DUBAI · UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Business setup in Dubai and the UAE — company formation from $2 700
We register your company in a UAE free zone or on the mainland from $2 700 — the licence takes 5 working days from a complete document file — and then stay on for the years that follow: bookkeeping, corporate tax returns, the statutory audit we arrange with a registered auditor, and renewal. Licence only from $2 700; with a residence visa, budgets start at $4 900. The full price list is below, in figures.
What company formation in the UAE costs, in figures
This market hides its numbers behind "request a quote" forms. Ours are printed: this is what a launch is made of, line by line, and what the company will cost you after the launch — because the second part is the one nobody quotes.
Once, at launch
From the second month on
Company launch
from$7 700
Formation $2 700 + TRN $410 + corporate account $4 080 + one visa $540. Once. The other lines in the column are taken as needed and are not inside this figure.
Then, every month
from$680
Bookkeeping "Start": up to 50 transactions and up to 5 staff. On top of it, each year: the software licence $350 and the audit report from $950.
The minimum from our price list, not a public offer. The final figure depends on the zone, the licence type and the number of visas — we give the exact number before you sign, and after signing there are no surprises.
Prices are in US dollars, converted from our AED price list at the fixed peg of AED 3.6725 = $1; invoices are issued in dirhams. UAE tax thresholds and fines are quoted in dirhams, as the law states them.
What is not in this price — read this before you compare quotes
Free zone government fees. Each zone sets its own and some do not publish them at all; name the zone and we put its fees into your budget. Corporate tax is not here either — it is paid on profit, not bought at setup.
One more honest line. A "from" price on this market almost never includes the visa and immigration costs, and the zones' own numbers show it: Meydan's homepage says a licence "starts from AED 12,500 for a standard digital trade license" (meydanfz.ae, checked 30 July 2026), while its own cost breakdown puts a first investor visa at around AED 7,850 (checked 16 July 2026) — so a real first year with one visa runs roughly one and a half to two times the shop window, by the zone's own arithmetic. We put the whole figure on the table before the contract.
Free zone or mainland — the first decision, and it is a calculation
In our price list both forms are one line — from $2 700 — because the cost is driven by the zone, the licence type and the visa count, not by the word "free zone". What differs is tax and market access, and that part is law, not preference.
| Free zone | Mainland | |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign ownership | 100% by design | 100% for most activities since 2021 — Federal Decree-Law 26/2020, consolidated in FDL 32/2021; "strategic impact" sectors are the exception |
| Selling into the UAE market | Limited: a licensed mainland distributor or your own mainland branch; since March 2025 Dubai adds a DET branch/permit option (Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025) | Direct, anywhere in the country |
| Corporate tax | 0% only for a Qualifying Free Zone Person and only on qualifying income; sales to individuals are excluded activities (MD 229/2025) | Standard regime: 0% up to AED 375,000 of profit, 9% above (FDL 47/2022) |
| Statutory audit | Mandatory for every QFZP regardless of revenue (MD 84/2025) | The AED 50,000,000 audit threshold applies outside free zones |
| Small Business Relief | Not available to a QFZP (FTA guide CTGSBR1) | Available at revenue up to AED 3,000,000, for periods ending on or before 31 December 2026 (MD 73/2023) |
| Our fee | from $2 700 — the same line of the price list | from $2 700 — the same line of the price list |
The short version: if you sell to businesses and abroad, a free zone works and can carry 0% on qualifying income; if you sell to individuals or into the UAE domestic market, count on mainland — or on a free zone without the relief, because transactions with natural persons are excluded activities under Ministerial Decision 229/2025, art. 2(2)(a). We check your customer mix against these rules before you pay anyone.
Sources for every cell: mof.gov.ae, tax.gov.ae, u.ae. Mainland-access rule per u.ae, "Running a business in a free zone", checked 21 July 2026.
Who can own a UAE company
Foreign investors can own 100% of a mainland company for most activities since 2021.
The rule is federal, and the government portal words it plainly: "foreign investors' share will not be limited to 49 per cent as before; instead, it can be as much as 100 per cent" — Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020, which "came into effect in early 2021", consolidated in Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies (u.ae, checked 29 July 2026). Free zone companies were fully foreign-owned before that; the 2021 change is about the mainland.
Sectors of "strategic impact" are the exception, and the lists differ by emirate.
The Cabinet may define activities with "strategic impact" and "set specific licensing requirements, which may include restrictions on foreign ownership" — security and defence, telecoms, banking, finance and insurance, commercial agencies and a few others (u.ae, checked 29 July 2026). The specific lists are kept by the economic department of each emirate and differ between them, so the answer for your activity is a lookup, not a guess — we do the lookup before quoting.
A local service agent for branches of foreign companies is no longer required.
The same reform removed an old fixture of UAE setups: in the portal's words, "the obligation for branches of foreign companies to appoint a UAE national service agent has been eliminated" (u.ae, checked 29 July 2026). If someone quotes you a fee for a mandatory local agent on a branch, ask for the legal basis.
How registration runs: the government's nine steps and our five days
For a mainland licence the procedure is public, not a trade secret. The Ministry of Economy and Tourism "identifies six types of licences: industrial, commercial, professional, tourism, agricultural and crafts", and u.ae lists nine steps for starting a mainland business (both checked 29 July 2026):
- "identifying a business activity"
- "selecting an appropriate legal form"
- "applying for a trade licence"
- "registering the trade name"
- "applying for an initial approval"
- "drafting a Memorandum of Association and local service agent agreement"
- "selecting a location to conduct business"
- "getting additional government approvals"
- "submitting documents and pay fees"
In a free zone the sequence is shorter and run by the zone itself. What you feel in practice is the calendar: with a complete document file we hand you the licence in 5 working days. That number is our own track record, not a zone's promise, and we confirm the date for your case before you sign.
The residence visa takes 2–4 weeks, and biometrics usually comes 2–3 weeks after that.
The order is fixed: police clearance certificate and fingerprint booking (2–3 working days) → visa application → medical → approval wait → fingerprints → documents ready. If you need it faster, urgent options are separate price-list lines — from $540 for urgent fingerprints in 1–2 days up to $4 080 for the full urgent visa in 5 working days.
Residence visa quotas: what the zones themselves say
"How many visas will my licence give me" is the question this market answers worst, because brokers republish stale numbers. We quote only the zones' own sites, and we date every quote: everything below was taken from official pages on 30 July 2026. One number changed nine days before that check — Shams moved from "up to 12" to "up to 50" visas — which is exactly why each figure here carries a date instead of a promise. One thing a visa does not do on its own is make you a UAE tax resident — does a residence visa make you a UAE tax resident answers that separately.
The visa quota is a limit tied to your office package, not a property of the zone.
Two zones state the mechanic in plain words. RAKEZ: "flexi desks are limited to one visa only and hence, any additional visas should be cancelled" — downgrade the office and the extra visas go. DMCC prices the same logic per package: a Jump Start flexi desk is "eligible for three UAE residency visas", the Basic Biz option is "eligible for one UAE residency visa", and going above quota is a paid request where "the amount is refundable if the additional visa request is declined". Zones' own sites, checked 30 July 2026.
Shams, the zone that issued our own licence, allows up to 50 visas per licence.
Its FAQ answers the question directly: "How many visas can I obtain under my license? You may apply for up to 50 visas per license, depending on your business activity and office space allocation." The homepage repeats it: "Up to 50 Visas Per License". Before any visa application the company also needs, in Shams's own wording, "a valid e-channel, immigration card and available visa allocation" (shamsfz.ae, checked 30 July 2026).
SPC advertises unlimited visas; Meydan and IFZA publish no ceiling at all.
SPC states: "You can obtain unlimited investor, partner, or employee visas, and apply for visas either at the time of registering for a license or at a later date" (spcfz.ae, checked 30 July 2026). Meydan's homepage promises a licence that "starts from AED 12,500" with "visa allocation eligibility" — no number; IFZA puts the "visa package" inside "a tailored proposal"; Ajman Free Zone makes no public statement we could find. Where a zone says nothing, we say so — rather than repeat a figure from a broker's brochure.
An investor visa at RAKEZ needs a sole shareholder; partners get partner visas, and a shareholder visa is optional.
RAKEZ's FAQ: "Yes, you can obtain an investor visa in case of single shareholder companies. However, for companies that have more than one shareholder, a partner visa can be obtained." Asked whether shareholders must hold the zone's visa, it answers "No, it is not" mandatory — shareholders "have the option to either apply for RAKEZ visa or be on a non-RAKEZ visa" (rakez.com, checked 30 July 2026).
We never promise "guaranteed N visas": the quota is approved by the zone and the immigration authority, not by a consultant. What we do put in your budget is the visa line itself — from $540 per person — and the office package that actually carries the quota you need.
The licence is the start, not the finish
Setup shops sell the day the licence is issued. The obligations start the next morning and run in an annual cycle — and this cycle, not the certificate, is what we actually sell. Each item below carries its decision number; check us against the primary sources at mof.gov.ae, tax.gov.ae and u.ae. General facts were last verified on 16 July 2026; where a fact has its own check date, it stands next to it.
Corporate tax is 0% up to AED 375,000 of taxable income and 9% above.
The FTA's general guide words the rates as "0% … on the portion of the Taxable Income not exceeding AED 375,000" and "9% … exceeding AED 375,000" — Federal Decree-Law 47/2022, in force for tax periods starting on or after 1 June 2023 (checked 16 July 2026).
And the point almost everyone trips on: every company files a corporate tax return, even when the tax comes out at zero. "We earned nothing" is not a reason not to file.
Small Business Relief runs out with periods ending on or before 31 December 2026 — and a free zone QFZP cannot claim it at all.
The relief gives zero tax at revenue up to AED 3,000,000 (Ministerial Decision 73/2023). The FTA guide CTGSBR1 names the limit in a section title — "Restriction to Tax Periods ending on or before 31 December 2026" — and states the exclusion in one line: "There are no additional requirements. The only exception is that members of MNEs and Qualifying Free Zone Persons are not eligible for Small Business Relief" (checked 16 July 2026).
Note where the deadline lives. Article 21 of the law itself says only "a threshold to be set by the Minister" — no amount, no date, and the word "2026" does not appear in the consolidated law at all — so the Minister can extend the relief with a single decision, without amending the law. No extension has been announced as at 16 July 2026. Two more limits people miss: cross AED 3,000,000 in any one tax period and the relief can never be elected again, even if revenue falls back; and it must be claimed in each return — file without electing it and you cannot go back (CTGSBR1, section 3.3).
Audit is mandatory for every Qualifying Free Zone Person, regardless of revenue.
Ministerial Decision 84/2025 requires every QFZP to prepare audited financial statements — a free zone company with AED 200,000 of turnover audits the same as a large one. The AED 50,000,000 threshold you may have heard about applies to companies outside the free zones. We arrange the statutory audit with a registered auditor; the report is from $950 a year, and it is a line of every year's budget, not a one-off.
The free zone 0% excludes sales to individuals.
Ministerial Decision 229/2025, art. 2(2)(a) lists transactions with natural persons as excluded activities — a B2C model in a free zone sits outside the relief. De minimis is 5% of revenue or AED 5,000,000, whichever is lower, not whichever you prefer; and under art. 5(2), breaking the conditions costs the 0% for the current tax period and the four that follow.
AML fines start at AED 50,000, and the regime was rewritten in 2025.
Federal Decree-Law 10/2025 was published in the Gazette on 30 September 2025 and applies from 14 October 2025, replacing the 2018 law; Cabinet Resolution 134/2025 replaced the 2019 implementing decision. Non-compliance with goAML starts at AED 50,000 — the amount for a specific breach is set by the supervisory authority. First check whether your activity is on the list at all: real estate, dealers in precious metals and stones, accounting and audit firms, corporate service providers, legal consulting. If it is, our goAML registration is $540 and the policy with the KYC file is $1 360.
E-invoicing has fixed dates: a provider by 31 March 2027, the system live by 1 July 2027.
Ministerial Decision 244/2025, art. 5(1)(b): a business with revenue under AED 50,000,000 "shall appoint an Accredited Service Provider by 31 March 2027 and shall implement the Electronic Invoicing System by 1 July 2027" (checked 16 July 2026). Above AED 50,000,000 the dates are earlier — provider by 31 July 2026, system by 1 January 2027 (art. 5(1)(a)); the pilot starts 1 July 2026; transactions with individuals stay outside the system "until such time determined by a decision issued by the Minister" (art. 5(2)).
Late renewals cost AED 1,000 a month — each line separately.
Late renewal of the business licence is AED 1,000 for every month, and the same again for late renewal of the immigration card and for late cancellation of either. Separately: the AED 10,000 penalty for late corporate tax registration can be cancelled by filing the return within 7 months — FTA data says more than 33,900 companies have used that route. And one obligation is gone: Economic Substance reports were cancelled by Cabinet Decision 98/2024 — if anyone bills you for an ESR filing for 2024–2025, ask on what basis (checked 16 July 2026).
None of this is cancelled by what "they told you at registration". We put the whole cycle into the budget before the contract, because we earn on companies that run for years, not on one transaction. The deep version — filing deadlines, record-keeping, VAT — lives on the UAE accounting, corporate tax and audit page.
Banks: the decision is the bank's, our guarantee is financial
Two dated facts first. The UAE came off the FATF grey list on 23 February 2024, and the EU removed the country from its high-risk list by Regulation (EU) 2025/1184 with effect from 5 August 2025 (checked 16 July 2026). Banks nonetheless remain cautious with Russian profiles — the reason is secondary-sanctions risk, not UAE law.
No one can promise you an account, because the decision is made by the bank's compliance team. Our guarantee on the account-opening service is money-back: if the account is not opened, we refund the fee for this service in full the same day, and the terms are written into the contract. We prepare the file, book the appointment and go to the bank with you; the support fee is $4 080. The banks are named, not "leading UAE banks": ADIB, FAB, Emirates NBD, Mashreq, RAK Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Sharjah Islamic Bank, Banque Misr.
What you will not find on this page
No reviews — we publish none without written client consent, and we will not invent them: a site about taxes that fakes a review lies about everything else too. No "there are no taxes in Dubai" — there have not been since 2023; there is 0% up to AED 375,000 and 9% above. No guaranteed accounts — the bank decides. No guaranteed visas — the authority issues them. No prices "on request" — the price list is open. And no promised timeline for opening a bank account: the account is opened by the bank, not by us, so any number here would be a guess dressed up as a promise.
Who is answering: a free zone company under the same rules
Orion Consulting and Bookkeeping LLC is a UAE free zone company — Shams Free Zone (Sharjah Media City), Formation No. 2327240, licensed since 14.12.2023. We register companies in the UAE, Hong Kong and China, keep books and file taxes, arrange audits with registered auditors and set up AML compliance. "Accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities; tax consultancy" are written into the licence itself. We work with Russian-speaking founders and answer in English and Russian.
A registrar's product ends the day your licence is issued. Ours begins that day: bookkeeping, corporate tax, returns, the statutory audit, AML, renewal. We live under the same corporate tax, the same QFZP audit duty and the same AML regime that we set up for clients — which is why the price list on this page runs past the licence line: the second year is priced on day one.
We also register companies in Hong Kong and China (WFOE) — with the same rule everywhere: every number comes with its source and its date. Эта страница есть и на русском.
Questions people ask before a contract
How much does it cost to open a company in the UAE?
Company formation — free zone or mainland — is from $2 700; with a residence visa the budget starts at $4 900. The usual first-year additions are corporate account support ($4 080), a residence visa (from $540 per person) and tax registration with TRN ($410). Free zone government fees are separate — each zone sets its own and some do not publish them. We give the exact figure for your zone, licence type and visa count before you sign.
How long does UAE company formation take?
The licence takes 5 working days from a complete document file — our own track record, and we confirm the date for your case before you sign. The residence visa then takes 2–4 weeks, with biometrics usually 2–3 weeks later.
Can a foreigner own 100% of a UAE company?
Yes — in a free zone by design, and on the mainland for most activities since 2021: u.ae states that "foreign investors' share will not be limited to 49 per cent as before; instead, it can be as much as 100 per cent" — Federal Decree-Law 26/2020, consolidated in FDL 32/2021 (checked 29 July 2026). The exception is sectors of "strategic impact" — defence, telecoms, banking and insurance and a few others — where licensing may restrict foreign ownership; the lists are kept per emirate.
Free zone or mainland — which one do I need?
It is a calculation about your customers. Selling to businesses and abroad — a free zone works and, with Qualifying Free Zone Person status, can carry 0% on qualifying income. Selling to individuals or directly into the UAE market — count on mainland: transactions with natural persons are excluded activities under Ministerial Decision 229/2025, art. 2(2)(a), and a free zone company needs a licensed distributor or its own mainland branch for domestic trade. Our fee is the same line either way, from $2 700.
How many residence visas can one licence give me?
The quota is tied to your office package and activity, not to the zone's name. Shams — the zone that issued our own licence — says in its FAQ: "You may apply for up to 50 visas per license, depending on your business activity and office space allocation." RAKEZ states the floor just as plainly: "flexi desks are limited to one visa only and hence, any additional visas should be cancelled." Where a zone publishes nothing — IFZA, Ajman Free Zone — we say so instead of quoting a broker's number. Zone sites checked 30 July 2026. We never promise "guaranteed N visas": the quota is approved by the zone and the immigration authority.
Can you guarantee a corporate bank account?
No one can — the decision is made by the bank's compliance team. Our guarantee on the account-opening service is financial: if the account is not opened, we refund the fee for this service in full the same day; the terms are fixed in the contract. We prepare the file, book the appointment and attend the bank with you, and we work with 8 banks: ADIB, FAB, Emirates NBD, Mashreq, RAK Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Sharjah Islamic Bank, Banque Misr. We publish no timeline for account opening — the account is opened by the bank, not by us.
My turnover is small. Is an audit really mandatory?
For a Qualifying Free Zone Person — yes. Ministerial Decision 84/2025 requires every QFZP to prepare audited financial statements regardless of revenue; the AED 50,000,000 threshold applies to companies outside free zones. We arrange the statutory audit with a registered auditor — the report is from $950 a year.
What starts after the licence is issued?
The annual cycle: bookkeeping from $680 a month, a corporate tax return for every company even at zero tax, the statutory audit for a Qualifying Free Zone Person, AML where the activity requires it, e-invoicing from 2027 — a business with revenue under AED 50,000,000 must appoint an accredited provider by 31 March 2027 (Ministerial Decision 244/2025) — and licence renewal, where a late month costs AED 1,000. This is the part we actually sell: we stay on for the second year, and it is written into our own Shams licence No. 2327240.
Tell us what you are setting up
One line is enough: your activity, whether you sell to businesses or individuals, and how many visas you need. We reply with figures and the rule behind each figure.
Orion Consulting and Bookkeeping LLC. Shams Free Zone licence No. 2327240, issued 14.12.2023. We register companies in 5 working days and work with 8 banks.