Typical issuance for standard activities
In every UAE free zone
In most entry-level packages
| Configuration | Indicative first year (AED) | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Zero-visa licence, budget zone | 12,500 – 16,000 | Licence, registration, flexi-desk. No immigration file. |
| One-visa licence, budget zone | 20,000 – 26,000 | Adds establishment card, immigration card and one residence visa. |
| Two to three visas, mid-tier zone | 28,000 – 42,000 | Larger package, dedicated desk or small office. |
| Premium zone, small office | 45,000 – 75,000 | DMCC-tier registration, physical office, higher visa allocation. |
| Regulated / financial services zone | 90,000 – 250,000+ | DIFC or ADGM style, regulatory application and capital requirements. |
Add roughly AED 4,000–5,500 per additional residence visa and, where the zone requires it, AED 5,000–15,000 a year for a statutory audit. These are planning figures, not quotes.
On headline licence price, Meydan Free Zone and IFZA sit at the affordable end, with zero-visa packages commonly quoted from around AED 12,500–13,000 for the first year. But headline price is a poor guide. What matters is the fully loaded cost: how many activities you can hold on one licence, what each additional visa costs, whether the zone charges separately for the establishment card, and whether it demands audited accounts at renewal. A zone that is AED 2,000 cheaper on the licence and AED 1,500 more expensive per visa is the wrong choice for a three-person team.
Not automatically. Free zone companies are within the scope of UAE corporate tax and must register with the Federal Tax Authority like everyone else. A 0% rate on qualifying income is available to a Qualifying Free Zone Person, but only where the company maintains adequate substance in the zone, earns qualifying income as defined by the Cabinet decisions, stays within the de minimis threshold for non-qualifying revenue, and prepares audited financial statements. Miss any of those and the standard 9% applies above AED 375,000. See corporate tax registration.
Yes. Each free zone package carries a visa quota — commonly zero, one, two, three or six. You cannot exceed it without upgrading the package or the office format, so it is worth buying for the team you expect in eighteen months rather than the team you have today. Upgrading mid-term is possible but usually costs more than buying the right tier at the outset.
Most zones bundle a flexi-desk or shared workstation into the licence fee, which satisfies the registration requirement. Dedicated offices are optional at the entry level and mandatory only beyond certain visa counts or for regulated activities. Note that free zone flexi-desks do not automatically satisfy the substance test for tax purposes, and some banks look closely at whether an address is genuinely used.
For goods, no — selling into the mainland means importing through a distributor or paying customs duty at the border. For services, many free zone companies invoice mainland clients routinely, and several zones explicitly permit it for defined activities, but this is not a blanket permission and it varies by zone and activity. If a large share of your revenue will come from mainland UAE customers, tell us on the first call; it changes the recommendation.
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