Business Setup in Dubai

In 30 Seconds

Setting up a company in Dubai in 2026 comes down to one decision and one sequence. The decision: free zone or mainland. Free zone gets you 100% ownership, a licence in days, and 0% corporate tax on qualifying income; mainland gets you unrestricted trade across the UAE, and since the 2021 law change it also gives foreign owners 100% ownership for most activities, so the old sponsor problem is dead. The sequence: licence, entry permit, medical and biometrics, Emirates ID, bank account. Run properly it takes two to three weeks; our fastest real run took 48 hours to licence and under 72 hours from landing to a live business bank account. Our price is published: £7,000 all in for a free zone company with your first visa. This page is the full map, and every claim on it links to the guide that proves it.

The one decision: free zone or mainland

Free zone means one of the UAE's 40 plus special economic zones, each with its own licensing authority. You get 100% foreign ownership as standard, licences issued in as little as one to five business days, 0% import and export duties within the zone, and 0% corporate tax on qualifying income under the UAE's corporate tax law. The historic limitation was direct trading with the UAE domestic market, which traditionally needed a distributor, a dual licence or a mainland branch.

Mainland means a licence from the emirate's Department of Economy, letting you trade anywhere in the UAE, sell directly to local consumers and bid for government work. The fact most UK owners have not caught up with: since the 2021 amendment to the Commercial Companies Law, 100% foreign ownership is standard for the large majority of mainland commercial and industrial activities. The 51% local sponsor requirement is history for most businesses, surviving only in strategic sectors like oil and gas, utilities and defence.

The 2026 shift: reforms this year have begun softening the free zone domestic trading restriction, with new routes for free zone companies to serve the mainland market from a single entity. The gap between the two choices is the narrowest it has ever been, which moves the real decision to tax position, activity type and where your customers are.

The honest steer: if your revenue is international, remote or online, a free zone is usually the right answer and the faster, cheaper one. If your customers are physically in the UAE, look at mainland. If you are a fund, family office or regulated financial business, the DIFC and ADGM financial centres are a separate conversation with separate regulators.

What it costs

Our price is on the page, not behind a quote form: £7,000 all in for a free zone company with licence and your first residence visa. Family visas run £1,000 to £1,500 per person on top. Beyond that, cost is driven by three things: how many visas your licence needs to support, whether your activity needs a physical office or a flexi desk, and which zone fits your activity. Be suspicious of both ends of the advertised market: the AED 5,750 headline offers usually exclude the visa, the medical, the Emirates ID and everything else you actually need, and the premium quotes often bundle services you do not. Every fee has a name; make whoever you use publish theirs.

The honest timeline

Standard, done properly: two to three weeks from instruction to Emirates ID in hand. Our fastest real run, our own founder as a client: licence in 48 hours, and under 72 hours from landing in Dubai to holding an Emirates ID with personal and business banking live, documented hour by hour in the 72 hour diary. The difference between two days and two months is sequencing: everything bookable before the flight gets booked before the flight. The full stage by stage breakdown is in our visa processing time guide.

The setup sequence, step by step

  1. Choose activity and jurisdiction. Your business activity determines which zones can license you and what approvals apply. This choice drives everything downstream, including banking.
  2. Licence application. Passport copies, application forms, activity selection. No UAE visit required for this stage. Days, not weeks, in most free zones.
  3. Establishment card and entry permit. The company sponsors your residence visa; the entry permit lets you activate it when you land.
  4. Medical and biometrics. In the UAE: a blood test and chest X ray, then fingerprints for the Emirates ID. VIP centres compress both into a single afternoon.
  5. Residence visa and Emirates ID. Approval typically follows a clean medical within days. The physical ID card completes your status.
  6. Bank account. The stage where cheap setups die. Banks want substance: a real activity, a clear source of funds, and paperwork that matches. Digital first banks can activate the same day your Emirates ID arrives; traditional banks take longer and ask more.
  7. Corporate tax registration. Every company registers. Whether you pay is a different question, below.

The tax truth, without the sales gloss

The UAE now has corporate tax: 0% on taxable profit up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it. Free zone companies can access a 0% rate on qualifying income, but qualifying has real conditions attached: substance in the zone, the right kinds of income, and staying inside the rules. What the billboards do not say: for a typical UK owner moving a service business, the maths is usually excellent anyway, because salary you pay yourself carries no personal income tax and profit up to the threshold carries no corporate tax either. What we always add: leaving UK tax properly is its own project, covered across our tax hub and the UK exit tax guide, and none of this is tax advice; structure with a regulated adviser.

What goes wrong, and how it is avoided

The failure patterns are predictable: an activity chosen wrong so the bank later refuses the account; the cheapest zone chosen for a business that needed a different one; visas under provisioned so a spouse waits months; the medical booked at the wrong centre losing a week; and cut price agents who disappear after the licence, exactly when banking gets hard. The fix is boring: sequence it properly with someone accountable end to end. That is the entire product. It is also why we publish the price and the timeline, and why the FCDO's live guidance on regional tensions sits on this page and every other one, because a firm that hides the inconvenient line will hide the invoice line too.

FAQs

Can a foreigner own 100% of a company in Dubai?

Yes, two ways. Every free zone offers 100% foreign ownership as standard, and since the 2021 Commercial Companies Law amendment, the mainland allows 100% foreign ownership for the large majority of commercial and industrial activities, with only strategic sectors still requiring Emirati participation.

How much does it cost to set up a company in Dubai?

Our published all in price is £7,000 for a free zone company with licence and first residence visa, with family visas £1,000 to £1,500 per person. Ultra cheap advertised licences typically exclude the visa, medical and Emirates ID costs that follow.

How long does Dubai company formation take?

Two to three weeks end to end is the honest standard. Licences themselves can issue in one to five business days in most free zones, and our fastest real client run went from instruction to licence in 48 hours.

What is the difference between free zone and mainland?

Free zone: own authority, fastest setup, 0% on qualifying income, historically limited direct UAE market access, though 2026 reforms are softening that. Mainland: trade anywhere in the UAE including government contracts, licensed by the emirate's economy department, and now also 100% foreign owned for most activities.

Do Dubai companies pay tax?

Corporate tax is 0% up to AED 375,000 of profit and 9% above, with free zones able to access 0% on qualifying income under conditions. Salaries carry no personal income tax. Registration is mandatory either way.

Do I need to be in Dubai to set up the company?

Not for the licence: that stage runs on documents. You come out for the medical, biometrics and bank account, which is exactly the trip our 72 hour landing sequence compresses.

Want it run properly? Book a free call. Twenty minutes, your situation mapped, real numbers, and an honest answer including when the answer is not Dubai.

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References

This page is general information, not tax or legal advice. Structures and rules change; take regulated advice on your situation.