Setting up a free zone company in the UAE runs in a fixed order: choose the zone, fix the activity and legal structure, reserve the trade name, get initial approval, sign a…
Setting up a free zone company in the UAE runs in a fixed order: choose the zone, fix the activity and legal structure, reserve the trade name, get initial approval, sign a workspace lease, pay and collect the licence, obtain the establishment card, then apply for visas and open a bank account. Nothing later can be brought forward — the establishment card cannot be issued before the licence, and no visa can be issued before the card. Where founders lose time is almost never the paperwork itself; it is choosing the wrong zone or writing the activity list too narrowly and having to amend it.
This guide covers how to pick the zone, the exact sequence, what each stage costs, how visa quotas are actually determined, and what happens in year two.
A free zone is a designated economic area with its own registration authority. A company incorporated there is licensed by that authority rather than by the emirate’s Department of Economic Development, and operates under the zone’s rules on activities, workspace and visas.
The two structural differences that matter commercially are ownership and market access. Free zone companies have long allowed full foreign ownership without a local partner. In exchange, they are designed to trade internationally and within the zone — selling directly into the UAE mainland market generally requires a distributor, a mainland branch, or a dual-licence arrangement where the zone offers one.
If most of your customers will be inside the UAE, that constraint may decide the question before cost does. Our mainland vs free zone comparison works through it properly.
There are more than forty free zones across the seven emirates. Most shortlists are short, though, because zones separate on only four things: the activities they licence, the workspace they can offer, the visas that workspace supports, and price.
| Free zone | Emirate | Typically suits |
|---|---|---|
| IFZA | Dubai | Consultancies, service and trading companies wanting a Dubai address at mid-range cost |
| Meydan | Dubai | Small teams and e-commerce operators; fast digital onboarding |
| SHAMS | Sharjah | Freelancers, agencies, creative and digital businesses at low entry cost |
| SPC Free Zone | Sharjah | Publishing, media and technology companies |
| SRTIP | Sharjah | R&D, advanced manufacturing and innovation-led firms |
| RAKEZ | Ras Al Khaimah | Industrial, warehousing and cost-sensitive trading operations |
| Ajman Free Zone | Ajman | Low-cost trading and service licences, small-scale industry |
The two most-compared Dubai options sit side by side in our IFZA vs Meydan comparison; the full set is on the free zone overview. As a rule: pick on activity fit first, workspace and visa capacity second, price third. A zone that undercuts the rest on package price but cannot licence what you sell is not cheaper.
Steps one to six are the free zone’s process. Steps seven and eight involve federal immigration and commercial banks, which is why they are the least predictable part of the timeline.
For individual shareholders: passport copies, passport photographs, current UAE visa page and entry stamp if you are in the country, and proof of address. Some zones ask for a CV or a short business plan, particularly for consultancy and regulated activities.
For corporate shareholders: certificate of incorporation, memorandum and articles, a board resolution approving the new entity, and a certificate of incumbency — all attested and, where not in English or Arabic, legally translated.
Attestation is the most common cause of delay for corporate shareholders. It happens in the country of origin and cannot be accelerated from the UAE, so start it before anything else.
Package prices quoted by zones usually cover the licence and a minimum workspace. The rest is separate, and it is where budgets slip.
| Cost component | Frequency |
|---|---|
| Licence fee | Annual |
| Registration / incorporation fee | One-off |
| Workspace lease | Annual |
| Establishment card | Annual, per company |
| Residence visa | Per person, per term |
| Health insurance | Annual, per visa holder |
| Share capital | One-off |
Two costs founders routinely miss. Renewal — licence and lease renew annually, rarely cheaper than year one. And compliance — corporate tax registration and filing, VAT above the registration threshold, UBO filings and, for some activities, an audit. Budget for an accountant from day one.
Visa quota is set by the workspace, not the licence. A flexi-desk supports a small allocation; a private office supports more, generally scaled to floor area; a warehouse more again. Each zone publishes its own ratio.
So the workspace decision is really a hiring decision, taken a year early. Size it for the headcount you are underwriting, not the one you have on day one.
The licence is the fast part. Visas are the long part. With complete documentation, most service and trading licences are issued quickly; industrial licences take longer because of premises and clearances, and any corporate shareholder adds the attestation timeline on top.
Bank account opening is the genuine unknown. It runs on the bank’s compliance timetable, not the free zone’s, and depends on shareholder nationalities, activity and expected transaction profile.
Incorporation starts an annual cycle: renew the licence and lease, keep the activity list matching what the business actually does, file corporate tax, maintain accounting records, and keep UBO and shareholder registers current. Free zone companies sit inside the corporate tax regime, and the preferential rate on qualifying income is conditional, not automatic.
Not directly as a general rule. Supplying mainland customers usually requires a mainland distributor, a mainland branch, or a dual-licence arrangement where the zone offers one. Service businesses are often treated more flexibly than goods traders, and practice varies by activity.
Not for incorporation — most zones accept remote applications with attested documents and a signed power of attorney. You do need to be in the country for the medical test and Emirates ID biometrics if you take a residence visa, and most banks require the signatory in person.
A registered workspace of some kind is required, but for service and digital businesses that is usually a flexi-desk rather than a private office. Industrial and warehousing licences require actual premises and will not be issued without them.
Yes. Most zones allow activities to be added or changed against a shareholder resolution, an amendment fee and, for regulated activities, a fresh external approval. Expect knock-on effects on visa allocation and bank documentation.
Requirements differ sharply by zone: some require only a stated capital that is never deposited, others require evidence of deposit, and industrial licences typically sit higher.
Generally a single-shareholder service licence on a flexi-desk in one of the northern-emirate zones, with one visa or none. The saving narrows fast once you need several visas or a physical office — past that point, choose on capacity rather than headline price.
The version of this that goes wrong is recognisable in advance: an activity list too narrow for what the business sells, a workspace tier one visa short of the team, attestation started too late, and a bank application that stalls because the activity and the expected transactions do not match.
We handle zone selection, licensing, workspace, establishment card, visas and bank introduction as a single process, and we will tell you when mainland is the better structure for what you are building. For the detailed procedural walkthrough, see our guide to setting up a free zone company.
Book a free consultation and we will shortlist zones against your activity, headcount and budget in one conversation.
Filed under Free Zones