What It Actually Costs to Set Up a Company in Dubai

Search for the cost of setting up a company in Dubai and you will find prices from a few thousand dirhams to well into six figures. Both ends of that range are real. They describe different things: a licence with nothing attached at one end, and a staffed company with an office and visas at the other.

This is how the total is actually built, which parts are fixed, which parts you choose, and where the quote you were given is most likely to grow.

The five things you pay for

1. The licence itself, issued by a free zone authority or, for a mainland company, by the emirate’s economic department.
2. Registration and approvals: the trade name, initial approval, the memorandum of association and any external approval your activity needs.
3. Premises: a flexi-desk, a shared office or a leased office, depending on the jurisdiction and how many visas you need.
4. Immigration: the establishment card that lets the company sponsor people, and then each residence visa.
5. Running costs: renewal every year, bookkeeping, tax filings and, for some companies, an audit.

The first item is what most adverts quote. The other four are where totals diverge.

Free zone licences

Free zones compete on price, and the cheapest packages are sold with no visa allocation at all. As a broad guide, a no-visa licence in one of the northern emirates’ free zones is commonly advertised at around AED 5,000 to AED 15,000 for the first year. The better-known Dubai free zones cost more, and the premium financial and commodities zones cost a great deal more, often AED 30,000 to AED 50,000 or above once their office requirement is included.

Price is not the only thing you are choosing. Banks and counterparties treat free zones differently, some activities can only be licensed in particular zones, and the cheapest zone on paper can become the most expensive one if its licence makes your bank account harder to open.

Mainland licences

A mainland company in Dubai is licensed by the Department of Economy and Tourism. First-year cost for a typical professional or commercial licence usually lands somewhere between AED 15,000 and AED 35,000 before visas. It moves with three things: your activity, whether that activity needs approval from another authority, and your office, because mainland licensing is tied to a registered tenancy and part of the fee is calculated from the rent.

Visas are priced per person

Each residence visa is a cost of its own: the entry permit or change of status, the medical fitness test, the Emirates ID and the visa itself. Budget roughly AED 3,500 to AED 7,000 per person, depending on the jurisdiction and whether the applicant is already in the country. The company’s establishment card comes on top, paid once and then renewed.

The number of visas you can hold is linked to your premises. A flexi-desk supports a small quota, and more visas normally means more space. A quote for a licence with six visas at flexi-desk prices deserves a second look.

The costs that arrive later

• Renewal. The licence renews every year at a cost close to the first year’s, and each visa renews on its own cycle.
• The bank account. There is no government fee to open one, but most business accounts carry a minimum balance and a monthly charge when you fall below it.
• Accounting and tax. Every company has to register for corporate tax and keep proper books, and VAT registration follows once turnover passes the threshold. Many free zones also require an annual audit.
• Document attestation. A corporate shareholder, and some qualifications, must be legalised in the home country before they are accepted here. That is paid abroad and is easy to forget.
• Health insurance. Every visa holder needs medical cover, and it renews along with the visa.
• Deposits. Some free zones hold a refundable deposit against each visa.

What moves the total most

1. How many visas you need. It decides your premises, and premises decide much of the rest.
2. Where your customers are. Selling directly to the UAE market points towards a mainland licence, whatever a free zone package costs.
3. Your activity. Regulated activities need extra approvals and sometimes specific premises.
4. Your bank. Choosing a jurisdiction without thinking about the account you need afterwards is the most common expensive mistake.

How we quote

We do not publish a headline price, because the honest answer depends on those four points. What you get from us is an itemised total for your chosen structure before you commit: government fees, licence, establishment card, visas and our fee. The figure you approve is the figure you pay.