Free Zone Company Setup in the UAE: Cost, Visas and Steps
Licence and visa packages in three free zones, the zones' own prices, and every step for someone who already lives in the UAE.
RAKEZ, licence and one visa
AED 6,499
Our starting price, with one UAE residence visa
RAKEZ, licence and four visas
AED 11,500
Four residence visas on one licence
RAKEZ, licence and eight visas
AED 21,999
Eight residence visas on one licence
Ajman Free Zone, licence
AED 4,499
Our starting price for a licence without a visa
Our prices. Health insurance, WPI and visa typing are added for each visa; the zone's fee and ours come in writing before you pay.
A free zone company through SwiftHub starts at AED 6,499 for a RAKEZ licence with one residence visa, AED 11,500 with four visas and AED 21,999 with eight. Health insurance, unemployment insurance (WPI) and visa typing are added for each visa. Without a visa, an Ajman Free Zone licence starts at AED 4,499 and an Ajman NuVentures licence at AED 4,888.
We are a channel partner of the three zones we file in, RAKEZ, Ajman Free Zone and Ajman NuVentures Centre Free Zone, with our own agent account on each zone's system. Most of the companies we set up belong to people who already live in the UAE, on an employment visa or between jobs, who want a licence of their own and a residence visa through it. This page sets out what that costs, the steps, and what a free zone company can and can't do.
Our free zone packages, with the visas in them
Each package is a licence with residence visas allocated to it, for you as the owner, for partners or for staff. Each person on a visa still goes through the entry permit or the change of status, the medical test and the Emirates ID, in that order.
| Package | Zone | Residence visas | Our price, from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence with one visa | RAKEZ | 1 | AED 6,499 |
| Licence with four visas | RAKEZ | 4 | AED 11,500 |
| Licence with eight visas | RAKEZ | 8 | AED 21,999 |
| Licence, no visa | Ajman Free Zone | 0 | AED 4,499 |
| Licence, no visa | Ajman NuVentures | 0 | AED 4,888 |
| Licence with one visa, all-inclusive | Ajman NuVentures | 1 | AED 10,800 |
| Licence with five visas, all-inclusive | Ajman NuVentures | 5 | AED 29,700 |
For each visa we add visa typing at AED 200, WPI unemployment insurance at AED 300 and health insurance from AED 500. You get the zone's fee and ours as two figures before anything is paid.
What the zones charge on their own price lists
Free zones publish their own starting prices, and a consultant's quote should sit near them. These are the zones' own figures, read on their own sites in October and November 2026:
Compare a package that has a visa with another that has a visa. A licence without one is a different product, and the gap between the two is mostly the visa. For the zones side by side, with what no licence price includes, see UAE free zones compared; for the lowest entry prices, the cheapest free zone licence.
| Zone | Emirate | Its own starting price |
|---|---|---|
| RAKEZ | Ras Al Khaimah | AED 6,000 for the Basic package, no visa; AED 14,000 for the all-inclusive package with one visa, renewing at the same price |
| SPC Free Zone | Sharjah | From AED 5,750, no visa |
| SHAMS | Sharjah | From AED 5,760, no visa |
| Ajman Media City | Ajman | AED 4,999 for its Business Club package, no visa |
| Ajman Free Zone | Ajman | Priced for each company through its cost calculator |
| Ajman NuVentures | Ajman | From AED 4,888, no visa, the same as our price |
| IFZA | Dubai | Not published; IFZA sells through its partners |
Already living in the UAE: your visa and the new company
Most people who set up through us are in the UAE when they start. The company's visa replaces the one you hold: your current visa is cancelled first, and the new one is issued as a change of status, so you don't leave the country. RAKEZ adds a charge of its own when the applicant is already inside the UAE.
On an employment visa
Your employer cancels it, then the company's visa is issued by change of status. You can also own the company and stay on your current visa: RAKEZ lets a shareholder hold a visa from elsewhere.
After a cancellation
A grace period runs from the cancellation, 30 to 180 days depending on the visa, and ICP fines each day after it, so the new visa should be filed inside it. Visa cancellation in the UAE has the days for each type.
On a visit visa
The residence visa can be issued without leaving the country, by change of status: visit visa to residence visa has the steps.
The company's manager has to live in the UAE; its owners don't, by RAKEZ's FAQ. If what you want is a visa of your own rather than a business, own visa in Dubai compares every route.
The three zones we file in as a channel partner
RAKEZ, Ras Al Khaimah
More than 50,000 companies in over 50 sectors, by its home page, and facilities from a flexi desk to warehouses and land. A flexi desk carries one visa, by RAKEZ's FAQ; more visas need a bigger facility. RAKEZ free zone has its packages and fees.
Direct channel partner
Ajman Free Zone
A government free zone with over 3,500 licensed activities, which prices each company through its cost calculator and gives a licence a month of grace after it expires, by its FAQ. Ajman Free Zone services covers renewal, visas and changes.
Direct channel partner
Ajman NuVentures Centre Free Zone
It publishes its packages: a licence without a visa, and all-inclusive packages with one to ten visas and up to 10 activities. It says it can incorporate a company within two hours.
Direct channel partner
We also price IFZA, SPC, SHAMS and Ajman Media City licences, each on its own page. Our partners has more on the three zones above.
Activities: general trading, e-commerce and the rest
The activity decides the licence type and, in RAKEZ, the package: RAKEZ's Basic package carries one activity and its all-inclusive package up to ten, by RAKEZ's FAQ. The three we set up most often:
If you will hold or sell physical stock, choose that activity at the start: adding one later is an amendment with its own fee, and RAKEZ services lists what each costs.
General trading
Buying and selling a wide range of goods, the activity most of our clients choose. The costs are on general trading licence cost.
E-commerce
Selling online. In RAKEZ the e-activity no-objection certificate is free and takes two working days, by RAKEZ. The rest is on e-commerce licence cost.
Documents clearing
Typing and clearing offices, set up in a free zone or on the mainland: typing centre licence.
From the first message to the residence visa
Visas run on the immigration clock, not the licence's, so we give a date range for the whole setup with the quote rather than a headline number.
Zone, package and activity
We match the activity and the number of visas to a zone and a package, and you get the zone's fee and ours in writing.
Documents and pre-approval
RAKEZ asks every investor, partner and manager, of every nationality, for pre-approval.
Name reservation and initial approval
Licence issuance
RAKEZ's instant-licence page says a licence can be issued online in five minutes; treat that as the licence step only.
Establishment card, before any visa can move.
Visas
The entry permit or the change of status, the medical test, then the Emirates ID.
Corporate tax registration, required whether or not the company makes a profit.
The documents to send us
- A passport copy for every shareholder and every visa applicant
- A passport-style photograph against a white background
- Your current visa and Emirates ID, if you already live in the UAE
- The activities you plan to run, described plainly
- Three trade name options, in order of preference
What a free zone company can and can't do
A free zone company can be wholly foreign-owned, with no local partner: RAKEZ allows up to 50 shareholders. It trades inside its zone and with the rest of the world.
It cannot sell directly into the UAE mainland. That takes a mainland licence, a distributor or a branch; SPC sells a dual licence, free zone and mainland, for that case. If most of your customers are UAE consumers, look at mainland setup first.
A free zone licence is not a tax exemption. UAE corporate tax is 9% on taxable profit above AED 375,000, registration is required regardless of profit, and a qualifying free zone person can access 0% on qualifying income, subject to conditions to meet and evidence: qualifying income.
The zone doesn't open the company's bank account, and neither do we: the bank decides on its own review. We prepare and introduce the file for AED 1,000 for a low-risk activity, AED 2,000 for a higher-risk one: bank account opening.
After the licence: renewal, visas and changes
A licence renews every year. RAKEZ's all-inclusive package renews at the price it started at, guaranteed by RAKEZ, and Ajman Free Zone gives a licence a month of grace after it expires, by its FAQ. We handle the renewal, new and cancelled visas, family visas and amendments in all three zones: RAKEZ licence renewal, RAKEZ services and Ajman Free Zone services.
