Free zone companies and Emiratisation
Our company is in a free zone. Do Emiratisation targets apply?
The situation
The MOHRE targets apply to private companies registered with MOHRE. Many free zone companies employ staff under the zone's own system and are generally outside these targets.
The law
- MOHRE Emiratisation targets: Apply to companies registered with MOHRE
What it means for you
Example: a JAFZA company with staff on JAFZA visas is usually not in MOHRE's target scope, while a mainland branch of the same group with 60 staff is. Check each entity separately.
What to do
- Check where each entity's staff are registered.
- Apply targets to MOHRE-registered entities.
- Confirm zone rules separately.
- Plan hiring per entity.
Confirm the scope for your entity with MOHRE.
We can do this for youEmiratisation compliance: targets for companies with 50 or more staff, 20 to 49 staff rules, Nafis and contributions: AED 2,500