Desk research against primary sources, with the issuing authority linked where a page states an official fee, rule or deadline.
The 50/50 structure works because the 2021 reform allows 100% foreign ownership in most activities, removing the need for a local partner to hold the balance — but equal shareholding does not mean equal treatment on the visa side. Each spouse's residency application is assessed against their own status, so one being the primary applicant and the other a dependant beforehand can affect how their shareholding is processed.
Joint ownership can support each spouse's own residency visa sponsorship rather than one sponsoring the other through the company, which is worth confirming with the licensing authority before the shares are split, since the intended sponsorship route affects how the shareholding should be structured from the outset. Free zones are generally more flexible here than mainland on foreign-national shareholding regardless of prior UAE residency.
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