade licence with a translation activity, and for certified work register at least one MOJ-accredited sworn translator and obtain MOJ approval for a legal translation office. The accreditation, not the licence, unlocks the valuable work [1].
Do I need a licence to offer translation services in Dubai?
Yes, a professional trade licence with a translation activity. General translation needs only that. Legal or certified translation additionally requires an MOJ-registered sworn translator whose stamp makes the work court-accepted [1].
How do I become a certified legal translator in the UAE?
Register with the Ministry of Justice: hold a recognised degree, have at least five years of experience if you are an expatriate, pass the MOJ written and oral exam in your language pair, carry professional indemnity insurance, and take the oath. UAE nationals are exempt from the experience requirement [1][2].
What law governs translation in the UAE?
Federal Decree-Law No. 22 of 2022 on Regulating the Translation Profession, in force since the start of 2023, which replaced the old Federal Law No. 6 of 2012 that most guides still wrongly cite [1].
How many years of experience do you need to be a UAE legal translator?
At least five years of translation experience for expatriates. UAE nationals are exempted from the experience requirement. Both must still pass the MOJ examination in their language pair [1].
What is the difference between certified, sworn and MOJ-approved translation?
They refer to the same thing: a translation produced by a translator on the Ministry of Justice roll and stamped with their number, which courts, notaries and government bodies accept. Uncertified translation, however accurate, is not accepted for legal purposes [1].
Do I need professional indemnity insurance for a translation business?
Yes. Since a 2024 Ministerial Decision it is mandatory, with a minimum of AED 1 million for an individual translator and AED 5 million for a translation house. It is a licensing precondition, not optional [3].
Can I own a translation company without being a translator?
Yes. Ownership is open to 100% foreign ownership under the 2021 Companies Law. But to issue certified legal translations, the company must employ or retain at least one MOJ-accredited sworn translator whose stamp validates the work [6].
Do I need a mainland or free-zone licence for a legal translation office?
In practice, mainland. Court-accepted legal translation offices operate on a mainland DET licence with MOJ approval. Free zones commonly license general translation but are not the route to certified, court-accepted work [1].
How much does it cost to open a legal translation office in Dubai?
Roughly AED 25,000 to 60,000 all-in for the first year with one accredited translator, including the licence, office, a visa, MOJ registration and the mandatory insurance. The scarce asset is the sworn-translator accreditation [8].
Is unlicensed translation illegal in the UAE?
Practising the regulated translation profession without accreditation, and issuing "certified" translations without an MOJ stamp, is not permitted under the 2022 law. Certified work must carry a registered translator's number to be valid [1].
How much do legal translators earn in the UAE?
Certified work commands a premium, with legal pages commonly from AED 80 to 250 and specialised or technical work higher, plus rush and attestation fees. Margins are strong because the main cost is skilled labour and the licence is scarce [8].
How much does legal translation cost per page in Dubai?
Simple personal documents commonly run around AED 50 to 100, standard legal documents such as contracts and powers of attorney around AED 80 to 150, and complex or specialised work higher, with rush and attestation add-ons on top.
What languages are most in demand for translation in the UAE?
English and Arabic dominate the legal market, because Arabic is the language of the courts and government. Other high-demand pairs include French, Russian, Chinese, Hindi, Urdu and Farsi, but the sworn-translator premium sits on the Arabic pair.
Do UAE courts accept only MOJ-stamped translations?
For legal and official purposes, yes. Courts, notaries, ministries and embassies require the translation to be produced and stamped by an MOJ-registered sworn translator, and they verify the translator's number against MOJ records [1].
Can a foreigner become a registered legal translator in the UAE?
Yes, with a recognised degree, at least five years of experience, valid UAE residency, a pass in the MOJ exam, and the mandatory insurance. The accreditation is federal and tied to the individual and their language pair [1][2].
Is translation subject to VAT?
Yes, at 5% for UAE clients. Work for a genuinely foreign client can be zero-rated as an export of services, but Cabinet Decision 100 of 2024 denies zero-rating if the client is in the UAE for 30 days or more over a rolling year in connection with the supply [7].
Does a translation company get the free-zone 0% corporate tax rate?
No. Translation is a professional service, not a Qualifying Activity under Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025, so a free-zone translation firm's income is taxed at the standard 9%, not 0% [8].
How long does it take to get an MOJ translator licence?
Processing runs to roughly two months from application, including the exam and the committee's decision, followed by the oath before a judge and issuance of the stamp and card. Plan the accreditation as a distinct step after the company licence [2].
Is a translation business profitable in Dubai?
It can be. The UAE leads a growing GCC translation market, demand from courts, government, immigration and business is steady, and certified work carries a premium. The scarce sworn-translator licence protects margins against the crowd of general agencies [8].
What documents legally require Arabic legal translation in the UAE?
Documents submitted to courts, notaries, ministries and many government processes, including contracts, powers of attorney, court filings, corporate documents, and personal certificates for visas and family matters, generally require certified Arabic translation to be accepted [1].
Do documents need MOFA attestation before certified translation in the UAE?
Foreign-issued documents usually do. A degree, birth certificate or overseas company document is normally legalised in the issuing country, stamped by the UAE embassy there, then attested by MOFA in the UAE, and only then translated and certified by a sworn translator. The attestation comes first, not after.
Does a certified translation also need to be notarised?
Not always. The MOJ translator's number, stamp and signature are what make the Arabic version acceptable to courts and government departments. Some processes, including powers of attorney and certain corporate filings, separately require the underlying document to be notarised at a notary public, which is a distinct step [1].
Can an accredited translator certify work produced by someone else?
The stamp makes the registered translator personally responsible for the accuracy of the text, which is precisely what the mandatory indemnity cover exists for. In practice offices use unaccredited staff for drafting and volume work, but the sworn translator must review and stand behind anything issued under their number [1][3].
How do I add another language pair to a translation company in Dubai?
By registering a translator for that pair, not by amending the trade licence. The MOJ accreditation is personal and pair-specific, so French-to-Arabic certified work needs someone who has passed the MOJ exam in that pair. Adding languages means adding accredited people, which is why most offices start with English and Arabic [1].
Can I hire freelance translators for a Dubai translation company?
For general translation, yes, and most agencies keep a freelance pool, though anyone working in the UAE needs the right residence visa or freelance permit. For certified output the person whose stamp appears must be MOJ-registered, so freelancers can carry the volume work but never replace the accredited translator.
Can I use machine translation with human post-editing in the UAE?
For general, corporate and technical work, yes, and it is now standard practice across the industry. For certified legal translation it changes nothing about responsibility: the MOJ-registered translator must review and stamp the text and answers for it. Raw machine output is not a certified translation and no court will accept it [1].
Do court interpreters in the UAE need MOJ accreditation?
Interpreting in court proceedings sits inside the same regulated translation profession, so courts work from approved translators and interpreters rather than whoever a party brings along. Conference and business interpreting needs only a trade licence with the activity. Confirm the current court requirement directly, since practice varies by emirate [1].
What are the ongoing costs of running a translation company in Dubai?
Annual DET licence and Ejari renewals, staff visa and establishment-card renewals, the MOJ sworn-translator registration at around AED 3,000 every three years, the annual professional indemnity premium, corporate tax filing, VAT returns once registered, and keeping the UBO register current [2][3].
Can I open a corporate bank account for a translation company in Dubai?
Yes, with a UAE bank once the licence, office and ideally the MOJ registration are in place. Expect full know-your-customer checks, an in-person branch meeting for at least one signatory, questions about substance and named local clients, and a maintained minimum balance. There is no fully-remote account opening.
References
[1] Federal Decree-Law No. 22 of 2022 on Regulating the Translation Profession, in force from the start of 2023, replacing Federal Law No. 6 of 2012, and the Ministry of Justice roll of sworn translators whose stamp is required for court-accepted legal translation. UAE Legislation and MOJ Registration of Legal Translator
[2] Ministry of Justice sworn-translator registration requirements, examination, fees (around AED 3,000, renewable every three years) and processing time. Ministry of Justice
[3] Ministerial Decision of 2024 mandating professional indemnity insurance for translators and translation houses (AED 1 million individual, AED 5 million house). Norton Rose Fulbright
[4] Distinction between general translation (no accreditation) and legal, certified translation (MOJ sworn translator required). egsh.ae legal translation guide
[5] Practical scope of MOJ certification and the two business models (general agency versus legal translation office). egsh.ae
[6] Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies, allowing full foreign ownership of most professional activities. u.ae
[7] VAT on translation services and the export-of-services zero-rating under Cabinet Decision No. 100 of 2024 (the 30-day rolling "outside the State" test). FTA export of services and PwC VATP040
[8] Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 on Qualifying Activities (professional and translation services are not Qualifying Activities), and GCC translation market size and growth. Ministry of Finance and Astute Analytica GCC translation market









