The UK to Dubai transition — handled, in the right sequence.
Since April 2025, the United Kingdom has been a materially different place for internationally-mobile families, founders, and the businesses they operate. Our practice exists to design the move properly — Dubai-based corporate structure, Property Golden Visa, banking, schools, and UK tax-residency transition — done in the right sequence, the first time. We handle the personal relocation, the corporate redomiciliation, or both.
Begin a ConversationWhat changed, and why people are leaving.
Three shifts have made the United Kingdom a different proposition for individuals and businesses with international exposure.
The non-dom regime ended in April 2025. The 200-year-old tax framework that permitted long-term UK residents to keep foreign income and gains outside the UK tax net was abolished. A four-year transitional regime now applies to new arrivals; existing non-doms have lost most of the protections that drew them to Britain in the first place.
Capital gains tax was raised in October 2024. Main rates moved to 18% and 24%, and the carried-interest treatment for funds was reformed. Combined with the dividend-tax pressure of the prior parliament, the gap between UK and UAE personal taxation for active capital has widened sharply. For founders considering an exit from a substantial-shareholding position, the post-relocation tax position has become materially more favourable.
Income-tax thresholds remain frozen until 2028. Fiscal drag pulls more families into higher bands every year. Inheritance tax on worldwide assets continues to be one of the most aggressive in the OECD, and the corporate-tax rate at 25% is uncompetitive with the UAE's 9%.
The result is a measurable migration. Henley & Partners recorded approximately 9,500 millionaire departures from the United Kingdom in 2024 alone — the highest number from any country worldwide. Companies House data records a parallel uplift in UK-incorporated entities being wound up, struck off, or restructured into international groups during 2024 and 2025. Dubai is the leading destination for both individuals and businesses by a clear margin — for its zero personal taxation, its competitive corporate tax, its English-language operational environment, its long-term residency framework, and the practical fact that most of the peers ahead of you have already chosen it.
A relocation, in three phases.
Most clients take six to nine months from first conversation to settled life in Dubai. We orchestrate the sequence so that each phase prepares for the next — whether the move is personal, corporate, or both.
Plan
Months minus three to zero. We assess your UK tax-residency position, design the Statutory Residence Test plan, structure the exit-tax position on UK assets, choose the right UAE corporate vehicle (where a business is being moved), and select the right UAE visa route. Coordination with your existing UK accountants, solicitors, and (for corporate moves) UK company secretary throughout.
Move
Month zero. Dubai company incorporated or UK business redomiciled, Golden Visa application submitted, Emirates ID and biometrics scheduled, school applications in for the Dubai academic year, banking introductions in place. Your physical arrival is the gentlest part.
Settle
Months plus one to plus three. P85 filed with HMRC, P85-aligned UK exit confirmed, Dubai accounting and corporate-tax registration completed, residency stamping for dependants, customer contracts migrated where applicable, banking fully operational, household administration handed off. From this point we step into a quieter ongoing advisory role.
The complete operational landing — personal and corporate.
A relocation is not one decision. It is sixty or seventy small decisions made in the right order, in the right sequence, with the right professionals. We hold the thread.
The visa
Property Golden Visa (AED 2 million qualifying real estate), Investor-route Golden Visa for company directors, salaried-route Golden Visa for senior employed individuals, dependant residency for spouse and children, parent sponsorship where applicable.
The vehicle
Dubai company formation aligned to your operations — DET mainland LLC for trading and consultancy, the right Dubai free zone (DMCC, Meydan, IFZA, DIFC) for service businesses, ADGM where regulated structures benefit from Abu Dhabi's English common-law framework. Banking introductions and corporate-tax registration follow.
The business migration
For founders moving an existing UK operating company: the group-restructuring conversation, the question of whether the UK Ltd company stays in place as a subsidiary or is wound up, customer-contract migration so revenue is not lost in transition, intellectual-property assignment between entities, and continuity of employee arrangements where the team is moving with the business.
The household
Schools (KHDA ratings, application timing, deposit and acceptance), healthcare (cover suitable for the family rather than a generic policy), homes (rental selection, Ejari registration, utilities). Discreet, end to end.
The UK exit
Coordination with your UK accountants on P85 filing, Statutory Residence Test compliance, NS&I and ISA wind-down strategy, UK pension positioning, the optimal timing for property sale or retention, exit-tax position on substantial UK shareholdings. We do not give UK tax advice ourselves; we ensure the right UK advisor is engaged at the right moment.
The succession architecture
DIFC Wills for non-Muslim families — essential protection for UAE assets, without which Sharia inheritance defaults apply. DIFC or ADGM Foundations where the UK trust structure no longer works under the new tax regime — Foundations are now the most-used successor vehicle for British families and founders migrating wealth and shareholding out of UK trusts. Family-office architecture for those who need it. We coordinate with your UK estate lawyers throughout.
The ongoing relationship
Most relocations end at the moving box. Ours is structured to continue — annual structure review, regulatory drift monitoring (Dubai tax law has moved twice in three years), school transitions, second-generation visa renewals, and the slow, considered work of keeping the architecture fit for purpose as life and business change.
The UK → Dubai relocation cost calculator.
A short interactive assessment that combines Statutory Residence Test eligibility, indicative UK exit-tax position, UAE corporate-tax position for a relocating business, Property Golden Visa cost based on family composition, and first-year UAE setup costs. The output is a detailed multi-page report you can take to your accountant.
Provided without obligation, by way of a starting framework. Please note the calculator is general guidance and does not constitute UK or UAE tax advice — we recommend personal counsel before acting on any figure.
Request the report by emailBegin a conversation.
An initial consultation lasts thirty minutes. There is no charge, no obligation, and what is discussed remains between us.
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