The Essentials 

How can a company legally move its UAE registration without losing its corporate identity? 
The 2025 UAE Commercial Companies Law amendments introduce re-domiciliation in the UAE, letting companies relocate their legal seat between Emirates, mainland and free zones, or from abroad while keeping their legal identity intact. This allows businesses to preserve contracts, assets, and corporate history, enabling operational flexibility, smoother restructuring, and strategic growth. The reform positions the UAE as a global hub for investors and multinationals, offering corporate mobility as a standard feature, not an exception. 

In 2025, the United Arab Emirates once again demonstrated its commitment to modernizing its corporate legal framework with Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2025, a comprehensive amendment to the UAE Commercial Companies Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021). Among the most noteworthy and commercially impactful changes is the formal introduction of a regime for re-domiciliation in the UAE – a strategic reform that ushers in a new era of corporate mobility for businesses operating in and into the UAE.  

What Is Re-Domiciliation? 

Re-domiciliation, also referred to in the law as migration or continuation, is a legal process that allows a company to change its place of incorporation or legal seat from one jurisdiction to another while retaining its legal personality, rights, assets, liabilities and corporate history. Under the amended Commercial Companies Law, companies can now transfer their commercial registration from one competent authority to another without liquidation or the need to form a new entity.  

This feature of re-domiciliation in the UAE represents a radical shift from the past, where restructuring a company’s jurisdiction typically entailed cancelling the existing entity and establishing a new legal person – a process often fraught with administrative hurdles, contractual disruption, and commercial risk.  

Re-Domiciliation in the UAE: Scope of Corporate Mobility  

The re-domiciliation mechanism dramatically expands the boundaries of corporate flexibility available to businesses within the UAE. Under the new framework, a company may relocate its registration: 

• Between UAE Emirates (e.g., from Abu Dhabi to Dubai); 

• Between mainland authorities and free zones (including financial free zones such as DIFC and ADGM); and 

• In many cases, from foreign jurisdictions into the UAE, enabling foreign entities to bring their entire legal structure into the UAE without creating a new entity from scratch.  

This breadth of mobility places the UAE’s corporate regime on par with globally sophisticated jurisdictions that recognize legal continuation as an important part of efficient corporate planning.  

How It Works: Approval and Continuity for Re-Domiciliation in the UAE 

Although the legislative framework for re-domiciliation in the UAE is now established, detailed procedural requirements will be set out in implementing regulations and Cabinet resolutions anticipated to define specific filing steps, approvals and conditions.  

At a high level, the process involves several key features: 

• Shareholder Consent: Typically requires a special resolution by the general assembly or an absolute majority of shareholders, depending on the corporate form.  

• Regulatory Approval: The competent authorities in both the transferring and receiving jurisdictions must approve the transfer.  

• Registry Compatibility: Systems in both jurisdictions must be capable of supporting the continuity of registration and rights.  

• Absence of Impediments: The company must have no legal blocks (such as dissolution orders or pending liquidation mandates) on its commercial register.  

• Publication and Disclosure: The decision to re-domicile must be published in accordance with statutory requirements, ensuring transparency for creditors, stakeholders and the public.  

Crucially, once the re-domiciliation in the UAE is completed, the company continues uninterrupted as the same legal entity preserving its corporate identity, contractual relationships, licenses and operational history.  

Strategic Importance for Investors and Multinationals 

The introduction of re-domiciliation as a statutory tool carries profound implications across strategic, regulatory and commercial dimensions: 

• Operational Agility: Companies can respond more quickly to market or regulatory shifts by relocating to jurisdictions better aligned with their evolving needs.  

• Investment Attraction: The ability to migrate into the UAE without losing corporate identity enhances the UAE’s appeal as a hub for international capital and regional headquarters.  

• Restructuring Efficiency: Investors and corporate groups can streamline their organizational structures without costly dissolution and re-formation exercises.  

• Enhanced Competitiveness: Aligning with global best practice in corporate mobility reduces legal friction and makes the UAE more competitive compared to jurisdictions without such mechanisms.  

Implications for Corporate Planning 

For boards, management teams and legal advisors, re-domiciliation in the UAE introduces a powerful strategic lever. Companies considering relocation for tax optimization, regulatory alignment, market access or operational consolidation now have a statutory pathway that: 

• Avoids the need to terminate existing contracts and re-negotiate on behalf of a new entity; 

• Mitigates the risk of corporate discontinuity during restructuring; and 

• Preserves stakeholder confidence through seamless legal continuity.  

Additionally, entities planning cross-jurisdictional expansion especially those based outside the UAE can contemplate entry strategies that leverage this mechanism to maintain legacy operations while integrating into the UAE’s dynamic business landscape.  

Re-Domiciliation in the UAE: Corporate Mobility as a Pillar of Modernization 

The statutory introduction of re-domiciliation in the UAE Commercial Companies Law Amendments 2025 signifies a broader legislative intent to embed corporate mobility, flexibility and continuity as foundational elements of the UAE’s commercial ecosystem. By enabling companies to shift their legal seat without losing corporate identity, the UAE not only enhances its attractiveness to international investors but also equips businesses with a practical tool for dynamic corporate structuring in an increasingly competitive global economy.