Free calculator

Transparent pricing:
what your company in Dubai really costs

Four questions, then you see every fee on its own line. Including the ones that come later and that nobody else shows. No sign-up, no small print.

  • No sign-up
  • Every fee on its own line
  • Including the costs IFZA does not charge
How many visas?

Count yourself in. None means nobody gets residency, not even you. You would only own the company.

Why do I need a visa at all?

The licence is permission to do business in Dubai. It does not allow you to live there. For that you need a residence visa, and the visa hangs off the licence.

Without a visa you can own a company and run it from abroad. Being the owner does not get you residency either, that is not automatic. What you do not get is an Emirates ID, a personal bank account, a driving licence or local health insurance.

Every family member who moves with you needs their own visa. If you want to hire staff, each person needs a slot.

Anyone actually relocating needs at least one visa. Anyone who only wants to hold a company can do without.

How many visas make sense?

The licence sets how many visas you are allowed to issue. That quota costs money even if you never use it.

Up to the third visa, each additional slot adds 2,000 dirhams per year. From the fourth, the licence stops getting more expensive, but IFZA then requires a real office.

So if you need four slots, you get six more at no extra licence cost. The running cost per person still applies.

Three visas is the threshold. From four you take on the office requirement, but the quota is then open up to ten.

Already in the UAE?

Anyone already in the country pays a change of status.

Why does it matter where I am right now?

Anyone already in the Emirates, for example on a tourist visa, has to change their status. That costs 1,600 dirhams per person.

Anyone entering from outside does not pay it. They do need to time the flight, because entry has to happen after the permit is issued.

For a family this adds up fast. Four people in the country means 6,400 dirhams for the change of status alone.

Plan your entry after the visa is approved and you save the change of status.

For how long?

Multi-year licences are cheaper per year.

Is a longer term worth it?

IFZA gives up to 30 percent off if you book several years in advance. The discount only applies to the licence fee.

The annual registration fee of 3,500 dirhams and the establishment card renewal carry on undiscounted. That is why the saving on the total is much smaller than the advertised percentage.

A multi-year licence is still issued one year at a time. You receive a letter covering the term and automatic renewal.

Five years saves roughly a quarter against five single years. You do commit, and you pay everything up front.

General trading?

Trading across many product groups. Consulting, marketing or IT do not need it.

Why does my activity cost extra?

IFZA separates services from trading. Combining both adds 2,000 dirhams. General trading adds 10,000 dirhams.

These are not one-off setup costs. IFZA states in its own amendment sheet that they are charged again at every renewal.

Of the 826 possible activities, 244 also need approval from a second authority, for example food control or the transport authority. For 53 of those the approval has to be in place before the licence is issued at all.

Pick as few categories as possible. Every extra category costs again every year.

A desk with a laptop in a Dubai office, the skyline with the Burj Khalifa behind it at blue hour
The licence is bought quickly. What comes after it is the expensive part, and that is exactly what is listed above, line by line.
Understand first, then calculate

Before you decide

Five questions that come before the price. Sort them out once and you save yourself expensive corrections later.

Why a free zone, and why IFZA in particular?

Dubai gives you two routes. A free zone is its own economic area with its own authority. The mainland belongs to the city of Dubai and is run by the department of economy.

A free zone fits when your clients sit abroad or in other free zones. You own the company one hundred percent, you need no local partner, and foreign income is not subject to corporate tax as long as the conditions are met.

You need the mainland if you sell directly to customers in Dubai, open a shop or a clinic, or want public contracts. That route requires a real office with a tenancy contract, and the running costs are higher.

IFZA is one of the larger free zones and one of the few with fixed, published customer prices. That is what makes an honest calculator possible here. It is not the only good choice, but it is the one with the most verifiable numbers.

Clients abroad means free zone. A shop, a clinic or selling to end customers in Dubai means mainland. If in doubt, ask us, that costs nothing.

What is actually included in the trade licence?

The licence is permission to do business under your company name. It names the company, the permitted activities, the shareholders and how many visas you may issue.

The price also covers the business address and the shared desk. It does not cover the annual registration fee or the establishment card, which are billed separately.

The price depends on two things, the number of visas and the term. Everything else is a surcharge for particular activities.

The licence alone is never the final price. Registration and the establishment card always come on top.

What is this desk in the business centre, the FlexiDesk?

A FlexiDesk is a workspace in a free zone business centre that you share with others. There is no desk of your own, there is the right to work there, and you get a business address.

For the licence that is enough. Up to three visas IFZA does not require your own office space, the free zone address counts as the company seat.

From the fourth visa that changes. IFZA then requires real office space with its own tenancy contract, and that rent appears in no quotation. Budget several thousand dirhams a year for it.

Up to three visas the shared desk is enough. From four you need your own office, and that is the item that catches most people out.

What is the establishment card?

The establishment card is your company identity document towards the immigration authority. Without it you cannot apply for a single visa.

It costs 2,000 dirhams in the first year and 2,200 dirhams for every renewal after that. This is exactly the item missing from advertised prices.

When a provider advertises 12,900 dirhams, that is the licence and the registration. The moment you want a visa, it is 14,900.

No establishment card, no visa. Always count it in.

How reliable is the promotion?

IFZA runs a new promotion almost every month. The components change, the frame stays similar: discounts on multi-year licences and a waiver of individual surcharges.

The current promotion covers the new licence and the next three renewals, so four years. For a trading company that is the largest item of all.

You can lock the price with a 5,000 dirham deposit and then have until the end of November to complete the setup.

There is almost always a promotion. Closing by month end costs you nothing.

Want help? Message us.

We will tell you honestly whether a company in Dubai makes sense for you at all, whether a free zone or the mainland fits you, and what really comes on top in your case. Including when the answer is to leave it. The first call is free.

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Where we stand

Why we show you every single fee

Most providers quote a number that looks good and stay quiet about the rest. The establishment card is missing, the surcharges for your activity are missing, health insurance is missing. What arrives at the end is an invoice nobody planned for.

We do it differently. Every fee is listed on its own line, at the official free zone prices, together with the costs that never reach the free zone but still land on you. You should know what you are getting into beforehand, even when the number is bigger than the one in the advert. Hardly anyone shows it in this much detail, and that is no accident. Quote one lump sum and you never have to explain anything later.

And yes, if you set up with us, a fee for our work comes on top. We are not hiding that. We tell you beforehand which part is a government fee and which part is ours, instead of blending both into one number. Our part is fairly priced, and you know it before you sign anything. How large it is in your case is something we discuss on a call, because a setup with one visa is not the same as one with six.

Why we work this way: someone helped us at the start without asking for anything. This page and this calculator are our share of that, going back out.

Prices as of 11 September 2026, official IFZA Free Zone customer prices in Dubai, payment by bank transfer. The current IFZA promotion is included and applies to companies set up by 30 November 2026. This page is for information only and is not individual advice. US dollars converted at the fixed peg of 3.6725.