New to ADGM? A First-Week Checklist for Newly Licensed Firms

The licence has landed. After weeks of structuring, document-gathering and Registration Authority back-and-forth, you are now the proud holder of an ADGM commercial licence - and a slightly daunting blank page. This is the moment where momentum either builds or stalls. We have watched newly licensed firms lose a month simply because they did not know what to tackle first, and we have watched others be fully operational within days because they worked a clear list. So here is that list: the five things to do in your first week, each one genuinely actionable, in roughly the order that keeps everything else moving. Treat it as a sequence, not a menu - some of these have long lead times and need starting now.

One: confirm your registered office is genuinely in order

Your licence assumes a registered office, but "assumes" is not "confirmed," so make this your first check. Verify that your registered office address is correctly recorded against the company in the ADGM register and that your agreement for the space is signed, current and matches what the Registration Authority has on file. For a non-regulated firm this is your allocated desk; for a regulated firm it is your private office; for an SPV it is your corporate service provider's address. The reason this comes first is that almost everything else - the bank, the establishment card, your official correspondence - keys off a clean, verifiable registered office. If there is any mismatch, fix it before it cascades. Our explainer on the ADGM registered office address covers what "in order" actually means.

Two: open a corporate bank account - start now

This is the item that catches people out, because it is the one with the longest and least controllable lead time. Banks run their own independent due diligence, and that process takes weeks regardless of how clean your file is. So begin it in week one, not when you happen to need the account. Prepare the pack the banks will ask for: your commercial licence, your incorporation documents, your shareholding and ultimate-beneficial-ownership structure, board resolutions authorising the account, and proof of your business activity. Approach more than one bank in parallel if you can, because timelines vary and a single application is a single point of failure. The firms that start banking on day one are operating smoothly while the firms that left it for later are still waiting.

Three: get your establishment card and start visas

With the licence in hand, apply for your establishment card - the document that registers your company with the immigration authorities and unlocks your visa quota. Until you have it, you cannot sponsor anyone. Once it is issued, start your visa applications, because they too take time. Know your allocation: a standard company typically gets two visas per desk, a tech startup up to three per desk, and an office is generally calculated at one visa per eight square metres. Map your near-term hiring against that quota now, so you know whether your current space supports the headcount you are planning. If it does not, better to learn it in week one than at the moment you are trying to onboard a hire. Sequence the establishment card first, then the individual visas behind it.

Four: get the workspace genuinely operational

A registered office that satisfies the register is not the same as a workspace you can actually run a business from, so close that gap early. Make sure your desk or office is set up to work: internet that holds up on calls, access credentials and entry passes for your team, meeting-room booking sorted, mail and deliveries routed correctly, and any printing or facilities you rely on confirmed. This sounds mundane, but a firm that cannot reliably take a client call or receive a courier in its first week is quietly losing credibility. If you are still deciding between a desk and a private office for how you actually work day to day, our comparison of a dedicated desk versus a private office in ADGM helps you match the space to the way your team operates.

Five: update the outside world with your ADGM address

The final first-week task is the one most often forgotten, and it matters more than it looks. Your company is now an ADGM entity, and everything the outside world sees should reflect that. Update your website footer and contact page, your email signatures, your invoices and your contract templates with the new ADGM registered address and entity details. Get your trade name and address consistent across the board - banks, clients and counterparties will cross-check, and a mismatch between your licence, your website and your invoices creates needless friction and compliance questions. This is also the moment your ADGM credibility starts working for you: an address that signals a regulated, common-law jurisdiction does quiet trust-building on every document it appears on, so make sure it appears everywhere.

A worked first week

Here is how a two-founder, non-regulated firm might sequence its first five days:

• Day one: confirm the registered desk is correctly recorded and the agreement matches the register; gather the banking pack.
• Day two: submit corporate bank account applications to two banks in parallel.
• Day three: apply for the establishment card; map the two-visas-per-desk allocation against the hiring plan.
• Day four: get the workspace fully operational - internet, passes, mail, meeting rooms.
• Day five: update website, signatures, invoices and contracts with the new ADGM address.

By the end of the week, the slow-moving items - banking and visas - are in motion, and the fast items are done. That is the whole goal: front-load the things that take time so they are working in the background while you get on with the business. If you are reading this before your licence has landed and want the full picture of how you got here, our guide on how to set up a company in ADGM walks the earlier stages, and our note on the cheapest way to get an ADGM address covers the registered-office decision behind item one.

Frequently asked questions

What should I do first in my very first week?

Confirm your registered office is correctly recorded and start your corporate bank account application. The registered office underpins everything else, and the bank account has the longest lead time - so getting both moving on day one prevents bottlenecks later.

Why does the bank account take so long?

Banks run their own independent due diligence on your structure, ownership and activity, and that compliance process runs on its own timeline regardless of how complete your documents are. Starting in week one and applying to more than one bank in parallel is the best way to avoid being held up.

How many visas can I get?

Allocation depends on your setup: typically two visas per desk for a standard company, up to three per desk for a tech startup, and around one visa per eight square metres for an office. Map your hiring against this early so you know whether your space supports your plans.

Do I really need to update all my documents straight away?

Yes. Banks, clients and counterparties cross-check your address against your licence, and inconsistency creates compliance friction and erodes trust. Updating your website, signatures, invoices and contracts in week one also lets your new ADGM address start doing its credibility work immediately.

Talk to MY Coworking

Just received your ADGM licence and want a smooth first week? We are an ADGM business centre on Al Reem Island, and we help newly licensed firms get their registered office confirmed, their workspace operational and their setup done right. Email contact@mycoworking.ae and we will get you running.

We're on Al Reem Island — 2312 Addax Tower, City of Lights, Abu Dhabi. Email contact@mycoworking.ae to book a tour or get a same-day quote.