Free Zone Company Setup in the UAE

There are more than forty free zones in the UAE and they are not equivalent. They differ on price, on which activities they will licence, on how many visas they release per package, on whether they demand a physical desk, and on how easily a bank will open an account for a company registered there. That last point catches more people out than any other.

We register companies across the major zones including IFZA, Meydan, SPC, RAKEZ, Ajman Free Zone and Ajman Media City, and we pick on fit rather than on which zone pays the highest agent commission.

What a free zone licence gives you

100% foreign ownership with no local partner. Full repatriation of capital and profits. No customs duty on goods held inside the zone. A defined visa quota attached to your package. And, where the conditions are met, 0% corporate tax on qualifying income.

You also get a corporate structure banks recognise, share certificates, a certificate of incorporation and the commercial registry entry you need to sign contracts and open accounts.

The limitation nobody mentions until later

A free zone company cannot invoice mainland UAE customers directly for most activities. If your buyers are UAE-based businesses or consumers outside your zone, you need a mainland distributor, a dual licence or a mainland branch.

This is the single most expensive mistake in UAE company formation, because the fix is a second licence. We ask who your customers are before recommending a zone, not after.

Choosing between the major zones

Cost-led setups usually land in Ajman Free Zone, Ajman Media City or SPC, where a licence with no visa starts low and packages scale cleanly as you add visas.

Dubai-address setups usually mean IFZA or Meydan, which carry a Dubai licence and a Dubai address at a premium over the northern Emirates but well below a mainland DED licence with office rent.

RAKEZ suits light industrial, manufacturing and warehousing, where you need physical space at a sensible rate rather than a flexi-desk.

Activity matters as much as price. Some zones will not licence certain consultancies, education, healthcare or financial activities at all, and finding that out after payment is a wasted month.

What our free zone packages include

Trade licence, lease or flexi-desk agreement, MOA and AOA where applicable, commercial registry entry, share certificate, certificate of incorporation, certificate of incumbency, a bank letter for account opening, branch registration certificate and a free company stamp.

Visa packages add investor security approval, e-channel registration and guarantee, establishment card, ICP licence activation, entry permit, status change, medical, residence visa and Emirates ID. Our licence-only package starts at AED 4,888 a year, with one visa at AED 10,800 and two at AED 16,200.