Free Zone Packages, Read Properly

You have two or three free zone quotations in front of you. Each leads with one figure, and no two list the same items. One includes a visa. Another is silent on year two.

The headline figure is not the useful part. A free zone package is a bundle of separate lines, and each line comes with conditions. Read it line by line: what is included, what the premises allow for visas, which items sit outside the package, and what changes at renewal. The worksheet in this article turns that into a list of written questions for the zone.

If you have not yet decided how a Dubai company is set up overall, start with the Dubai business setup overview. This article assumes you are already comparing free zone packages and want to know what you are being offered.

What a free zone package sits on

Published statements set the frame.

The UAE Government Portal (u.ae) states that "Free zone companies operate under a different legal framework than mainland businesses, as they are considered outside the UAE mainland jurisdiction." A separate u.ae page states: "Your business will be governed by the free zone authority in which your business is set up and, in some cases, might be additionally governed by another government entity."

On market access, u.ae states: "To sell goods or services locally, a free zone company must either work through a licensed mainland distributor or establish a mainland branch or company." If your customers are on the mainland, settle that question first. The mainland versus free zone framework is built for it, and mainland company setup is covered separately.

On ownership, Invest in Dubai's free zone page summary describes "Dubai's free economic zones" as offering "full foreign ownership", and its free zones list page refers to "all of Dubai's 20+ free zones". The choice of zone is outside this article. Choosing an emirate and a free zone has its own framework.

The steps a package covers

u.ae describes the order: "Start by selecting the sector in which you would like to do business and then select the free zone where you would like to establish the business." It lists the legal forms available in free zones as "Private Limited Liability Company (LLC), Free Zone Company (FZ Co.), Free Zone Establishment (FZE), Public Limited Liability Company (PJSC), branch of a local or international company."

The Ministry of Economy and Tourism's page on establishing a business in free zones adds several points a quotation should reflect:

• "In certain cases, registration of a trade name in free zones is subject to the same conditions applicable in the Department of Economic Development in the relevant Emirate."
• "Office space requirements usually depend on the number of employees and the type of the business activity carried on by the company."
• "The concerned free zone authority shall prepare the lease contract."
• "After obtaining the initial approval, registration fees and license fees shall be paid."
• The registration documents include "Information on the contributed capital".

On timing, u.ae states: "After review and approval, you will get a licence within 14 working days." The 14 working days follow review and approval, so ask the zone how long its review takes for your activity.

Why the headline figure is hard to compare

Zones publish their packages in different shapes. This article builds the quotation lines from pages that zones publish about their own packages. Each zone is named, and a condition quoted for one zone is not a statement about any other.

A quotation can also combine amounts that belong to different people. Keep them apart.

DMCC's schedule of charges states: "All fees and charges mentioned in this schedule are subject to change by DMCC without prior notice. Any updates to the schedule will be published on this page." Date any quotation you receive, and check the zone's own page on the day you sign. The Dubai trade licence cost breakdown explains how to separate fee lines on a licence quote.

Line by line: what to look for

1. Licence and registration

DMCC's schedule of charges lists separate setup lines named "Application", "Registration", "Articles of Association (AoA)" and "Licence". It lists a further line, "1-Year Licence Renewal (Trading & Service Licence)", billed "Annual". A quotation that shows one licence figure may be combining several of these.

Ask the zone to name each line it has combined, and to state which of them recur each year.

2. Establishment card or immigration card

Jafza publishes that a card comes before staff visas. Its visa guide, dated 29 September 2021, states that once set-up is complete, "the company must apply for a computer immigration card (CIC) in order to apply for visas for employees."

DMCC's schedule lists an "Establishment Card" line billed "Annual" among its setup charges, a separate "Issue Company Establishment Card" line billed "Per card", and a "Renew Company Establishment Card" line billed "Per request". The "Establishment Card" and "Issue Company Establishment Card" lines show different amounts on the same page on 20 September 2026. If your DMCC quotation includes a card, ask DMCC which line it is and when the renewal line applies.

Meydan Free Zone's FAQ page, reviewed on 20 September 2026, answers that a visa can be applied for after incorporation, "provided you have the immigration card and visa allocation." Ask any zone whose quotation is silent whether a card is needed, and whether it is included.

3. Premises and what they allow

Where a zone links visas to premises, the premises line affects the number of residence visas the company can apply for. Zones publish this differently:

• Dubai Silicon Oasis states on its co-working page, reviewed on 20 September 2026: "The flexi desk package gives the option of up to two residency visas per flexi desk and numerous on-site business facilities." It also states: "The fixed office package gives you the option to apply for up to three visas per desk."
• Jafza's 2021 visa guide states: "If the company has leased office space, the quota is dependent on the size of the office."
• IFZA states that "we have eliminated the requirements for mandatory office space for basic license packages". We did not find a visa allocation per office type on the IFZA pages reviewed on 20 September 2026.

These are examples, not a comparison. Ask the zone on your quotation to state, in writing, the number of visas your specific premises line supports. For the wider question of what a desk or office package covers, business centres are explained separately.

Check the premises term as well. DMCC's Jumpstart Package terms (file dated 12 August 2024) define a Standard Flexi Desk as a desk "which has a validity of one (1) year".

4. Visas included, and visa allocation

These are two different numbers. DMCC's packages page shows both for its Jump Start Package, read in a browser on 20 September 2026: "Standard flexi desk or co-working space (eligible for three UAE residency visas)" and "One UAE residency visa included in package price".

The allocation is the number the premises or package supports; the inclusion is what the price covers. Ask the zone how the allocation can be increased. Under "Company Visa Quota", DMCC's schedule also lists an "Increase In Visa Quota" line with service fees charged "Per additional visa requested". Ask the zone for each number separately, in writing.

u.ae also states who sponsors free zone employees. Its working in free zones page, dated 30 December 2024, states: "Moreover, free zone employees are sponsored by the respective free zone authority and not by their employer." Visa costs have their own article: the cost of an employee visa.

5. Medical, Emirates ID and insurance

DMCC's Jumpstart terms make some related fees payable by the applicant.

The terms state: "The Applicant acknowledges and undertakes that any fees pertaining to the employee protection insurance, medical fitness typing, and EmiratesID typing shall be paid by the Applicant." The same terms state that a residency visa is "subject to UAE federal security checks and approvals".

On health insurance, u.ae states that from 1 January 2025, "employers are required to purchase health insurance policy as a prerequisite for applying for the issuance or renewal of residency permits of private sector employees and domestic workers." Ask the zone how health insurance applies to visas issued under its licence, and whether its package includes it.

6. Share capital

Zones publish different positions on capital, and some pages disagree with each other.

• Jafza states: "Jafza does not prescribe a minimum share capital for an FZE or FZCO, but require that a company must have a share capital that is sufficient for the activities for which it is licensed."
• Dubai Silicon Oasis states on its setup process page: "Minimum Start Up Capital required is AED 100,000". Its licence types page states that "Under the 2023 Regulations, all existing FZEs are automatically treated as FZCOs", while the setup process page still refers to FZE share multiples. Confirm the current position with Dubai Silicon Oasis.
• Meydan Free Zone's FAQ page states: "We suggest a capital of 100,000 AED. Please note we can't specify the share capital for the client." Ask Meydan Free Zone whether any capital must be paid up or deposited, and decide the stated capital with your adviser.
• DMCC's schedule has a "Share Capital Deposit" line. It states: "Only applies for companies with share capital of AED 50,000."

Ask the zone three things: the capital to be stated in your documents, whether any of it must be paid up or deposited, and whether a deposit line appears on your quotation.

7. Renewal-year lines

Jafza states: "Every issued license at Jafza is valid for 1 year from the date of its issue. A license must be renewed each consecutive year from its issue date."

Renewal can carry conditions as well as fees. Under "How can I renew my trade license with Jafza?", Jafza's company formation page, reviewed on 20 September 2026, states: "The first and foremost requirement is to have an active lease contract in place." So at Jafza, the premises line affects the renewal as well as the setup. Ask your zone whether the same applies.

Ask the zone for the renewal-year lines in writing: licence renewal, card renewal, premises renewal and each visa renewal.

8. Discounts limited to the first term

A discount can be tied to a term. DMCC's packages page offers its Crypto, Gaming and AI Centre packages a "50% discount on second year's renewal fees". Its Jumpstart terms define a "Package End Date" as "1, 2 or 3 years from the date of the Jumpstart Package tenure's selected by the Applicant". DMCC's Basic Flexi terms are dated 13 December 2022 by file name. They state that the package "cannot be availed more than 2 times in 2 consecutive years."

We did not find a DMCC statement of renewal fees for package holders after the package end date in the Jumpstart terms or on the packages page reviewed on 20 September 2026. Ask the zone what you pay in the first year after any discount or package term ends.

Practical asset: the quotation-decoding worksheet. Use one copy for each quotation. Fill the "Shown on the quote?" column with yes, no or combined. Copy the zone's stated condition word for word. Use the renewal column to record what the zone tells you about year two. Send the last column to the zone as written questions, and keep its written answers with the quotation.

How to use the finished sheet:

1. Read the blank cells first. Each one is a question the quotation has not answered.
2. Compare quotations on the same lines only, never on the headline figure alone.
3. Put the year-two lines beside the year-one lines before you decide.
4. Check each answer against the zone's own published page on the day you sign.

A worked example

A founder receives a quotation that reads "licence, flexi desk and one visa". Run it through the sheet.

The licence line is one figure, so the first question asks which lines it combines. The flexi desk line gives no visa allocation, so the founder asks for the allocation in writing. "One visa" is an inclusion, not an allocation. The quotation says nothing about medical tests, Emirates ID or health insurance, so the founder asks which are excluded. Nothing is shown for year two, so the founder asks for the renewal lines and any lease condition.

The result is five written questions, not a decision.

Tax

Corporate tax is outside this worksheet. The UAE corporate tax overview covers what the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Tax Authority publish.

What the authority decides, what you prepare, what a provider can do

The authority decides. The free zone authority, not any provider, decides whether to issue a licence and on what terms. DMCC's own terms place residency visas subject to "UAE federal security checks and approvals".

You prepare. Your activity, legal form, trade name, shareholder details, premises choice and planned headcount.

A provider can help. A provider can read a quotation against the worksheet, ask the zone the questions in writing, prepare documents and track the application. It cannot change a zone's conditions or its decision.

Information verified against official sources on 20 September 2026.

Check your quotation before you sign. If you want help reading a quotation against this worksheet, contact RINJAZ to confirm availability, scope and quotation. The zone's written answers settle each line.

RINJAZ is a privately licensed UAE service provider. It is not a government entity and does not act for any authority. A provider's role, within whatever its licensed activity covers, is to prepare documents, submit them through the correct channel and track progress. The free zone authority decides each licence application, and no provider can promise the outcome.