Dubai Company Setup Cost: Licence, Visas and All-In Price

Key takeaways

• There's no single official all-in figure for opening a UAE company, because the licence fee, the office requirement and the visa cost are each set separately by the mainland authority or free zone you register with, and by the business activity you choose.
• Free zones publish their own starting prices rather than a shared schedule: Ajman Free Zone lists AED 4,888 for a zero-visa licence, while Meydan Free Zone lists AED 12,500 for its standard digital licence, both as of September 2026.
• A first residence visa typically adds several thousand dirhams once the visa fee, medical test, Emirates ID and immigration establishment card are counted; Meydan Free Zone publishes a first investor visa package at roughly AED 7,850 on top of its licence.
• Dubai's mainland authority has no published flat licence fee either. Invest in Dubai's business setup service quotes mainland formation per activity and legal form rather than at one fixed price.
• A quote showing only the licence fee, without the establishment card, per-visa costs and office or Ejari cost, understates first-year spend, sometimes by a wide margin.
• Whatever a company pays to set up, it still has to register for corporate tax, and owes 9% only once taxable income passes AED 375,000 under Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, a cost the formation price never includes.

Why isn't there one fixed price to open a company in Dubai?

There's no single official all-in figure because the licence fee, the office requirement and the visa cost are set independently by whichever mainland authority or free zone issues the licence, and each also varies by business activity and legal form. A trading licence for the same activity can cost a fraction in one free zone what it costs in another, and the visa cost on top depends on which immigration authority processes it, not on the company's size or turnover.

This is different from a figure like the corporate tax threshold, which one federal law fixes for every company. Formation cost sits with more than 40 free zones plus each emirate's own mainland authority, none of which publish a joint fee list, so any single number quoted online is either one provider's package or an average, not an official figure.

What does a UAE free zone licence actually cost?

Free zone licences range from around AED 4,888 for a zero-visa package to AED 15,000 or more for an instant licence with a visa allocation, and each free zone sets its own starting price rather than following a shared schedule.

Accurate as of September 2026. Free zones change packages often, so treat this as a starting point rather than a quote.

What does a UAE mainland licence cost?

Dubai's mainland authority doesn't publish one fixed trade licence fee either, because the cost depends on the legal form, the activity and how many external approvals it needs; Invest in Dubai's business setup service quotes formation per case rather than at a flat rate. Behind that quote sit several separate charges: trade name reservation, initial approval, a Memorandum of Association for a company structure, any external approval an activity requires (from bodies such as the Ministry of Interior or a health authority), Ejari registration for the business premises, and final registration with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce.

Each emirate runs its own mainland authority with its own fees, so a Dubai figure doesn't transfer to Abu Dhabi's Department of Economic Development or Sharjah's equivalent. If most of your business runs through mainland channels, request the itemised quote from that emirate's authority rather than applying a Dubai number elsewhere.

What do visas add to the total, and what's in that cost?

A first residence visa typically adds several thousand dirhams on top of the licence once the visa fee, immigration establishment card, medical test and Emirates ID are counted, though the split differs by authority. Meydan Free Zone, for example, publishes an investor visa fee of AED 4,000, an employee visa fee of AED 3,500, a one-time immigration establishment card of AED 2,000, and medical test and Emirates ID assistance from AED 2,250, which puts its first investor visa package at roughly AED 7,850 on top of the trade licence.

Source: meydanfz.ae, checked September 2026. Dubai's GDRFA, the federal ICP and MOHRE for mainland work permits price these same components differently, so this is one worked example, not a UAE-wide rate; ask any authority for its own breakdown before comparing.

What else gets left out of a formation quote?

A licence-plus-visa quote still leaves out costs that land within the first year regardless of jurisdiction: Ejari-registered office rent for a mainland company, a flexi-desk or office renewal for a free zone company, translation and attestation if incorporation documents originate outside the UAE, and the bank's own account-opening requirements. Some banks want at least one visa holder tied to the company before opening a corporate account, which can force a visa cost a zero-visa package was chosen to avoid.

How do you get an accurate all-in quote for your company?

The only reliable way to reach a real all-in figure is a written quote from the specific mainland authority or free zone, itemised by licence, establishment card, per-visa cost and office or Ejari cost for your exact activity and visa count.

1. Fix the business activity and legal form first, since both change the licence fee at every authority.
2. Decide the visa count needed in year one, since the establishment card is usually a one-time company cost while each visa is priced per person.
3. Ask for the visa fee, medical test, Emirates ID and establishment card as four separate line items rather than one bundled visa cost.
4. Confirm the office or Ejari requirement and its renewal price, not only the first-year figure.
5. Get the second-year renewal cost in writing alongside the first-year quote, since some packages price year one below the standard renewal.

What does it cost to keep the company running after year one?

Every UAE company carries recurring costs once the setup year ends: licence renewal, immigration file and visa renewals, office or desk renewal, and, once revenue crosses set thresholds, VAT and corporate tax obligations the formation price never included. Corporate tax applies at 9% once taxable income passes AED 375,000 under Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022, and VAT registration becomes mandatory once taxable supplies cross the same AED 375,000 over any rolling 12 months under Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017.

If you'd rather not track licence, visa and tax renewal dates by hand once the company is formed, the free UAE compliance calendar lists them for your company as a PDF and calendar file.

AED 7,850: Meydan Free Zone's published cost of a first investor visa, combining the visa fee, immigration establishment card, medical test and Emirates ID assistance, on top of its trade licence. Source: meydanfz.ae, checked September 2026.

What most guides don't tell you

• A "cost of a UAE company" article often quotes a formation agent's package price as though it were the free zone's own number, when it carries a reseller markup; check the authority's or free zone's own site before comparing figures across providers.
• A quote that says a licence comes "with visa included" usually means the visa fee alone, not the medical test, Emirates ID and establishment card that come with it; ask for all four line items before comparing two offers.
• A zero-visa package looks cheapest on paper until the bank asks for a visa holder before opening a corporate account, which then adds the visa cost the package was chosen to avoid.
• The first-year price and the renewal price aren't always the same number. Some free zones discount the entry year, particularly around the establishment card and immigration file, so ask for the second-year cost before signing.

Which deadlines apply to your company once it's set up?

Once a UAE company is licensed, it starts tracking licence renewal, visa expiry, corporate tax registration and VAT registration if turnover crosses the threshold, each on its own authority's clock. The free UAE compliance calendar turns these into a personalised list for your company, built from a few questions, delivered as a PDF and a calendar file.

Frequently asked questions

Mainland vs free zone company in Dubai, which one is better for my business? Neither is better in general; it depends on your customers and, closely tied to that, on cost. Mainland suits direct sales to UAE government bodies or mainland companies, while free zone often suits a cross-border or digital business, and the licence and visa costs differ by jurisdiction rather than by which is "better."

What is the cheapest free zone to set up a company in the UAE in 2026? Based on prices free zones publish themselves, Ajman Free Zone's zero-visa package at AED 4,888 is the lowest fixed starting price available as of September 2026, though it excludes any visa cost that a package like Umm Al Quwain Free Trade Zone's AED 4,949 already includes.

Can I own 100% of a mainland company in the UAE now? Yes, for most commercial and industrial activities, under Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020 amending the Commercial Companies Law, and this doesn't change the licence fee. A short list of activities the Cabinet treats as having strategic impact still needs a different structure.

Which business activities still need a local Emirati partner or agent? Activities the Cabinet classifies as having strategic impact, which Dubai Economy has said covers seven sectors including security, defence and telecommunications, still sit outside the full foreign ownership rule. Separately, some professional licences work through a Local Service Agent, a UAE national paid a fixed fee with no shares, purely for government liaison, and that fee is a real line item in the setup cost.

What is the difference between an LLC, a sole establishment and a branch in the UAE? An LLC suits two or more shareholders and limits each shareholder's liability to their share of the capital. A sole establishment has one owner with unlimited personal liability and, for many professional activities, needs a Local Service Agent rather than a shareholder partner. A branch extends a foreign or UAE parent company's own licence into a new emirate or free zone without creating a separate legal entity, so the parent carries the liability, and each structure carries its own registration cost.

About Qawi · Qawi is a corporate services firm licensed in the Sharjah Media City (SHAMS) free zone, handling company formation, visas and PRO, bookkeeping, VAT and corporate tax for UAE businesses. Guides are researched from FTA, Ministry of Finance and free zone sources. Qawi on LinkedIn

Sources

• Ajman Free Zone (ANCFZ) packages and offers
• Umm Al Quwain Free Trade Zone, business setup licence and visa package
• RAKEZ, company setup pricing
• Meydan Free Zone
• SHAMS, Sharjah Media City free zone business setup
• IFZA, business setup
• Invest in Dubai, mainland company set-up
• Full foreign ownership of commercial companies, The Official Portal of the UAE Government
• Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses, Ministry of Finance
• Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017 on Value Added Tax, Ministry of Finance

Last checked: 30 September 2026. This is general information, not tax or legal advice for your specific situation.