Before you start

An issued Emirates ID and a valid residence permit
Passport with the residence entry
A salary certificate or employment letter for a personal account
For a corporate account: the trade licence, memorandum, shareholder documents, a business plan and evidence of expected activity

Step-by-step

1
Open the personal account first
It is the straightforward one and it is needed for everything else. Emirates ID, passport, salary certificate or employment letter and proof of address. Many banks will begin onboarding on the Emirates ID number before the physical card arrives.
In personWho: YouSame day to a few working days
2
Set up salary transfer to waive the minimum balance
A minimum balance of roughly AED 3,000–5,000 with a monthly fee below it is the standard retail product. Routing your salary to the account usually removes it. Arrange this at opening.
In personWho: You
3
For a corporate account, prepare far more than you expect
Banks want the licence and corporate documents, but also a credible business plan, expected turnover, named suppliers and customers, and often evidence of an office rather than a flexi-desk. Small free-zone companies with no local footprint are declined regularly. Approach more than one bank in parallel.
In personWho: You, with your company documentsCommonly several weeks
4
Expect substance questions, and have an answer
Post-2018 anti-money-laundering practice means the bank is assessing whether the company genuinely operates. A physical office, a local phone number, a website and named counterparties all help. A licence bought purely for a visa, with no evident business, is the profile banks refuse.
In personWho: You
5
Take a chequebook and treat it carefully
Rent and many commercial obligations are paid by post-dated cheque. A cheque returned for insufficient funds stopped being a criminal offence when Federal Decree-Law 14 of 2020 came into force in January 2022, but the payee can now take the cheque straight to the execution court as an enforceable instrument.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Emirates ID and valid residence permit
Passport
Salary certificate or employment letter for a personal account
Trade licence, memorandum and shareholder documents for a corporate account
Registered tenancy contract or Etihad WE bill as proof of address

Things most newcomers don’t know

The licence is easy; the bank account is the bottleneck.

People choose RAKEZ for the low licence cost and assume the company is then operational. Banks apply their own anti-money-laundering assessment and routinely decline small free-zone entities that cannot demonstrate real activity — no office, no counterparties, no plausible turnover. Budget several weeks, prepare a genuine business plan, and apply to more than one bank at once.

Source: UAE corporate banking compliance practice; Central Bank AML rules

A bounced cheque is no longer a crime, and the exposure is faster rather than lower.

Federal Decree-Law 14 of 2020, in force from January 2022, removed criminal liability for a cheque returned for insufficient funds — and in the same reform made the cheque directly enforceable through the execution court. Your landlord or supplier can move to enforcement against your assets without first winning a civil trial. Keep every dated cheque funded.

Source: Federal Decree-Law 14 of 2020, in force January 2022

Your bank is federal even though your utility and your tenancy are not.

UAE banks are Central Bank licensed and operate nationwide, so living in RAK constrains nothing about which bank you use. Your tenancy registration, though, is with RAK Municipality and your utility account is with Etihad Water and Electricity. Newcomers often get this backwards and assume they must bank locally while trying to use Dubai's rental systems.

Source: Central Bank of the UAE; RAK Municipality

Salary transfer is the lever that removes the minimum balance fee.

The standard retail account carries a minimum balance of a few thousand dirhams with a monthly penalty below it. Nearly every bank waives it on a salary-transfer account. It is a five-minute conversation at opening and a much harder one afterwards, and it is the most common avoidable cost a new resident carries for a year.

Source: UAE retail banking practice

Common mistakes to avoid

Forming a RAKEZ company and assuming a corporate bank account follows automatically. It frequently does not.
Applying to only one bank for a corporate account and losing weeks to a single refusal.
Writing post-dated cheques without keeping every dated cheque funded.
Waiting for the physical Emirates ID card when the number may already be enough to start.
Letting the bank's copy of your residence permit or trade licence expire, which restricts the account.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.

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