DWTC Free Zone business setup in Dubai: a one-year license from AED 12,000
DWTC Free Zone at the Dubai World Trade Centre issues a one-year license from AED 12,000, 3 to 5 working days after approval. We form yours from $7,000, license included.
DWTC Free Zone Dubai World Trade Centre
- from AED 12,000 DWTC license, valid one year
- 3–5 Working days after the initial approval
- AED 525 Business address with co-working, a year
DWTC Free Zone: what it is, its authority and its place in Dubai
2015A free zone by law, with its own authority
DWTC Free Zone is the free zone of the Dubai World Trade Centre, the exhibition and office complex that opened in central Dubai in 1979. Law No. 9 of 2015 established the zone with its regulator, the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority. The authority, a public corporation affiliated to the Investment Corporation of Dubai, registers each company, issues its license and processes its visas.
100%Foreign ownership, and the buildings of the zone
A foreigner owns 100% of the company, and the application and the articles are signed online, so no shareholder has to fly in. The zone takes in Sheikh Rashid Tower, Convention Tower, the five office buildings of One Central and, since 2024, One Za'abeel, with a metro station on the campus.
DWTC Free Zone visa quota by workspace: co-working, serviced office, own office
A DWTC license rests on a lease in the zone, which sets the number of visas. A co-working membership, the zone's flexi-desk, counts as that lease.
| Workspace | Visas | The zone's fee |
|---|---|---|
| Co-working, 5 hours a year | Up to 2 | AED 525 |
| Co-working, 30 hours a month | Up to 3 | AED 23,625 |
| Private office | Up to 6 | AED 57,750 |
| Serviced desk at WeWork, Regus or The Executive Centre | 2 a desk | Operator's price |
| Own commercial office | 1 per 7.4 sq m | Per lease |
| Home business, Expo Village | 1 to 7 | By offer |
AED 50,000Capital for an investor visa, and the terms
An investor visa asks for AED 50,000 of share capital in the shareholder's name. An employment visa runs 2 years, and an applicant abroad gets the entry permit in 4 to 5 working days. A visa beyond the quota costs AED 5,000.
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DWTC Free Zone license cost and fees, line by line
Our fee and the accounting are our prices, before VAT. Every line in dirhams is the zone's own, from its cost calculator and its tariff of September 2026.
Our fee for forming a DWTC company, license paid
from $7,000Get a quote- License for a year: professional, commercial, e-commerce or events
- AED 12,000
- General trading license
- AED 24,000
- Business address, 5 co-working hours a year
- AED 525
- Registration fee, once, and refundable security deposit
- AED 2,000, and 1,200
- Visa allocation, each of up to 6, and establishment card with the first visa
- AED 2,000, and 2,300
- Residence visa: employee, or investor
- AED 3,000, or 3,500
- First year with one investor visa, refundable deposit included
- AED 23,525
- Accounting, a month
- from $350
Who the DWTC Free Zone suits, and who should take another zone
A professional license with a business address costs AED 12,525 in the zone's fees, and the first year adds AED 2,000 to register and a refundable deposit of AED 1,200. Advisory, software, training and HR services are on its list.
The event management license covers conferences, exhibitions and seminars. At an approved trade exhibition a DWTC company sells its goods and services direct.
A virtual asset firm takes a DWTC license beside one from VARA, Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. A single family office license costs AED 24,000, a multi family office license AED 34,000.
A fund manager belongs in DIFC, a commodity trader in DMCC. Stock kept in a DWTC office is fined AED 5,000, so an online shop takes Dubai CommerCity. A shop in the city takes the mainland: company formation in Dubai.
DWTC Free Zone license types, the activity list and company forms
- Seven license types
- Professional, commercial for the goods the license names, general trading, e-commerce, event management, family office and virtual assets. A second type on the same company costs AED 15,000.
- 1,200 activities, 10 on a license
- The list follows the classification of DET, Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism. A license holds up to 10 activities, and one added later costs AED 1,500. Healthcare, education, food outlets and hotels first need their own regulator's permit, which we apply for.
- FZE, FZCO or branch
- An FZE has one shareholder, an individual or a company, and an FZCO 2 to 10. Share capital starts at AED 1,000 and is paid in when it exceeds AED 300,000. An existing company opens a branch, and one from another UAE free zone can transfer to the DWTC Free Zone and keep its history.
- Work in the rest of Dubai
- The license covers work inside the zone. For clients elsewhere in Dubai, DET licenses a branch run from the DWTC office for AED 10,000 a year or issues a six-month permit for AED 5,000. Each needs the zone's approval, which we request.
- Dual license with DET
- DWTC gives this name to the opposite route: a company with a DET license leases a commercial office in the zone and adds a DWTC company. With a Business Operating Permit, AED 2,000 a year, it works there on the DET license alone.
DWTC Free Zone compared with DIFC, DMCC, Meydan and Dubai CommerCity
| Free zone | License fee | First year with one visa | To the license |
|---|---|---|---|
| DWTC Free Zone | AED 12,000, valid one year | AED 23,525 with an investor visa, deposit included | 3 to 5 working days |
| DIFC | $12,000 a year, after $8,000 to incorporate | $20,750 in DIFC fees, office and visa apart | 2 to 4 weeks |
| DMCC | AED 20,285 a year | AED 43,780, Jump Start package | 7 to 14 working days |
| Meydan Free Zone | AED 12,500 a year, desk included | From AED 22,600 | 1 to 3 working days |
| Dubai CommerCity | Quoted by package | In your quote | No time published |
Corporate tax and VAT for a DWTC company: a qualifying free zone with mainland VAT
0%On qualifying income, in a qualifying free zone
DWTC's paper of July 2025 calls the zone a Qualifying Free Zone for corporate tax. A company that keeps the conditions of a Qualifying Free Zone Person pays 0% on qualifying income. That covers payments from other free-zone companies and the Ministry of Finance's listed activities, such as holding shares or headquarter services to a group.
5%Fees from mainland clients
Consulting and event fees from mainland clients are outside the Ministry of Finance's list, and the regime tolerates them up to 5% of revenue or AED 5 million, whichever is lower. Past that the company pays the standard rates: 0% on the first AED 375,000 of taxable income, 9% above.
AED 375,000VAT works as on the mainland
DWTC is absent from the Federal Tax Authority's list of designated zones, so VAT works as on the mainland. A company charges 5%, and VAT registration in the UAE is due once its taxable sales pass AED 375,000 in 12 months.
3 monthsWe file the tax registration
We file the corporate tax registration within the company's first 3 months: the zone asks for the certificate at every license renewal. Its renewal quotation comes 90 days before the license runs out.
DWTC Free Zone company formation in five steps
- day 11
Form, activities, workspace
Describe the business and count the people who need a visa. We choose the form, the license, the activities and the workspace.
- then2
Online application
We file on the zone's portal with the passports and the beneficial owner's details, and the zone gives its initial approval.
- after approval3
Fees, articles and lease
We pay the zone's fees, and you sign the memorandum and articles online, then the lease.
- 3–5 working days4
License
DWTC issues the license and the certificate of incorporation.
- usually 2–4 weeks5
Establishment card, visas, bank
We apply for the establishment card and each visa, from the entry permit to the Emirates ID. The bank gets the company's file from us and usually opens the account 2 to 4 weeks later.
Documents for DWTC company setup
Documents
Each shareholder, director and the manager
- Passport copy
- Emirates ID and residence visa, for UAE residents
- Sponsor's no-objection letter, for a manager on a UAE visa
A company as shareholder or parent
- Board or shareholder resolution
- Certificate of incorporation
- Memorandum and articles
- Organisation chart down to the beneficial owner
- Current license, if it holds one
- UAE embassy attestation, for a foreign company
You send them in your account. We check each document the day it arrives and tell you what is missing.
See the platformQuestions about DWTC Free Zone business setup in Dubai
Is DWTC a free zone?
Yes, since 2015, when a Dubai law set up a free zone inside the Dubai World Trade Centre. A foreigner owns 100% of a company there, and the zone's authority licenses it in place of DET.
Which free zone is best in the UAE?
For an office address in central Dubai, DWTC: AED 15,725 in the first year, a refundable deposit of AED 1,200 inside. A business with stock takes a zone beside a port or an airport: free zones in the UAE sets the fees side by side.
How is a DWTC Free Zone license renewed?
The zone emails its renewal quotation 90 days before the license expires. A late renewal pays AED 1,000 a month, capped at AED 3,500, so we file before the date.
Does the DWTC Free Zone have approved auditors?
It keeps no list for the audit: any UAE auditor registered with the Ministry of Economy signs the accounts, within 6 months of the year end. We close the books and brief the auditor.
How does a DWTC virtual assets (crypto) license work?
With VARA's Approval to Incorporate and a leased private office, the DWTC Authority issues a non-operational license, valid one year. When VARA grants the VASP license, the authority issues the operational one. VARA charges AED 40,000 or AED 100,000 for the application, by activity, and AED 80,000 or AED 200,000 a year for supervision.
What is the DWTC Free Zone contact number, and where is its office?
800 DWTC (3982) inside the UAE and +971 4 389 3999 from abroad. The free zone team sits on the 1st floor of Convention Tower, Monday to Friday, 8 to 5.
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Updated 13 October 2026. Reviewed by Vladyslav Drapii, Founder.
