Every line item priced separately — licence, registration, establishment card, visas, office, add-ons and 5% VAT — plus what you pay again from year two. No hidden fees, no sales call required.
Adjust and the totals update instantly.
100% foreign ownership, 0% personal tax, activity limited to the zone + international trade.
AED 5,690 per visa, all government steps included.
Most quotes only show year one. These items recur. We don't publish amounts for them because they vary by provider and authority — ask for each in writing before you sign.
Ask the provider for the written renewal price — it often differs from year one.
Confirm the term and fee with the issuing authority.
Visa length varies by authority and visa type.
Lease renewals can change; mainland licences need a valid tenancy.
Registration and annual filing apply even when no tax is due.
Set by the FTA on registration.
Some free zones require audited accounts at renewal.
Banks decide each application on their own compliance rules; nationality, activity and business substance all affect the outcome. Having these ready usually speeds things up.
Higher-scrutiny activities (for example general trading, precious metals or virtual assets) often need more documents. This is guidance, not a bank's decision.
A UAE setup quotation is a stack of separate charges, not one fee. Understanding which line items are government-set and which are provider margin is what makes two quotations comparable.
The licence fee is set by the issuing authority — a free zone authority or the emirate's department of economic development — and renews annually. Registration, name reservation, initial approval and notarisation of the memorandum are one-off first-year items.
Every licence needs a registered address. A flexi-desk or shared desk is the cheapest option and caps your visa quota; a leased office or warehouse raises both cost and quota. An establishment card is required before you can apply for any employment visa.
Each residence visa carries an entry permit or status change, medical fitness test, Emirates ID, and stamping charges, plus the investor or employee visa fee itself. These are collected at government rates and scale linearly with headcount.
Bank account assistance, PRO services, corporate tax and VAT registration, accounting, attestation, translation and courier charges are billed separately by most providers. Ask which of these are included before comparing two totals.
First-year prices across the UAE are discounted to win the mandate. From year two you pay the undiscounted licence renewal, the facility renewal, the establishment card renewal and, every two years, each residence visa again. A package that is AED 1,000 cheaper today and AED 4,000 more expensive every year afterwards is the more expensive package. Always take the year-two invoice in writing before paying year one — the checklist above lists every item that recurs.
Sharjah and Ajman free zones sit at the bottom of the market, Ras Al Khaimah's RAKEZ just above them, Dubai zones such as IFZA and Meydan in the middle, and DMCC or JAFZA at the top. Mainland licences in any emirate add a registered tenancy and, in Dubai, DET fees and Ejari. Offshore structures are the cheapest to hold but carry no residence visas at all, so they belong in a different comparison from the other two.
Corporate tax registration with the Federal Tax Authority is mandatory for every UAE company regardless of profit, with 9% payable on taxable profit above AED 375,000. VAT registration becomes mandatory above AED 375,000 of taxable supplies and is voluntary from AED 187,500. Neither is included in most headline licence prices, so both are modelled here as separate lines.
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