In short
- Meydan, DUQE and Dubai South charge AED 12,500 a year for a license without a visa.
- At Meydan a founder with one investor visa pays AED 22,600 in zone fees in the first year.
- DMCC: AED 35,484 for a license with a flexi-desk, AED 43,780 with one visa included.
- Formation with us starts at $7,000 before VAT. Each residence visa costs from AED 3,000.
In this guide
What a Dubai free zone license costs, zone by zone
Each free zone sets its own tariff, so the same company costs a different sum in each. The table gives the entry price for one year: the zone's own published figure where there is one, and the Government of Dubai's list on Invest in Dubai for the rest. We register companies in each of these zones: the service is free zone company setup in Dubai and the UAE.
| Free zone | Entry price a year | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Meydan | AED 12,500 | License, flexi-desk, up to 3 activity groups |
| DUQE | AED 12,500 | License, 3 activities, lease agreement |
| Dubai South | AED 12,500 | License, flexi-desk, up to 5 business groups |
| IFZA | about AED 12,500 | License with 3 activities and a flexi-desk; IFZA publishes no tariff |
| Expo City Dubai | AED 12,520 | Business Hub package 1, with no visa |
| DWTC Free Zone | AED 12,525 | License and a co-working business address, with no visa; AED 2,000 more to register and a refundable deposit of AED 1,200 |
| Internet City, Media City, Knowledge Park, Design District | AED 15,000 | The license alone; AED 7,500 for a freelancer |
| DAFZA | from AED 15,000 | The license alone; the Smart Desk package costs AED 41,790 |
| JAFZA | from AED 5,000 | The license alone; AED 5,000 more to register, the lease on top |
| DMCC | AED 35,484 | Basic Biz: license and flexi-desk, with a place for one visa |
| DIFC | $8,000, then $12,000 a year | Incorporation, then the yearly license of a non-retail company |
The first five zones sell the same product at nearly one price: a license and a desk for a service or trading company, with no visa. In Internet City and its sister zones, in DAFZA and in JAFZA the figure is the license alone, and the office or the warehouse decides the bill. DMCC and DIFC cost more because a desk or an office of your own is part of every license there.
What moves the entry price
- Speed. Meydan's Fawri license is issued in under 60 minutes and costs AED 15,000, AED 2,500 more than its standard license.
- Activities. Meydan charges AED 1,000 for each activity above three groups.
- Kind of trade. JAFZA charges AED 5,000 for a trading license with up to seven activities in one group, AED 8,500 for two groups and AED 15,000 for general trading. At DAFZA general trading costs AED 50,000 a year.
- Sector. DMCC sells packages for crypto, gaming and AI companies at AED 31,000 with VAT. Dubai Healthcare City's Zawel commercial license costs AED 16,550 with two visa places and no office in the first year.
What the first-year bill is made of
A zone's price list has up to seven lines. Some zones fold the desk or a visa into one package, others charge each line.
| Line | What it pays for | Published examples |
|---|---|---|
| License | The right to trade in the listed activities for one year | AED 12,500 at Meydan; AED 20,285 at DMCC's standard tariff |
| Registration | Incorporating the company, once | AED 5,000 at JAFZA; AED 9,020 at DMCC, with AED 1,035 for the application and AED 2,020 for the articles |
| Establishment card | The company's immigration file, needed before any visa | AED 2,000 once at Meydan; AED 1,825 a year at DMCC |
| Visa place | The right to sponsor one person | AED 1,850 at Meydan, AED 1,750 at DUQE |
| Visa | Entry permit, change of status and the residence visa | AED 4,000 for an investor and AED 3,500 for an employee at Meydan |
| Medical test and Emirates ID | Required for each visa holder | AED 2,250 at Meydan |
| Desk or office | The registered address | In the fee at Meydan; AED 15,000–20,000 a year for a DMCC flexi-desk |
Share capital is a figure in the company's documents, and the desk-based zones do not ask you to pay it in. Meydan and IFZA register a company with no paid-up capital, and DAFZA sets the minimum at AED 1. DMCC asks for AED 50,000, which is refunded or used for the business after setup.
Three worked examples of the first year
Each case adds up the zone's published fees on 10 October 2026. Formation with us and accounting come on top and are fixed in your quote.
| Case | Lines | First year |
|---|---|---|
| A consultant who stays abroad: Meydan, no visa | License with a flexi-desk | AED 12,500 |
| A founder who moves to Dubai: Meydan, one investor visa | License 12,500, visa place 1,850, establishment card 2,000, investor visa 4,000, medical test and Emirates ID 2,250 | AED 22,600 |
| A trading company in DMCC with one visa | Jump Start package: license, flexi-desk, one residence visa | AED 43,780 |
In the second case the license is 55% of the bill and the immigration lines are the rest. Each employee at Meydan adds AED 7,600: a visa place, an employment visa, the medical test and the Emirates ID. So a founder with two employees pays AED 37,800 in the first year.
At DMCC the same lines bought one by one at the standard tariff come to AED 34,185 before the desk. The application costs AED 1,035, registration AED 9,020, the articles of association AED 2,020, the license AED 20,285 and the establishment card AED 1,825. With a flexi-desk that makes AED 49,185–54,185. The Jump Start package costs less and includes a visa.
The fees fall due in three stages:
- With the application: the license fee. The license follows in 1 to 5 working days in most zones.
- After the license: the establishment card, then the visa place and the visa fee. Visas take 1 to 3 weeks.
- During your visit to the UAE: the medical test and the Emirates ID.
What a Dubai free zone license renewal costs
The license is annual, so its fee comes back every year. Incorporation does not come back, and in most cases neither does the visa in year two: a residence visa is issued for two years. What is filed at renewal, and when: trade license in Dubai.
| Case | Year two | Year three |
|---|---|---|
| Meydan, no visa | AED 12,500 | AED 12,500 |
| Meydan, one investor visa | AED 12,500 | AED 12,500, plus the renewal of the visa, the medical test and the Emirates ID |
| DMCC at the standard tariff | AED 37,110–42,110: license 20,285, establishment card 1,825, flexi-desk 15,000–20,000 | The same, plus the visa renewal |
A first-year discount ends at renewal, so ask for the renewal price in writing before you sign. A license paid for two years or more at once costs less: Meydan takes up to 15% off. Some packages price the second year in advance: DMCC halves the second-year fee of its Crypto, Gaming and AI Centre packages.
Besides the zone's fees, the company keeps accounts every year and files a corporate tax return, even at 0%. A company that claims the free-zone 0% rate has its accounts audited. VAT registration is required once taxable supplies pass AED 375,000 in 12 months. Accounting with these returns costs from $350 a month with us.
How many visas a license carries
The entry price buys no visa. A visa place is a separate line, and each zone caps the number on one license: six at Meydan and at DUQE. A license with three places costs AED 17,750 at DUQE and AED 18,050 at Meydan. Expo City Dubai puts four visas and six activities into its second package, at AED 17,570, and IFZA's starter package with one visa costs about AED 14,900.
At DMCC the Basic Biz desk carries one visa place. The Jump Start package carries three and includes the first visa. In an office DMCC allows one visa for every 9 square metres, and at JAFZA and DAFZA the number follows the space you lease. Buy the places you will need next year together with the license: a zone charges more to add one later. How the visa itself is issued is on investor visa in Dubai and the UAE.
We do this for you Free zone company setup in Dubai and the UAE from $7,000
Costs outside the zone's tariff
- Attestation of documents issued abroad, when a company is among the shareholders, priced by the country of issue.
- Health insurance, required for every visa holder.
- The bank's minimum balance: none at a digital bank, up to AED 50,000 at a large local bank. What banks ask for is in how to open a business bank account in the UAE.
- Changes of name or activity and letters of no objection from the zone, billed per request.
A free visa in a package is paid for elsewhere: its government fees come back in the renewal price.
How to compare two quotes for the same zone
- Ask each agent for two lines: what the zone charges and what the agent charges. A zone's published tariff does not change from agent to agent.
- See that the quote has the establishment card, the visa place, the visa, the medical test and the Emirates ID.
- Ask for the renewal price in writing: a first-year discount ends in year two.
- Count the visa places against next year's team, since each later upgrade is billed again.
- Match the activities on the license to what you will invoice, because the bank compares the two.
What formation with us costs
Company formation in Dubai with us starts at $7,000 before VAT for a free-zone company with its license. The price includes the choice of zone, name approval, the drafting of documents and a check of your documents before anything is filed. A company secretary is included for the first year.
We match the zone and the activities to what you sell and to the visas you need, file the application and deliver the license, expected in 1 to 5 working days. Each residence visa costs from AED 3,000. The tax registration and the bank application go into the same quote. The work in each zone is on pages such as Meydan Free Zone company setup, and the whole service on the page about setting up a company in a Dubai free zone.
Cheaper licenses outside Dubai
The cheapest licenses are outside Dubai, from less than half of the Dubai entry price. By published fee for a license without a visa:
| Free zone | Emirate | Entry price a year |
|---|---|---|
| Fujairah Creative City | Fujairah | AED 3,999, with no visa |
| Ajman NuVentures Centre | Ajman | AED 4,888 |
| Ajman Media City | Ajman | AED 4,999, up to ten activities |
| Umm Al Quwain Free Trade Zone | Umm Al Quwain | AED 5,500 |
| Ajman Free Zone | Ajman | from AED 5,555, e-commerce package |
| SPC Free Zone | Sharjah | AED 5,750 for e-commerce and publishing, AED 6,875 for other activities |
| Shams | Sharjah | AED 5,760 for media, AED 6,885 for any five activities, VAT included |
| RAKEZ | Ras Al Khaimah | AED 6,000 for one activity, AED 12,000 with one visa |
Which free zone to choose in the UAE is a trade-off between the fee and the address. Banks ask a company from these zones for more documents than one from a Dubai zone. The choice between a zone and a mainland license is weighed in free zone vs mainland.
