Company Formation in Dubai · Licence + Premises

Your trade licence is the easy part. Your office is what decides everything else.

Mainland, free zone or offshore — the jurisdiction sets your tax position, your market access and your visa ceiling. Then a landlord, an Ejari certificate and a square-metre count decide how many of those visas you can actually issue. We handle the second half, and we make sure the first half is chosen with the second half in mind.

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Three routes, one decision

Route	Trade with UAE market	Office required	Residence visas
Mainland (DET)	Direct, no restriction	Ejari-registered premises	Scales with floor area
Free zone	Via distributor or branch	Flexi-desk usually bundled	Fixed by package tier
Offshore	Not permitted	None	None

Pick the route your business model requires — then size the premises to the headcount you plan to sponsor, not the headcount you have today.

~9 sqmEjari-registered floor area behind each mainland visa slot

2 – 5 daysTypical free zone licence issuance once documents are complete

31 Dec 2026Last tax period end covered by Small Business Relief

2.5%Dubai Municipality market fee on your annual commercial rent

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1. Choose the structure first

Mainland, Free Zone or Offshore

Every other decision — cost, visa count, bank account, whether you can invoice a Dubai client — follows from this one. Founders who pick on headline price alone usually pay to restructure within eighteen months.

Mainland (DET licence)

A company licensed by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism. You can invoice UAE customers directly, bid for government contracts, open branches in other emirates and run a physical shop, showroom, clinic or agency.

100% foreign ownership for most activities, following the Commercial Companies Law amendments.
A short list of strategic-impact activities still carries ownership or local service agent conditions.
Some professional licences held by foreign individuals still use a Local Service Agent.
Your activity code decides this, not the licence type — confirm it on the Invest in Dubai portal.

The trade-off: DET requires an Ejari-registered physical address. That single requirement is usually the largest line in a mainland budget.

Free zone

Roughly forty-five free zones operate in the UAE, each a separate jurisdiction with its own registrar, activity list, visa quota system and audit rules. The Dubai shortlist: DMCC, JAFZA, DIFC, DAFZA, Meydan, IFZA, Dubai South, TECOM — plus SHAMS and RAKEZ, accessible from Dubai but licensed elsewhere.

100% foreign ownership by design.
Faster incorporation, with a flexi-desk bundled into most starter packages.
The restriction that matters: a free zone company cannot sell directly into the UAE mainland market without a distributor, an agent or a mainland branch.

Zone selection is structural, not price-led. Commodities trade goes to DMCC. Regulated financial services go to DIFC. Logistics and warehousing go to JAFZA. Consulting, e-commerce and tech go to Meydan, IFZA or Dubai South. Cheap zones can add four to eight weeks to tier-one bank onboarding, which costs more than the fee saved.

Offshore (JAFZA Offshore, RAK ICC)

A non-resident holding vehicle. No office, no visas, no trading inside the UAE.

Used to hold assets, shares in other UAE companies, intellectual property — and, in specific cases, Dubai freehold property.
Registration fees start at roughly AED 3,250 to AED 7,500 before registered agent charges.
Typical all-in incorporation runs to around AED 18,000 depending on the registry.

Our position: if you are moving to Dubai, you want a mainland or free zone entity. Offshore is a wrapper for assets, not a way to live and work here. Anyone who pitches you an offshore company as a residency route has misunderstood the product.

2. The part most setup pages skip

Your Square Metres Are Your Visa Ceiling

A trade licence lets a company exist. Premises let it hire. On the mainland the two are welded together, and the arithmetic catches founders out in month eleven, not month one.

Mainland visa quota is allocated at roughly one visa per 9 sqm (80–100 sq ft) of Ejari-registered floor area.
A 50 sqm office supports around five to six sponsored people. A flexi-desk supports one to three.
Authorities apply discretion by activity — industrial and labour-heavy activities are assessed more conservatively than professional services.
The final number sits with MOHRE and GDRFA, not with your landlord.
Ejari must be registered in the exact legal entity name shown on the trade licence.

Visa planning quick reference

Premises type	Annual rent	Visa capacity
Flexi-desk / co-working	AED 8,000 – 25,000	1 – 3
Serviced private office	AED 15,000 – 50,000	5 – 10
Dedicated office, own Ejari	AED 25,000 – 120,000	10+, scaling with area

Good to know

Free zone quota is fixed by package tier, not measured by area.
Visas are tied to the company, not to the employee.
More office equals more future headroom without restructuring.
Ejari registration itself is minor — around AED 200 to 500.

The Instant Licence trap. DET’s Instant Licence issues a mainland licence in minutes through Invest in Dubai and defers the premises requirement for the first year by assigning a virtual business site. More than two thousand activities qualify, provided none needs external approval from Dubai Municipality, Civil Defence, the DHA or another authority.

It is a genuinely useful product. What founders miss is the renewal: DET will not renew the licence without a valid Ejari certificate, and the visa quota that was theoretical in year one becomes a leasing problem in month eleven — usually at the same time as a hiring plan. Operating past expiry is a commercial violation, and it suspends your establishment card and your ability to renew staff visas.

What we do about it: if you take an Instant Licence, we diary the lease search for month eight, not month twelve, and size the unit to the quota you will need in year two.

The market fee nobody quotes. Dubai Municipality levies a market fee of 2.5% of your annual commercial rent, collected through your trade licence voucher. On an AED 60,000 office that is AED 1,500 a year that never appears in a setup quotation. Ejari registration itself is minor — around AED 200 to 500 — but the fee attached to the rent recurs annually.

Get the structure right.
Secure the right office.
Scale without limits.

Book a free 30-minute structure call with our setup team. You get a jurisdiction recommendation and an office size matched to your hiring plan — before anyone asks you for a fee.

No obligation consultation

Jurisdiction & activity recommendation

Office & visa planning

Cost & timeline estimate

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3. Budget

What a Dubai Company Actually Costs in Year One

Government fees are predictable. Rent is the variable that moves a mainland setup from AED 40,000 to AED 90,000. Below are indicative 2026 ranges — ask any provider for an itemised quote and check it against them.

Mainland (DET) — line by line

Item	Indicative
Trade name reservation	AED 600 – 1,000
Initial approval	AED 500 – 1,000
MOA drafting and notarisation	AED 2,000 – 3,500
DET trade licence fee	AED 10,000 – 25,000
Dubai Chamber membership	AED 1,200 – 1,500
Establishment / immigration card	AED 1,000 – 2,500
Ejari registration	AED 200 – 500
Municipality market fee	2.5% of annual rent
Office rent	AED 8,000 – 120,000
Investor or partner visa, per person	AED 3,500 – 7,000
Medical fitness and Emirates ID	AED 400 – 800
Health insurance, per person, per year	AED 1,500 – 2,000
Typical year-one total, one visa, small office	AED 38,000 – 90,000

Free zone — headline licence fees

Zone	Starting licence fee
Meydan Free Zone	from ~AED 12,500
IFZA (Dubai Silicon Oasis)	from ~AED 12,900
Dubai South	from ~AED 12,000
DMCC	from ~AED 20,000
DAFZA / JAFZA	from ~AED 25,000
DIFC	from ~AED 50,000

Add roughly AED 4,000 – 5,000 per residence visa, an establishment card and immigration card at around AED 1,500 each, and any office upgrade beyond the bundled flexi-desk. A realistic first-year total is 1.5 to 2 times the headline licence fee. Renewals typically run at 70–85% of year one.

Our position

The cheapest licence is rarely the cheapest year. Price the bank account, the visa count and the premises together, then compare — and treat any quote that omits the market fee, the establishment card or insurance as incomplete rather than competitive.

4. Process

Licence to Keys

Two workstreams run in parallel: the entity, filed by a licensed formation agent, and the premises, handled by us. Bank onboarding runs longest and starts latest, which is why we begin the lease search before the licence issues rather than after.

Structure call

Activity, ownership, market access, visa headcount, budget. The output is a jurisdiction recommendation and a premises brief, in writing.

Same week

Name reservation and initial approval

Trade name cleared against DET or free zone naming rules, initial approval issued.

24 – 48 hours

Premises shortlist and lease

We shortlist units sized to your visa quota, negotiate the rent and cheque terms, and register Ejari. Free zone flexi-desk clients skip to step 5.

1 – 2 weeks, in parallel

MOA and licence issuance

Documents notarised, fees paid, licence issued. Free zone: 2 – 5 working days. Mainland with an Ejari lease: 1 – 3 weeks.

2 days – 3 weeks

Establishment card and visas

Immigration file opened, entry permit, status change, medical fitness, Emirates ID biometrics, stamping.

7 – 14 days per applicant

Bank account and tax registration

Corporate account opening is a bank compliance process, not a formality. Corporate tax registration on EmaraTax runs alongside it.

3 – 8 weeks

5. Where a brokerage adds something a setup agent cannot

Buying Dubai Property in a Company Name

For investors holding more than one unit, corporate ownership separates the asset from the individual, simplifies succession — you transfer shares rather than sell property — and keeps the beneficial owner off the public record. It is a common structure. It is also the area where the most confident wrong advice circulates.

Not every entity can hold Dubai freehold

The Dubai Land Department restricts corporate title to specific structures.

Read this before you incorporate for this purpose. Published guidance on which offshore registries qualify has changed more than once, and reputable advisers currently describe the list differently from one another. Set up the wrong vehicle and you own a company that cannot take title. We obtain written confirmation from DLD for the specific structure and the specific development before any incorporation fee is paid.

The 4% DLD transfer fee applies exactly as it does to individuals

Corporate ownership is not a transfer-fee avoidance scheme on acquisition. The saving, where one exists, sits in future share transfers — and that treatment is a question for your tax adviser, not your broker.

Offshore companies do not carry residence visas

If the Golden Visa is part of your plan, the ownership structure and the residency route need to be designed together. See Golden Visa Dubai.

Corporate ownership complicates investor-visa nomination

Confirm eligibility with DLD before transferring a personally held property into a company.

Which entities DLD recognises

Entity	Position
UAE mainland LLC	Recognised for freehold ownership in designated areas.
JAFZA Offshore	Long-established route, recognised by DLD for designated developments.
RAK ICC	Recognised since 2019 under arrangements with DLD; a No Objection Letter from the registry is required.
DMCC, DIFC and other free zone entities	Possible only where the zone holds an MoU with DLD, and only with DLD’s specific approval, granted case by case.
Foreign-registered company, direct	Not accepted; DLD guidance directs foreign companies to register through a UAE subsidiary.

Once the entity exists, we handle the purchase, DLD registration in the company name and the approvals that corporate title requires. See offices for sale.

6. Compliance

The Obligations That Start the Day You Incorporate

Dubai is low-tax, not no-tax, and it has not been no-tax since June 2023. Every obligation below applies whether or not you trade in year one.

Mandatory

Corporate tax registration, regardless of your rate

Every UAE juridical person must register with the Federal Tax Authority through EmaraTax and obtain a Tax Registration Number, including entities that will pay nothing. New incorporations are expected to register within three months of incorporation.

The late-registration penalty is AED 10,000.

The rate

0% to AED 375,000, then 9%

Corporate tax is charged at 0% on the first AED 375,000 of taxable income and 9% above it.

VAT. Registration is mandatory once taxable supplies exceed AED 375,000 in a rolling twelve months, and voluntary above AED 187,500.

Deadline · 31 Dec 2026

Small Business Relief, and its deadline

A UAE resident business with revenue of AED 3,000,000 or less can elect to be treated as having no taxable income at all. The relief is elective through EmaraTax, not automatic, and it applies only to tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026. No extension has been announced.

Because a new company chooses its first financial year-end at incorporation, the date you pick this quarter can determine whether the relief is available to you at all — a question for a licensed tax adviser before you file, and it stops being a question in January.

Conditional

Free zone 0% is not automatic

A free zone company pays 0% only on qualifying income and only if it meets Qualifying Free Zone Person conditions on substance, activity and audit. Non-qualifying income is taxed at 9% above the threshold. A QFZP cannot also elect Small Business Relief.

Also recurring: ultimate beneficial owner filings with your registry, annual audited accounts at most major free zones, establishment card renewal, Ejari renewal, and the market fee on your rent. Multinational groups above EUR 750 million in consolidated revenue have faced a 15% Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax since January 2025 — if that describes your group, this page is not your advice.

7. What we do, and what we don’t

We Are a Brokerage, Not a Formation Agent

Being straight about this is more useful to you than pretending otherwise. Makan Finder Real Estate L.L.C. is licensed by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism and registered with RERA under the Dubai Land Department. We do not file trade licences ourselves — that work is done by licensed corporate service providers and PRO agents we work alongside, and we will tell you which one is handling your file and what they charge.

Premises sized to your visa quota

Office, retail, showroom and warehouse search across Dubai, shortlisted against the headcount you plan to sponsor rather than the space you can afford this month.

Lease negotiation and Ejari

Rent, cheque terms, fit-out allowance, rent-free period and exit clauses argued from comparable transactions — then registered, so DET has what it needs.

Instant Licence follow-through

If your premises requirement was deferred, we start the search in month eight so renewal is not a scramble.

Corporate property acquisition

Once the entity exists, we handle purchase, DLD registration in the company name and the approvals that corporate title requires.

Prices argued from DLD data

Commercial rents and purchase prices built from recent Dubai Land Department transactions for comparable units in the same building. You see the comparables.

After the keys

Snagging, service charge disputes, sub-letting, renewal timing, and property management if the company becomes a landlord.

FAQ

Questions Founders Actually Ask

Can a real estate agency handle my trade licence?

Not directly. Makan Finder is a RERA-licensed brokerage. Licence filing is done by licensed corporate service providers we work alongside, and we are transparent about who is doing what and what it costs. What we handle is the premises, the Ejari, the visa-quota sizing and any property the company buys.

Do I need an office to get a Dubai trade licence?

For a mainland DET licence, yes — an Ejari-registered physical address. The Instant Licence defers that requirement for the first year using a virtual business site, but DET will not renew without a valid Ejari. Free zone packages generally include a flexi-desk that satisfies the requirement.

How many visas does my office size give me?

Mainland quota is allocated at roughly one visa per 9 sqm of Ejari-registered floor area, so a 50 sqm office supports around five to six people. Authorities apply discretion by activity. Free zone quota is fixed by your package tier rather than measured, and upgrading mid-term costs more than starting at the right tier.

Mainland or free zone — which is cheaper?

Free zone, almost always, in year one: from roughly AED 12,500 for a zero-visa licence against AED 38,000 to 90,000 for a mainland setup with an office and one visa. The question is whether the free zone restriction costs you more than the saving. If you need to invoice UAE customers directly, run a physical location or bid for government work, mainland is the only structure that does it.

Can 100% of my company be foreign-owned?

In free zones, always. On the mainland, for the large majority of activities following the Commercial Companies Law amendments. A limited set of strategic-impact activities still carries conditions, and some professional licences use a Local Service Agent. Your activity code determines it.

Can my company buy property in Dubai?

Some companies can. A UAE mainland LLC can hold freehold in designated areas; JAFZA Offshore and RAK ICC entities are recognised for corporate title, RAK ICC subject to a No Objection Letter; other free zone entities need a DLD MoU plus case-by-case approval. A foreign company cannot take title directly. Confirm the specific structure with DLD in writing before incorporating.

Does forming a company get me a Golden Visa?

Not by itself. A trade licence gives you an investor or partner residence visa, typically renewable on a shorter cycle. The 10-year Golden Visa runs through separate categories, including a property investment of AED 2 million or more. Many clients hold both — the company for the business, the property for the long visa.

How long does the whole thing take?

Free zone licence: 2 to 5 working days once documents are complete. Mainland with a lease and Ejari: 1 to 3 weeks. Each residence visa: 7 to 14 days. Corporate bank account: 3 to 8 weeks, and it is the bank’s compliance timetable, not yours. Plan on six to ten weeks from first call to a funded, staffed, operating company.

Can I do this remotely?

Most of it. Incorporation, name reservation and lease signing can be handled by power of attorney. You need to be in the UAE for the medical fitness test and Emirates ID biometrics, and most banks now require an in-person meeting with the signatory. We work with clients from Pakistan, India, the UK and the GCC on exactly this basis.

Do I pay corporate tax if I make almost nothing?

You register either way. Registration with the FTA is mandatory for every UAE company regardless of profit, with a AED 10,000 penalty for filing late. Whether you pay is separate: 0% on the first AED 375,000, and Small Business Relief can take a business under AED 3 million in revenue to zero — but only for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026.

Start here

Tell us the business, the headcount and the budget.

You get back a jurisdiction recommendation, an itemised cost sheet including the fees most quotes leave out, and a shortlist of premises sized to the visas you will actually need.

Book a free structure call See offices for rent

Visit our officeOffice No. 1929, Tamani Art’s Offices Tower, Business Bay, Dubai, UAE
Call+971 4 683 1005
Emailinfo@makanfinder.ae
HoursMonday to Saturday, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Licensing requirements, government fees and tax rules are set by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, the individual free zone authorities, the Federal Tax Authority, GDRFA and the Dubai Land Department, and are subject to change. Figures on this page are indicative and were compiled in September 2026. Makan Finder Real Estate L.L.C. is a real estate brokerage licensed by DET and registered with RERA under the Dubai Land Department; it is not a corporate service provider, a law firm or a tax adviser, and nothing on this page is legal or tax advice. Company registration is filed by licensed formation agents, and tax positions should be confirmed with a licensed adviser before you rely on them.