Business Centres: What the Package Actually Covers

A business centre sells you a place to be licensed from. That is the product, whatever else the package includes. So the useful question is not "how nice is the office?" It is "what will this arrangement let my licence do, and what will I still have to do myself?"

This article answers that question for Dubai. It sits within the wider Dubai setup overview, where premises are one of the structural decisions.

What a business centre is, officially

In Dubai, running a business centre is itself a licensed activity. Dubai Economy and Tourism publishes conditions for licensing that activity, and a business centre operator holds a licence for it. Its FAQ, on its dubaided.gov.ae site, sets out the conditions. They include that "The total site area of the business center shouldn't be less than 5000 feet" and that the operator holds a lease from the property owner for a minimum period. They also require "A written consent by the property owner authorizing the business center to sublease the property during the period of the lease contract."

The same FAQ states that the number of establishments that can be registered at a site "is determined by the commercial register sector", and that "The number of licenses per one location depends on the total area of the location considering one license per 200 feet."

Dubai Land Department's FAQ also publishes conditions for registering a business centre in Ejari, including a minimum site of 5,000 square feet and Dubai Municipality approval. The two FAQs publish different figures for the minimum lease period and the minimum unit size. Most of those are conditions on the operator, not on you, and the authorities will apply the current rule. What matters for you is the practical consequence: your licence depends on a registered lease, and your lease can be registered only if the operator's site meets Dubai Land Department's conditions.

A naming trap worth knowing

MOHRE uses the words "business centers" for something different. On its establishment card service page, MOHRE states that "Business centers charge a maximum commission of AED72". In that context the phrase refers to centres charging a commission for processing a MOHRE service, not to office providers. If a quotation mentions a business centre fee, ask which kind of business centre it means.

What a package can bundle

Packages are commercial products, and their contents vary by operator. The elements below are the ones to identify in any offer, with the licensing question each one raises.

The link between premises and your licence

Three published rules connect a business centre to your licence.

The lease comes before the licence. Dubai Economy and Tourism describes its licence issuance service as "A service through which customers receive a trade license to practice a business activity after obtaining the external approval and registering the lease."

The lease is registered in Ejari. Dubai Land Department publishes Ejari registration through its app or website at a total of AED 177.75, and AED 220 through a Real Estate Services Trustee Centre. Its FAQ states: "For commercial leasing, there is no limit to the number of contracts."

The lease must stay registered for the licence to renew. Dubai Economy and Tourism's renewal help page states: "If you are have not registered your contract in RERA, then you will not be able to renew your license." The wording is the page's own. Licence renewal and its dependencies are covered in full in a separate article.

That third rule is the one to plan around. A business centre contract with a renewal date that does not line up with your licence renewal date creates a gap you will have to manage every year.

What we did not find

Two questions are worth asking before any business centre contract, and neither has a published answer we could locate.

Can a flexi-desk or shared-office address support a mainland licence? We did not find an official statement either way on the Dubai Economy and Tourism and Invest in Dubai pages reviewed on 18 September 2026. Ask the operator to show that its site is licensed as a business centre and registered for Ejari, and confirm with the licensing authority that the arrangement supports your activity.

How many visas does a business centre office support? We did not find a published rule linking office size or type to the number of residence visas a mainland company may sponsor, on the federal and Dubai pages reviewed on 18 September 2026. Any figure an operator quotes for the mainland should be confirmed with the authorities before you rely on it. The relationship between office space and visa allocation will be examined in its own article in this series.

Free zone business centres and flexi desks

Several free zone authorities publish their own terms for shared space. They are rules for that zone only.

• Dubai Silicon Oasis states that its flexi desk package "gives the option of up to two residency visas per flexi desk", and that "The fixed office package gives you the option to apply for up to three visas per desk."
• IFZA describes a flexi desk as a "shared workstation with 10 hours of access per week, an IFZA address, and one hour of complimentary meeting room use per month".
• DMCC's schedule of charges lists a flexi desk at "AED 16,000 - 19,000", and states that its fees "are subject to change by DMCC without prior notice".

These examples are not a comparison and not a recommendation. They show that terms differ between zones, which is why you ask each one directly. The emirate and free zone selection framework treats premises as one factor among several.

What stays your responsibility

A business centre gives you a registered place of business. It does not run your company's obligations. These remain with you, whatever the package says:

• The licence itself. Application, amendments and renewal are the company's transactions with the licensing authority.
• Keeping the lease registered. If the operator registers the contract, confirm it is done and diary its expiry against your licence renewal.
• Immigration and labour files. Establishment cards, work permits and residence permits are separate transactions with separate authorities.
• Tax registration and filing. Corporate tax obligations sit with the company. The corporate tax overview explains what is published.
• Anything your activity requires beyond an office. If your activity needs specific premises or an external approval, a business centre desk may not meet it.

Practical asset: the package-comparison framework. Put each offer in its own column. Row 1: operator's name and licence number, checked on the official licence search. Row 2: unit number and address. Row 3: who registers the Ejari contract, and the confirmed registration date. Row 4: contract start date, end date and renewal terms. Row 5: your licence renewal date, and the gap between it and row 4. Row 6: space and services included. Row 7: any government transactions included, listed by name, and priced separately. Row 8: the written answer from the licensing authority on whether this premises type supports your activity. Row 9: the visa allocation claimed, and whether an authority has confirmed it. Row 10: total annual cost, premises only. Any blank in rows 1, 3, 8 or 9 is a question to resolve before signing.

Questions to ask the operator

This list is ours.

1. What is your trade licence number, and does it include the business centre activity?
2. Is the site registered for business centre units in Ejari, and who registers my contract?
3. What is my unit number, and will it appear on my Ejari certificate?
4. Does my contract's end date allow my licence renewal to go through on time?
5. Which government transactions, if any, are included, and at what separately stated price?
6. What happens to my registration if you lose your own lease or licence?

Before you sign

Read the package as a licensing document, not as a room booking. The licence you hold will rest on it for as long as you stay.

For what premises cost within the full set of licence costs, see the line-by-line licence cost breakdown.

Information verified against official sources on 18 September 2026.

Check how a premises offer affects your licence. Send us the business centre offer you are considering and your intended activity. We can return the package-comparison framework completed as far as the published material allows, with the questions still to put to the operator and to the licensing authority.

The licensing authority decides whether a premises arrangement supports a licence, and Dubai Land Department registers the tenancy. A service provider's role, within whatever its licensed activity covers, is to prepare the licence and registration transactions, submit them, coordinate the steps and track the dates. It cannot approve a premises arrangement or a visa allocation.