DAFZA Company Setup 2026: Licences, Costs, Visas and Who Dubai Airport Freezone Suits

DAFZA company setup is the process of incorporating a free zone company, public limited company or branch in Dubai Airport Freezone (DAFZ), a free zone established in 1996 beside Dubai International Airport and now licensed by the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority under Dubai Law No. 16 of 2021. A DAFZ company can be wholly foreign-owned, trades from a leased office, warehouse or industrial unit inside the zone, sponsors residence visas in proportion to that space, and is known above all for air-linked trade: luxury goods, pharmaceuticals, electronics, aviation and time-sensitive logistics.

People still search for “DAFZA” because the regulator used to be called the Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority. Since the 2021 law merged it into the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority, the zone itself brands as DAFZ (Dubai Airport Freezone), and the authority behind it is DIEZ. In this guide DAFZA and DAFZ mean the same place; we use DAFZ for the zone and DIEZ for the regulator.

This guide covers what the zone is for, the legal forms and licences, each setup step with its official time, documents, what the zone really publishes on costs, space and the DAFZA visa allocation it carries, banking, tax, mainland trading, compliance and when to choose another zone. Still deciding between a free zone and the mainland? Read our free zone vs mainland guide. If you already want an airport-side company and would like the paperwork handled, our free zone company setup support covers DAFZ from enquiry to bank account.

DAFZ is one of more than twenty free zones listed by the Government of Dubai. For the full picture, see our Dubai free zones list and the UAE-wide free zones in the UAE pillar guide. Every fact below comes from the official sources listed at the end, read between 24 and 26 September 2026. Where Dubai Airport Freezone’s own pages are out of date or silent, we say so.

DAFZA company setup at a glance

The table gives the short answer to each question a founder asks first, with the source behind it.

Two points decide most DAFZ files. First, the number of visas you need sets the size of space you must lease, and space is where most of the money goes. Second, the airport only pays for itself if your goods, clients or staff actually move through it. A consultancy with no freight and two visas can do the same work from a cheaper zone. If you are still comparing routes for business setup in Dubai, we set DAFZ against the mainland and other zones in writing.

DIEZ explained: who licenses DAFZ, Dubai Silicon Oasis and Dubai CommerCity

Dubai Law No. 16 of 2021 created the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority and placed Dubai Silicon Oasis and the Dubai International Airport Free Zone under it (Article 4), with power to “license, regulate, control, and supervise” activities and to register companies in its zones (Article 6). The law repealed the separate founding laws of both zones, including Law No. 25 of 2009 for the airport free zone, and the new authority took over on 1 January 2022.

A week later, DIEZ Resolution No. 1 of 2022 (7 January 2022) approved the names and plots of four free zones inside the integrated zones: the Dubai International Airport Free Zone, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai Commercity and DAFZA Industrial Park. In practice DIEZ markets three destinations, and its own results for the first half of 2026 (Dubai Media Office, 17 August 2026) report 96% occupancy across them, a 13% rise in companies and a 24% rise in workforce compared with the first half of 2025.

All three zones share one rulebook, the DIEZA Implementing Regulations 2023, so choose between them on operations, not legal form.

A fourth brand is often confused with DIEZ. IFZA companies are licensed within the Dubai Silicon Oasis free zone, but IFZA runs its own sales, pricing and client service, and it is not a DAFZ product. If a low-cost remote setup is your aim, read our IFZA company setup guide alongside this one.

What Dubai Airport Freezone is known for

Dubai Airport Freezone’s selling point is distance. Its offices sit next to Dubai International Airport, and the zone promotes “rapid clearance and fast processing” of goods through the airport’s cargo facilities. That matters to a company whose product is small, valuable or perishable, and whose margin depends on moving it quickly between suppliers in Europe or Asia and buyers across the Gulf, Africa and South Asia.

Sectors and the DAFZ ecosystem

Dubai Airport Freezone says it hosts more than 3,400 businesses in over 20 sectors. The sectors it and independent sources name most often are:

• Luxury goods, watches, jewellery and cosmetics. Gulf News reported in November 2018 that Richemont opened a 4,500 square metre regional operations centre in the zone, the first built-to-suit facility DAFZA constructed for a client, serving brands such as Cartier, Montblanc and Van Cleef & Arpels across the Middle East and India.
• Pharmaceuticals, medical devices and healthcare products, where temperature control and fast customs release matter.
• Electronics, IT and telecommunications, including regional distribution hubs.
• Aviation, aerospace and air-freight logistics. Dubai Media Office announced on 25 December 2025 that AWOT Global Logistics Corporation had opened its first regional headquarters in DAFZ.
• Food and beverages, engineering and building materials, mainly through the warehouses of DAFZ Industrial Park.
• Family offices and professional services, through dedicated single-family and multi-family office licences.

On site, Dubai Airport Freezone runs a Government Centre, two business centres, a retail centre and more than 250 online services, so the establishment card, visas, gate passes and leasing run through one portal.

How DAFZ differs from rival zones

DAFZ is not the only zone with a logistics story. The difference is in what sits next door:

• Against JAFZA, DAFZ is closer to air cargo and central Dubai; JAFZA is built around Jebel Ali Port, sea freight and large industrial plots. See our JAFZA company setup guide.
• Against Dubai South, which is built around Al Maktoum International Airport, DAFZ serves today’s main passenger and cargo airport, DXB, and has a mature office campus rather than a growing district.
• Against DMCC, Dubai Airport Freezone has fewer licensing communities (no crypto or gaming centres) but a stronger air-trade and warehouse offer. See our DMCC company setup guide.

Dubai Flower Centre

The Dubai Flower Centre is a temperature-controlled facility at Dubai International Airport for cut flowers, plants and other perishables. Gulf News reported its launch in September 2004 as a project to build “a complete cool logistics chain” for the regional flower trade, and published descriptions put it at about 100,000 square metres of floor space with around 34,000 square metres of bonded cold storage.

Business setup firms often describe the Dubai Flower Centre as a separate free zone licensed through the airport free zone. We could not confirm that on an official page. DIEZ Resolution No. 1 of 2022 does not list it among the four DIEZ free zones, the Government of Dubai’s list of 21 free zones does not name it, and Dubai Airport Freezone’s current website does not mention it. Our reading is that perishables traders who need cold storage today should treat DAFZ, and the cold-storage warehouses in DAFZ Industrial Park, as the licensing route, and ask DAFZ in writing whether a Flower Centre unit is available and under which licence.

DAFZA company setup: legal forms, shareholders and capital

Since the DIEZ rulebook took over, Dubai Airport Freezone offers three vehicles. The DIEZA Implementing Regulations 2023 name them in Regulation 8, and they add that every existing free zone establishment (FZE) is now treated as an FZCO. The 2018 announcement of a “Limited Liability Free Zone Company” and the old FZE label are therefore history: new companies are FZCOs, PLCs or branches.

The minimum capital of AED 1 is real, but it is not always sensible. Banks, landlords, suppliers and immigration officers all look at the capital figure, and a company that plans to import stock worth several hundred thousand dirhams will struggle to explain a one-dirham balance sheet. Pick a figure you can justify and actually pay in. If it is above AED 150,000, plan for the bank capital letter Dubai Airport Freezone asks for.

Dubai Airport Freezone also said in 2018 that the capital requirement for a general trading licence was cut from AED 1 million to AED 500,000. We could not find a current DAFZ or DIEZ page confirming whether a separate general trading capital rule still applies under the 2023 regulations, so ask DAFZ to state it in your quotation if you want a general trading licence.

Choosing between an FZCO and a branch

An FZCO is the default: it ring-fences liability, contracts in its own name and is tested on its own for 0% corporate tax. A branch carries the parent’s name and needs no capital, but the parent is liable for it and must produce attested corporate documents. Branches suit multinationals; start-ups and most SMEs use an FZCO.

The DIEZ regulations also allow a foreign company to continue into the zone (Part 12) and conversions between the three forms (Part 13), which matters if you want to redomicile rather than start fresh.

DAFZA licence types and permitted activities

Dubai Airport Freezone issues its licences under an activity list aligned with the UN’s ISIC Rev. 4 classification. When it restructured its licensing in 2018 it said the list covered more than 2,000 activities across 18 sectors. The current list is downloadable from the DAFZ business setup page.

How to check your activity

1. Download the DAFZ activity list from the business setup process page and search it for the words that describe your business, not your brand.
2. Write down the exact activity names and codes that match what you will actually do, including storage, import and after-sales services.
3. Check whether any activity is marked as needing an external approval. Dubai Airport Freezone states that “some activities require external government NOC approval”.
4. Ask DAFZ, or us, to confirm that the combination fits one licence type. Trade and service activities can often sit together, but an industrial activity needs space that allows it.

Activities that need another regulator

A DAFZ licence permits the activity inside the zone, but some goods and services also need a federal or Dubai regulator’s approval before you trade. Common examples for DAFZ businesses:

• Medicines, medical devices and pharmacy products: registration and import permits with the Emirates Drug Establishment (functions previously run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention).
• Food, cosmetics and personal care products: product registration with Dubai Municipality.
• Telecom and wireless devices: type approval from the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA).
• Gold, diamonds, precious stones and high-value dealing: anti-money-laundering registration on goAML and supervision as a designated non-financial business.
• Aviation services and aircraft parts: approvals from the General Civil Aviation Authority where the activity is regulated.

Build the lead time for any external approval into your plan: the licence can be ready before the regulator has finished.

DAFZA business setup process, step by step

Dubai Airport Freezone presents its process in three headline steps: choose your licence, choose your company type, choose your space. Behind those steps sit the registration, lease, licence, immigration card and visas. The sequence below is how a typical FZCO file runs, with the official time for each step where one is published.

1. Activity and structure check. Pick activities from the DAFZ list, the legal form and shareholders, and identify any external approval. No official time.
2. Enquiry and quotation. Dubai Airport Freezone says it responds to enquiries within one working day. Ask for an itemised quotation.
3. Application and documents. Submit shareholder, director, manager and beneficial owner documents online; compliance screening happens here.
4. Approval and name. No DAFZ time is published. u.ae states generally that free zone applications are approved “within 14 working days”.
5. Space and lease. Sign the lease, pay “per agreed plan” and collect keys “upon payment confirmation”, in DAFZ’s words.
6. Incorporation and licence. Certificate of incorporation, memorandum and articles, share certificates and licence. No company licence time is published; the Talent Pass takes 10 to 15 working days after approval.
7. Establishment card. Opens the company’s immigration file through the DAFZ Government Centre. No separate time published.
8. Visas. Entry permit or status change, medical, biometrics, Emirates ID and residence: 7 to 9 working days inside the country, and 3 to 4 working days to stamping after the medical and biometrics (DAFZ FAQ).
9. Bank account. Timelines are the bank’s own; none is official.
10. Tax and compliance. Corporate tax registration within three months of incorporation (FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024), VAT if you cross the threshold, beneficial owner filings and goAML where required.

DAFZA company setup documents required

Dubai Airport Freezone publishes separate document checklists for a new FZCO and a new branch, plus a template parent resolution, in its Download Centre. We could not read those files from our research environment, so the lists below are built from the DIEZA Implementing Regulations 2023, Dubai Airport Freezone’s beneficial owner guidance and what free zone registrars ask for in practice. Always check them against the current DAFZ checklist.

Individual shareholders, directors and managers

• Passport copy valid for at least six months.
• UAE residence visa and Emirates ID if already resident, or the entry stamp or visit visa page if in the UAE on a visit.
• Passport-size photograph on a white background.
• Proof of residential address (a utility bill or lease less than three months old), which Dubai Airport Freezone lists for beneficial owners.
• CV or short profile, particularly for the manager and for regulated activities.
• Signed application forms and specimen signatures.

Corporate shareholders

• Certificate of incorporation or registration “certified by the relevant authority” in the home country (DIEZA Regulation 18.2(b)).
• Memorandum and articles of association, or the equivalent constitutional documents.
• Board resolution approving the DAFZ company, naming its directors, manager and secretary and authorising a signatory.
• Certificate of good standing or incumbency, recent.
• Register of shareholders and directors, and a group structure chart down to the individuals who ultimately own or control it.
• Passport copies and addresses of those ultimate beneficial owners.

Foreign corporate documents normally have to be notarised in the home country, legalised by the UAE embassy there and then attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the UAE, with a legal translation into English or Arabic where needed. The UAE has not joined the Apostille Convention, so an apostille alone is not enough; our apostille vs attestation guide explains the route, and our document attestation service can run it for you.

Branch of a foreign or UAE company

• Parent’s certificate of incorporation, memorandum and articles, and good standing, all attested.
• Parent board resolution to open the branch, appoint the branch manager and give a power of attorney.
• Latest audited financial statements of the parent, where the Registrar asks for them.
• For a UAE parent: its trade licence, memorandum and board resolution (no embassy legalisation needed for UAE documents).

Beneficial owner declaration

Every DIEZ company must sign a declaration setting out its ultimate beneficial owners and submit it to the Registrar “on an annual basis and on each renewal” (DIEZA Regulation 22). Dubai Airport Freezone’s guidance asks for the declaration form, certified passport or ID copies with English translation, proof of address under three months old, a structure chart, and notarised shareholder registers or audited annual reports for corporate layers. Our UBO register guide explains who counts as a beneficial owner.

DAFZA license cost: what Dubai Airport Freezone actually publishes

This is the section most guides get wrong. Dubai Airport Freezone does not publish a public fee schedule for company registration, licences or visas. Its office pages describe what each package includes (licence, space, visa count) without a price, and it asks you to request a quotation. Any page that prints a precise “DAFZA license cost” is either quoting an old rate sheet or a consultant’s own package, not a DAFZ tariff.

What we can show you is every official figure we found, dated, and a clear list of the items your quotation should contain.

Two official statements still circulate. In July 2018 DAFZ announced cuts of 65% to registration fees, 33% to licence fees, 20% to staff visa fees and 17% to establishment card fees: reductions from the 2018 tariff, not today’s prices. On 9 April 2026 DIEZ announced relief across its three zones, including stable rents on renewal, monthly rent instalments without fees, a waiver of “late licence renewal penalties, until conditions stabilise”, and deferred or waived fees for shareholder, activity and capital amendments.

What a DAFZ quotation should list

• Registration or incorporation fee (one-off).
• Licence fee for year one, and whether it changes with more activities or a general trading licence.
• Space: rent for the desk, office or warehouse, service charges, security deposit, fit-out if any, parking.
• Establishment (immigration) card issue fee.
• Per-visa costs: entry permit or status change, medical test, Emirates ID, residence stamping, health insurance, and any deposit.
• Document fees: memorandum and articles, share certificates, attested copies.
• External approval fees for regulated activities.
• Year-two renewal costs, so you are not surprised twelve months later.

Costs founders forget

• Audit. DIEZ companies must keep accounts and appoint an auditor, and a Qualifying Free Zone Person needs audited financial statements for corporate tax. Dubai Airport Freezone keeps an approved auditors list.
• Attestation of corporate shareholder documents, which can cost more and take longer than the DAFZ registration itself.
• Mainland access. If you will serve Dubai mainland clients directly, budget for the permit or DET branch described below.

We quote our own work separately and in writing; DAFZ and government fees are passed on at cost with their receipts. How our pricing works is set out on our fees page.

Dubai Airport Freezone office, warehouse and industrial options, and the visas each carries

In DAFZ the space you lease decides how many residence visas your company can sponsor. The official allocations published by DAFZ are below.

DAFZ Industrial Park is in Al Qusais, about 5 km from Dubai International Airport, and is a free zone in its own right under DIEZ Resolution No. 1 of 2022. Dubai Airport Freezone says it serves warehousing, storage, distribution, assembly and light production, and that bonded warehouses are available. Retail units and the DAFZ Square and Regus business centres complete the options.

How to pick the space

• Count visas first. Owners, managers and staff who need a residence visa through the company all count. A founder who holds a Golden Visa or is sponsored by a spouse may not need a company visa at all.
• Then count stock. An office cannot legally double as a store. If you will hold inventory in Dubai, you need a warehouse or a third-party logistics provider licensed to store it.
• Plan the second year. Moving office to add visas means a lease change and an amendment; if you will hire three people in year one, start in 25 square metres.

DAFZA visa and residency: how it works

A DAFZ company sponsors its owners and staff for UAE residence through its establishment card, and DAFZ’s Government Centre processes the steps with the Dubai immigration authority (GDRFA) and the other agencies involved. Dubai Airport Freezone says it supports “residence visas, work permits and healthcare cards” for staff, and family sponsorship for business owners.

The DAFZA visa process, step by step

1. Establishment card for the company, once the licence and lease are in place.
2. Entry permit for a person abroad, or a change of status for someone already in the UAE on another permit.
3. Medical fitness test at an approved centre. Our medical fitness test service books and tracks it.
4. Emirates ID biometrics, then the Emirates ID application.
5. Residence visa issuance, linked to the Emirates ID.

DAFZ’s FAQ states that processing “currently” takes 7 to 9 working days inside the country, and 3 to 4 working days from the medical test and biometrics to stamping. The same FAQ still says express services are halted because of COVID-19, so treat those figures as indicative and confirm current times when you apply. For general Dubai processing times see our UAE visa processing times guide.

Investor, partner and employee visas

• Shareholders and managers are sponsored by the company like any other visa holder and use up one visa from the space allocation.
• Employees hold free zone employment contracts. DAFZ-sponsored staff are normally registered through the free zone’s own employment system rather than through a MOHRE work permit.
• Family members are sponsored by the resident owner or employee personally, subject to the family visa rules. Our family visa service handles that stage.
• Golden Visa. Shareholders who meet an investor, entrepreneur or skilled category can hold a ten-year Golden Visa instead of a company-sponsored visa, which frees a visa slot. See our Golden Visa service.
• Talent Pass holders get their own residence visa through the freelance licence but cannot employ or sponsor staff.

Residence files issued through DAFZ are Dubai files, so the residence number starts with 2 and Dubai rules on grace periods and cancellations apply. If you want someone else to run the visa steps, our free zone visa service covers DAFZ.

Opening a bank account for a Dubai Airport Freezone company

UAE banks treat a DAFZ company like any free zone company: the account is opened only after the licence, lease and establishment documents are issued, and the bank applies its own know-your-customer checks under the Central Bank’s rules and the federal anti-money-laundering law (Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025).

Banks usually ask for the licence, incorporation documents, lease, owners’ and signatories’ passports and Emirates IDs, a business plan with expected turnover and counterparties, and proof of the source of funds; traders should add supplier and customer names and trade routes. A real office and a clear airport-trade story help, and our company formation support includes preparing that bank pack. Our corporate bank account guide covers the process bank by bank.

Corporate tax, VAT and customs for DAFZ companies

Corporate tax and the Qualifying Free Zone Person

The zone’s own pages still say “no corporate tax”. That is out of date. Since tax periods starting on or after 1 June 2023, every DAFZ company is a taxable person under Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022. The standard rate is 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000. A company that meets the Qualifying Free Zone Person conditions in Cabinet Decision No. 100 of 2023 pays 0% on qualifying income and 9% on the rest.

The conditions, in summary: keep adequate substance in the free zone, earn qualifying income, not elect to be taxed at the standard rate, comply with transfer pricing rules, prepare audited financial statements, and keep non-qualifying revenue within the de minimis limit (the lower of 5% of total revenue or AED 5 million). Qualifying activities are listed in Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025, which replaced Ministerial Decision No. 265 of 2023 with effect from 1 June 2023. For DAFZ companies, three entries matter most: “distribution of goods or materials in or from a Designated Zone”, logistics services, and headquarter services to related parties.

A Qualifying Free Zone Person cannot use Small Business Relief. Registration is due within three months of incorporation under FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024, with an AED 10,000 penalty for late registration. Step-by-step instructions are in our corporate tax registration guide.

VAT and the designated zone

DAFZ appears as “Dubai Airport Free Zone” on the list of designated zones under Cabinet Decision No. 59 of 2017. For VAT, a designated zone is treated as outside the UAE for certain supplies of goods, provided the zone meets the fencing and customs control conditions. In practice: goods moving between designated zones, or sold from DAFZ to a buyer abroad, can fall outside UAE VAT, while goods sold into the mainland and almost all services are taxed as normal. Every DAFZ company registers for VAT if taxable supplies exceed AED 375,000 in twelve months, and may register voluntarily from AED 187,500.

We could not read the FTA’s designated zone page from our research environment, so check the current FTA list on the day you rely on it, including whether DAFZ Industrial Park is covered.

Customs

Goods held in DAFZ are outside the UAE’s local customs territory. Moving them into the Dubai mainland is an import: customs duty (5% on the CIF value for most goods) and import VAT are paid then, through Dubai Customs. A trading company needs a Dubai Customs client code, and many DAFZ traders use the airport’s cargo and bonded facilities for re-export without the goods ever entering the local market.

Trading with the Dubai mainland from Dubai Airport Freezone

A DAFZ licence covers activity in the zone and trade outside the UAE. Serving customers on the Dubai mainland directly needs more. Dubai’s Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025 gives free zone companies two routes through the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET):

• A DET branch licence for the free zone company, at AED 10,000 a year, for ongoing mainland operations.
• A Free Zone Mainland Operating Permit, announced by Dubai Media Office on 8 October 2025 at AED 5,000, for defined activities for a limited period (up to six months).

Dubai Airport Freezone also lists a “dual licence with DET”, which lets a DAFZ company operate on the mainland without renting mainland office space. For goods, the older routes still work: sell through a mainland distributor or agent who imports the goods, or open a mainland company. Our mainland company formation guide covers that option. Note that mainland revenue can be non-qualifying income for corporate tax, so check the de minimis limit before you expand.

Renewal and ongoing compliance in Dubai Airport Freezone

Note the small conflict: the DIEZ regulations give 14 days to report a beneficial owner change, the federal Cabinet Decision gives 15. File within 14 and you satisfy both. Failing to keep the licence and lease valid is the most expensive mistake: the Registrar may wind up a company or de-register a branch that does not maintain its licence (DIEZA Regulations 20.3 and 20.4).

DAFZA free zone: pros and cons

Who DAFZA company setup suits

• Importers, distributors and re-exporters of high-value, small-volume goods: watches, jewellery, cosmetics, electronics, spare parts.
• Pharmaceutical and medical product distributors that need temperature control and fast airport release.
• Air-freight forwarders, aviation service companies and aircraft parts traders.
• Multinationals setting up a regional headquarters or operations centre with a prestige address.
• Family offices that want a DIEZ-regulated single or multi-family office licence.
• Individual professionals in media, education, marketing, consultancy or technology who want the Talent Pass.

Who should look elsewhere

• Software, AI and deep-tech start-ups that want a campus, co-working and investors: Dubai Silicon Oasis.
• Online retailers and marketplace sellers that need fulfilment rather than an office: Dubai CommerCity.
• Sea freight, heavy industry or large plots: JAFZA.
• Consultants who need one visa and the lowest licence cost with remote setup: IFZA or Meydan Free Zone.
• Commodities, crypto and gaming businesses: DMCC.

DAFZA company setup: worked cases

These cases are built from the situations we see most often. Names and identifying details are left out, and the figures are the published ones.

Case 1: a watch distributor serving the Gulf and India

A European watch distributor wants a regional hub that receives air shipments, holds limited stock under bond and re-exports to retailers in the GCC and India. Two staff will move to Dubai. The right structure is an FZCO with a trade licence for watches and accessories, and a Premium Office (25 sqm, three visas) plus storage through a bonded logistics provider or a small DAFZ warehouse. Because DAFZ is a designated zone and the goods are distributed from it, the income can qualify for 0% corporate tax if the company keeps substance and audited accounts. Mainland retail sales would need a Resolution 11/2025 route or a mainland distributor.

Case 2: a pharmaceutical company’s regional branch

A pharmaceutical group wants its regional office and cold-chain hub in Dubai. It chooses a DAFZ branch so the parent’s name and history carry over, and leases a cold-storage warehouse in DAFZ Industrial Park, which carries 20 or 30 visas depending on size. The long pole is not DAFZ: it is product registration and import permits with the Emirates Drug Establishment, plus attested parent documents. We start both on day one, so the licence and the regulatory file arrive together.

Case 3: a consultant weighing the Talent Pass against a company

A marketing consultant already resident in Dubai wants to invoice clients in her own name. The DAFZ Talent Pass costs AED 7,500 a year, needs no audit and issues in 10 to 15 working days after approval, but it cannot sponsor staff and she cannot trade under a brand. If she plans to hire within a year or wants a brand name, an FZCO with a Smart Office is the better starting point.

Case 4: an electronics trader with one owner and stock

A founder wants to import phone accessories and sell to wholesalers across Africa. He asked for “the cheapest DAFZ desk”. A Smart Office carries one visa and cannot hold stock. We recommended an FZCO with a trade licence, a Smart Office for the company, and a third-party logistics contract for storage, with a customs client code and TDRA type approval for wireless products.

What circulates online about DAFZA that is not true

How to verify every figure in this guide

DAFZA company setup: how MIRDXB PRO helps

MIRDXB PRO is an independent PRO and company formation consultancy in Al Barsha 1, Dubai. We are not DAFZ, DIEZ or an official DAFZ partner, and Dubai Airport Freezone does not list us. What we offer is an adviser on your side of the table, who checks the plan, prepares the file and runs the government steps.

What we do

• Check your activities against the DAFZ list and flag any external approval your goods or services need.
• Advise on FZCO, branch or PLC, capital, directors, manager and secretary.
• Match the space to your visa count and stock, and tell you when a different DIEZ zone or another free zone fits better.
• Prepare and check application documents, and run attestation and translation of corporate shareholder documents.
• Follow the application, licence, establishment card and visas through to Emirates ID.
• Prepare the bank account pack, and register the company for corporate tax and, where needed, VAT.
• Keep renewals, beneficial owner filings and visa renewals on a calendar after setup.

How it works

1. Message us on WhatsApp with your activity, shareholders, visa count and whether you will hold stock.
2. We reply in writing with the recommended structure, the DAFZ items to request on your quotation and our own fee.
3. You approve, and we collect documents, file with DAFZ and keep you updated at each step.
4. After the licence, we run visas, the bank pack and tax registration, then hand over a compliance calendar.

What it costs

DAFZ, DIEZ and government fees are passed on at cost, with the receipts. Our own fee depends on the structure, the documents and the number of visas, and we quote it in writing before any work starts. See our fees page for how we price.

Why founders use us

• We cite the official source for every rule we rely on, as this guide does.
• We compare DAFZ with the other DIEZ zones and with rival free zones, and tell you when you do not need DAFZ.
• We handle the government side as well: visas, Emirates ID, medical tests, attestation and tax registration.
• Our Al Barsha 1 office is open Monday to Thursday and Saturday 09:00 to 18:00, and Friday 09:00 to 12:00.

To start, see our business setup service or message us directly.

What we will and will not do

• We will give you the official source for any rule we rely on, and show you Dubai Airport Freezone’s quotation and receipts.
• We will tell you if another zone, or the mainland, fits your plan better.
• We will quote our fee in writing before we start.
• We will not promise approval, a bank account or a processing time that DAFZ, DIEZ, a regulator or a bank controls.
• We will not present ourselves as DAFZ or DIEZ, or as an official DAFZ partner.
• We will not give tax or legal opinions; for corporate tax structuring we work alongside your tax adviser or auditor.

Related guides

• Dubai Silicon Oasis company setup, the DIEZ technology zone
• Dubai CommerCity company setup, the DIEZ e-commerce zone
• JAFZA company setup
• Dubai South free zone company setup
• Dubai free zones list
• Free zones in the UAE
• Free zone vs mainland
• Corporate tax registration in the UAE
• Establishment card explained

Keeping your DAFZ licence, lease, establishment card, visas and beneficial owner filings renewed on time is what our PRO services in Dubai team handles.