Emirates Business Lounge
Free zones

Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority company setup

JAFZA opened in 1985 and remains the benchmark for industrial and maritime trade in the Middle East. It surrounds Jebel Ali Port, handles a significant share of Dubai’s non-oil trade, and offers everything from a small office to a multi-hectare plot on which to build your own facility.
From AED 25,000 (typical)

Indicative first-year licence

Scales with facility

Residence visa allocation

Jebel Ali

Location in Dubai

JAFZA at a glance

The UAE industrial anchor, beside the largest port in the region

Who JAFZA suits:

What JAFZA does well

What to watch

Activities

Commonly licensed in JAFZA

Not seeing your activity? The catalogue is far longer than this. Describe what you do in one sentence and we will find the code — or tell you honestly that another zone licenses it better.
Process

How a JAFZA setup runs

01

Activity and package selection

We match your activities to the JAFZA catalogue and pick the package tier that carries the visa quota you will need in eighteen months, not today.
02

Name reservation and application

Three ranked name options are screened and submitted with your incorporation application and shareholder documents.
03

Licence issuance

The authority issues the licence, share certificate and incorporation documents. Standard activities typically clear within three to ten working days.
04

Establishment card and visas

We open the immigration file, apply for entry permits, and run medicals, Emirates ID and stamping for each applicant.
05

Banking and tax registration

Corporate bank introduction with a prepared KYC pack, then Federal Tax Authority corporate tax registration and VAT where thresholds apply.
Questions

JAFZA questions

Office packages exist, including small units and flexi-desks, and plenty of JAFZA companies never touch a warehouse. That said, the zone’s cost structure is built around physical trade, so if you have no goods there are cheaper places to hold a service licence.

A separate non-resident registry administered by the same authority, used for holding companies and for owning approved Dubai freehold property. It grants no visas and no trading rights. See offshore company formation.

For standard, non-regulated activities with complete documents, expect the licence within three to ten working days. Residence visas add a further two to four weeks after issuance, and corporate bank account opening runs three to eight weeks in parallel. Regulated activities requiring external approval take longer, and we tell you how much longer before you commit.

Yes. We handle the activity selection, name reservation, application, licence issuance, establishment and immigration cards, residence visas, corporate bank introduction, and the corporate tax and VAT registrations that follow. You get one point of contact and one itemised quote covering all of it.

Free consultation

Thinking about JAFZA?

We will price it properly — licence, visas, office format and the renewal figure for year two — and tell you if another zone would serve you better for less.

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B1 Mall, Shop 3, Opposite Mall of the Emirates