Free-zone company in Meydan (Dubai)

General presentation

Register

Free Zone Company in the Emirate of Dubai registered with the Meydan Registry, located in the Meydan district.

Permitted activities

The company may engage in any activity except banking, insurance, and financial activities (such as currency exchange). Managing funds for third parties is not permitted.

Minimum capital

Min. AED 100 000

Manager

Minimum one. It may be an individual or a legal entity (in the latter case, an individual Manager must also be appointed).

Associate(s)

Any natural person (individual - minimum age 21) or legal entity (company), regardless of nationality. No nominee shareholder.

Requirement to have an Emirati shareholder

Not required.

Registration obligations and deadline

Keep accounting records

Required.

Report on the audit of the annual financial statements

Required.

Time to register

2 weeks max.

Expected time frame

The expected lead times are as follows:

Registration documents

3 business days to prepare your company registration documents from receipt of your payment. The documents are signed electronically (so there is nothing to send back to us by mail).

Registration Certificate

Maximum 3 business days to receive your company's Certificate of Registration.

Residence visa

You have 2 options:

  • Case no. 1: you are present in Dubai for 3 weeks (from Monday morning to Thursday evening 2 weeks later) to obtain your visa.
  • Case no. 2: we submit your application to the Immigration Services 3 weeks BEFORE your arrival in Dubai. You will then need to be present in Dubai for only 6 business days (from Wednesday morning to Wednesday evening of the following week) to obtain your visa (= pink sticker affixed to your passport).
Visa for spouse/child(ren)

If applicable, once you have obtained your residence visa and rented/purchased a property in Dubai, we will be able to submit the visa applications for your spouse and children.

After obtaining the visa

EmiratesID

You are now required to make an appointment with the Authorities to complete the "fingerprint" process. Currently, the waiting time to obtain an appointment is 3 weeks. To make this appointment, you must be present in Dubai and have already completed the medical examination. A maximum of 2 hours is required to have your fingerprints taken (we will of course accompany you). The Emirates ID will then be received at our post office box at least 7 business days after your fingerprints are taken (your presence is not required to receive it; we will of course keep it for you if you are no longer present).

UAE driving license

As soon as we receive your EmiratesID, we can accompany you to Dubai’s Traffic Department to obtain your UAE driving license on-site within 2 hours (please note that you can no longer drive with a foreign license once you have obtained a residence visa).

Bank accounts

Personal bank account: as soon as your Emirates ID is obtained, we can meet with the bank to open your personal bank account. It takes 5 business days to obtain it.

Business bank account: you have 2 options (both are of course possible!):

  • Online bank: opening is possible as soon as the company is registered; it takes a maximum of 5 days to receive your account number.
  • Local bank in Dubai: opening is possible as soon as you have obtained your residence visa; it takes approximately 3 weeks to obtain your bank account number from a local bank in Dubai.

Company package

Please note:

  • Disbursements (fees charged by the Authorities) include the company's license fee (License fee) (the cost of which depends on the number of eligible visas), Dubai Government fees (Knowledge & Innovation fee of AED 20) and, from 1 visa onward, Establishment Card fees (the company's identification card, which is also mandatory, costing AED 2000 in the first year and AED 2200 per year from the second year onward). Please note that Establishment Card fees are AED 200 higher from the second year onward (to be added to the amounts above). These fees also include a shared office (co-working shared desk of AED 375 per year) for registering the company's headquarters.
  • The indicated number of eligible visas concerns only partners and employees, not their family members (husband, wife, child).
  • Visa fees are not included in the rates above (see Residence Package below).
  • Up to 3 activities are permitted per license. For more than 3 activities, the Registry charges AED 1000 per year for each additional activity.
  • There is no additional cost if you have a consulting activity AND a goods sales activity within the same company.