The fastest, cheapest way in — if your customers are somewhere else.
A free zone licence gives you residency and a bank account without a Dubai office. It also stops you selling directly to UAE customers. We will tell you which side of that line you are on.
What a free zone gives you
- ✓ No local partner required
- ✓ Licence often issued within days
- ✓ No physical office required — flexi-desk is enough
- ✓ Residence visas for you and your family
- ✓ Full repatriation of capital and profits
- ✓ 0% corporate tax possible on qualifying income
What it does not
- ! You cannot freely trade with UAE-based customers
- ! Visa numbers are capped by your package tier
- ! Government tenders are generally out of reach
- ! Some banks are slower with certain low-cost zones
- ! The 0% tax rate has conditions, and they are real
- ! Moving to mainland later means starting over
There is no best package. There is only the one that fits you.
Every firm advertising a headline price is selling you the route that pays them most. Which of these three is right for you depends entirely on where your customers are and who you need on a visa. Answer six questions and we will tell you which, and what it costs.
UAE Free Zone
The fastest, cheapest legal route to a UAE trade licence and residency.
- Trade licence (1 year)
- 1 x residence visa allocation
- Fastest route to UAE residency
- Up to 5 business activities
- No physical office required
- Flexi-desk access
- Corporate bank account introduction
Dubai Free Zone
A Dubai-registered licence with the credibility clients and banks recognise.
- Dubai trade licence (1 year)
- 1 x residence visa allocation
- A Dubai address banks recognise
- Up to 3 business activities
- No physical office required
- Flexi-desk access
- Priority bank account introduction
Dubai Mainland
Trade anywhere in the UAE, sell to government, and hire without limits.
- DED mainland trade licence
- 1 x residence visa allocation
- No visa quota ceiling
- Full UAE market access
- Government and semi-government tenders
- Flexible office space options
- Priority fast-track available
We do not publish package prices, because a price without your circumstances attached is a number designed to get you on the phone. Your quote is built from your actual answers and you see it in minutes.
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Why we will not name your free zone on a web page
There are more than forty free zones in the UAE and they pay consultants different commissions. Any site that names one zone as "the best" is telling you which one pays them most, not which one suits you.
We choose based on four things: whether your activity is licensed there, the visa quota you need, whether banks respond well to that zone, and total cost over three years rather than year one. You get the reasoning in writing, and you are free to take it elsewhere.
Free zone questions
Which free zone is best?
There is no single best one. The right zone depends on your activity, how many visas you need, whether you want a Dubai address, and which banks work well with that zone. Zones also pay consultants different commissions, which is exactly why you should ask any consultant to explain in writing why they picked the one they picked.
Can a free zone company sell to customers in the UAE?
Not directly in most cases. You would normally need a mainland distributor or agent, or a mainland branch. If a significant share of your revenue will come from UAE-based customers, a free zone is usually the wrong structure and you should look at mainland instead.
Is a flexi-desk a real office?
It is a registered address with shared desk access, and it satisfies the licensing requirement in most free zones. It is genuine and compliant, but it is not somewhere you would host clients, and it caps how many visas you can hold.
Do free zone companies pay corporate tax?
A qualifying free zone person can access a 0% rate on qualifying income, but only if it meets substance requirements and other conditions, and non-qualifying income is taxed at 9%. Registration with the Federal Tax Authority is mandatory regardless. Treat "free zone means tax free" as marketing, not fact.
How fast can a free zone licence be issued?
Some zones issue within a few working days once documents are complete and the name is approved. Others take one to two weeks. Speed claims of "60 minutes" refer to instant digital licences in specific zones under specific conditions, not to a typical setup with visas and banking.
See your free zone number before you speak to anyone
Six questions, then an itemised quote built for your business and a call from Joule to walk you through it.
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