§ 05COSTS

Every line, and who it is paid to.

Government charges are passed through at cost — we take nothing on them, and this page is how you can check. Our own fees are the four lines at the bottom, and they do not change with your licence price.

ILLUSTRATIVE 2026 RANGES
NOT A QUOTATION

§ —PER RESIDENCE VISA

Entry permitAED 1,200

Issued before the employee enters or changes status

Status change (in-country)AED 1,100

Skipped if the person exits and re-enters instead

Medical fitness testAED 750

Blood test and chest X-ray. Same for everyone

Emirates ID, 2 yearsAED 420

Issued by the ICP, not by the free zone

Visa stampingAED 1,150

The residence permit itself

Medical insurance, basicAED 1,400

Mandatory. A basic plan; a real plan costs more

Per person, government totalAED 6,020

Our processing, per personAED 1,500

A residence visa runs two years in most free zones and is renewed as a block — the same stack again, minus the entry permit. Budget it in year three rather than being surprised by it.

§ —OUR FEES

Formation, any jurisdictionAED 6,500

Name reservation, licence application, MOA, and the file handed to you at the end.

Visa processing, per personAED 1,500

Entry permit, status change, medical appointment, Emirates ID and stamping.

Bank introductionAED 4,000

Three banks, documents prepared, meetings attended. No guarantee, ever.

Corporate tax registrationAED 1,500

Mandatory for every company. Free to file yourself if you would rather.

Monthly bookkeeping is AED 1,200 and is a separate engagement. We will tell you when your company is too small to need it.

§ —AFTER YOU HAVE PAID

Establishment card renewalAED 2,100 / yearNever quoted in the headline package, due every year you hold visas.

e-Channel top-upAED 5,000 refundable depositHeld by the immigration system, returned when you close the file. It is your money, but it is not available to you.

Emirates ID and medical, per personAED 1,170Charged per visa, per renewal, and always excluded from 'visa cost' headlines.

Bank minimum balanceAED 25,000 – 500,000Not a fee, but it is capital you cannot use. The banks that open accounts fastest ask for the most.

Corporate tax registrationMandatory, free to fileFree zone or not, 0% or not. The penalty for late registration is AED 10,000.

Attestation of degree certificatesAED 2,000 – 4,000Only for certain visa categories, and it takes weeks in the home country. It is the single most common cause of delay.

Licence amendmentAED 1,000 – 3,000 eachAdding an activity, changing a shareholder or a name. Budget one in year one; most companies need one.

§ —QUESTIONS

What does a company actually cost, all in?

For one person on a free-zone licence with one residence visa and no office: roughly AED 33,000 to 38,000 in year one, of which about AED 25,000 goes to government authorities and the rest is our fee. Use the calculator — it itemises every line and separates the two.

Is the free zone really 0% tax?

Only on qualifying income, and the definition is narrower than the marketing suggests. Income from mainland UAE customers is generally not qualifying. Every company must register for corporate tax regardless, and the 9% applies above AED 375,000 of taxable profit where the exemption does not.

Do I need to live in the UAE?

No. You can own and run a UAE company as a non-resident, and you do not need a visa at all. You need one only to open most bank accounts, to sign a lease, or to get an Emirates ID.

How long until I can invoice?

The licence is what lets you invoice, and that is two to three working days in most free zones. The visa and the bank account come afterwards and take weeks, not days.

Can I change jurisdiction later?

Yes, but it is a new company rather than a migration in most cases — new licence, new immigration file, new bank account, and the old one closed properly so it does not accrue fines. Choosing correctly the first time is worth more than any discount.