Dubai Knowledge Park Company Setup 2026: Training, HR and Search Licences, KHDA Approval, Fees and Visas

Dubai Knowledge Park is a Dubai free zone business community, run by TECOM Group and licensed by the Dubai Development Authority, that specialises in training, human resources, executive search and education services; it opened in 2003 as Dubai Knowledge Village and took its current name in 2016. It describes itself as “MENA’s leading HR hub” and “the world’s only talent development free zone”. A Dubai Knowledge Park company setup gives you a DDA licence and a free zone company, and for training providers it runs alongside approval from Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA).

This guide explains which Dubai Knowledge Park licence fits your business, when KHDA approval is needed and what it costs, how visas and tax work, and how the zone compares with other options for business setup in Dubai. For the wider landscape, see our guides to free zones in the UAE and the Dubai free zones list.

Every figure below was read on an official page on 26 September 2026: DDA’s legal database and service pages, KHDA’s service cards, the Dubai Knowledge Park website, the Ministry of Finance and u.ae. Where sources conflict, we show both.

Who regulates Dubai Knowledge Park: DDA and KHDA

The licensing authority is the Dubai Development Authority, which licenses all of TECOM Group’s business communities, from Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City to Dubai Production City and Dubai International Academic City. DDA grew out of the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority (Dubai Law No. 1 of 2000); Dubai Law No. 15 of 2014 placed the communities under the Dubai Creative Clusters Authority, and Dubai Law No. 10 of 2018 renamed it DDA. It registers the company, issues the licence and applies its Private Companies Regulations.

What makes Dubai Knowledge Park different is the second regulator. The Knowledge and Human Development Authority, now governed by Dubai Law No. 2 of 2021, oversees private education and training across Dubai, including the free zones. For training segments, DDA will not issue the licence without a KHDA no-objection certificate, and the institute cannot start teaching until it holds a KHDA Educational Services Permit. KHDA’s own service card says free zone investors apply “through free zone licensing authorities in Dubai”.

TECOM Group is the landlord, and axs, its service arm, handles licensing and visa transactions; axs runs a service centre in Dubai Knowledge Park (Block 8).

Dubai Knowledge Park at a glance

What Dubai Knowledge Park is known for

Dubai Knowledge Park is the TECOM community for people development. Its segments cover professional and management training, computer, language and fine arts training, child skills development, tutoring, technical and occupational skills, HR consultancy, research and development, content development, assessment and testing, executive search, training freelancers and non-profit professional associations. The community lists its core sectors as human resource management, recruitment and executive search, consultancy, vocational training and professional development, from “business to music, cooking, languages, coaching”.

That focus sets it apart. Most free zones will license a “training” or “consultancy” activity, but few are built around the KHDA process, sit next to the city’s biggest corporate employers in Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City, and offer auditoriums, conference halls and classrooms on the doorstep. For a training company whose clients are corporate HR departments, the address and the venue options matter as much as the licence.

How the Dubai Knowledge Park free zone compares with its neighbours

• Against Dubai International Academic City: same regulator, but Academic City licenses universities, schools and nurseries (segments 22.1 to 22.5), with AED 50,000 capital. Dubai Knowledge Park is for training, HR and education services, not degree-awarding institutions.
• Against Dubai Outsource City: also DDA, but aimed at outsourcing and back-office operations. HR outsourcing at scale may fit there; HR consultancy and training fit here.
• Against IFZA and similar multi-activity zones: cheaper, broader consultancy licences, but you still need KHDA approval to run a training institute in Dubai, and a generic licence will not carry a training segment that DDA and KHDA recognise.
• Against the mainland: a DET-licensed training institute also needs KHDA, and can serve walk-in customers anywhere in Dubai; see our mainland company formation guide.

Dubai Knowledge Park legal forms

DDA offers the same four routes in every community it licenses. In Dubai Knowledge Park, the freelance route is unusually relevant because the zone has its own training freelancer segment.

DDA’s Private Companies Regulations (2016) apply to every FZ-LLC: a registered office in the zone at all times, directors, annual financial statements and an auditor. The freelance permit lets you “conduct your business in your birth name as opposed to a brand name”, so it suits a trainer or coach who sells their own expertise, not a training brand that will hire trainers.

Dubai Knowledge Park licence types and activities

DDA Decision No. 1 of 2021 gives Dubai Knowledge Park fourteen segments. Each has an annual licence fee and a cap on how many activities from that segment one licence can hold. Extra activities within the same segment add no fee; a second segment adds AED 10,000 a year.

The KHDA column follows Article 5.5 of the Decision, which lists segments 21.1 to 21.7 (and two Academic City segments) as needing a KHDA no-objection certificate “prior to issuance of licence”. The activity limits and fees are from the Decision’s segment tables. DDA’s “Permitted Business Activities” PDF, linked from its setup pages, gives the full activity wording.

Choosing between training and consultancy segments

The line that matters is whether you deliver training to learners. An HR consultancy that designs competency frameworks, runs assessments or writes learning content can sit in segments 21.8, 21.10 or 21.11 without KHDA. The moment you run courses for participants, whether open enrolment or in-house for a corporate client, you are in a training segment and KHDA applies. Choosing a consultancy segment to avoid KHDA and then selling courses is the most common compliance problem we see in Dubai Knowledge Park.

KHDA does offer a middle route for companies that are not training institutes: an authorisation to deliver a single short training course, at AED 5,000 per course, processed in 6 working days. It covers “only one training course”, so it suits an occasional event, not a training business.

Executive search is not recruitment

Segment 21.12 licenses executive search, and DDA requires an AED 100,000 deposit or bank guarantee to be kept with it. The Decision does not create a general recruitment or labour-supply segment in Dubai Knowledge Park. Recruitment agencies that place workers with mainland employers are licensed by MOHRE under federal rules, so if your model is volume recruitment rather than search, check that route first.

KHDA approval for a Dubai Knowledge Park training institute

KHDA approval is a separate application from the DDA licence, with its own fee and renewal. KHDA calls it an “Educational Services Permit for a Training Institute”. Its service card sets out two stages.

1. Initial approval. Submitted through the KHDA portal with the list of course names and descriptions, the trade name and initial approval from the licensing authority (for a Dubai Knowledge Park company, DDA’s provisional approval), any certifying body’s approval for professional certification preparation courses, and any other authority’s approval for specialised courses (the card gives medical and cosmetic courses as examples). KHDA reviews, asks for changes and issues an initial approval letter valid for six months. In practice this letter serves as the KHDA clearance DDA needs before it issues the licence; confirm the exact document with DDA.
2. Final permit. Once DDA issues the commercial licence, you submit its details to KHDA before the initial approval expires. KHDA’s service time is 8 working days once it has all documents.

The permit “is valid for one year and must be renewed annually, at least 30 days before it expires”. Renewal carries the same tiered fee and a 3 working day service time, and KHDA asks that all outstanding fees and fines are settled first. Changing courses or moving premises needs KHDA’s amendment services, because the permit is tied to what you teach and where. KHDA’s training institute rules are set out in its Administrative Resolution No. 2 of 2018 on training institutes; read it before you design your premises and marketing.

Dubai Knowledge Park company setup, step by step

For a non-training business (HR consultancy, search, research, content, testing), the process is DDA’s standard two-stage registration. For a training institute, KHDA’s two stages interlock with DDA’s. The sequence below is for a training institute; skip steps 3 and 6 if your segment needs no KHDA certificate.

1. Define the courses or services. The course list sets the DDA segment, the KHDA tier and the premises you need.
2. DDA application, stage 1. Submit the application, passports, incorporation resolution and corporate documents online (“Set up your business”) or through a Partner Relationship Manager. DDA’s service time: 10 working days for provisional approval.
3. KHDA initial approval. Apply on the KHDA portal with the course list and DDA’s provisional approval. The letter is valid for six months. No separate service time is published for this stage.
4. Lease. Sign for an office, training space or co-working product with TECOM. Space sets your visa allocation.
5. DDA registration, stage 2. DDA’s service time: 2 working days. You receive the certificate of incorporation, commercial licence, register of directors and articles of association.
6. KHDA final permit. Submit the DDA licence details to KHDA. Service time: 8 working days once documents are complete. Only now can you enrol learners.
7. Immigration file and visas. Through axs; visas issued by GDRFA Dubai.
8. Bank, tax and UBO. Open the account, register for corporate tax (and VAT once supplies pass AED 375,000), and file the beneficial owner register with DDA within 60 days.

Dubai Knowledge Park’s FAQ says company registration “usually takes 7 working days” once documents and payment are in (4 for initial approval, 3 for the licence), against 10 plus 2 on DDA’s service pages. Treat the longer figure as the formal service level, and add KHDA’s steps for training institutes.

Documents for Dubai Knowledge Park company setup

For DDA

• Application form and a resolution for the incorporation of the FZ-LLC (or for the registration of the branch).
• Passport copies of shareholders, directors and the general manager, with UAE residence visa pages where held, and a declaration of appointment for a general manager who holds a UAE visa.
• For corporate shareholders and branches: certificate of incorporation, certificate of good standing (or continuity or existence), and the parent’s memorandum and articles.
• For a branch of a UAE company: the parent’s valid trade licence.
• The KHDA no-objection for training segments, or the Community Development Authority approval for a non-profit association.
• A power of attorney for any representative.

DDA states that the corporate resolution and any power of attorney must be “Notarized by Notary Public & Attested by UAE Embassy”. Our document attestation service handles that chain, and we arrange legal translation where needed.

For KHDA (training institutes)

• Course names and descriptions.
• Approval from the certifying body for courses that prepare learners for professional certifications.
• Approval from the relevant authority for specialised courses, such as medical or cosmetic training.
• The licensing authority’s trade name and initial approval, then the commercial licence details.

Expect questions about trainers’ qualifications as well. If a trainer’s degree was issued abroad, attest it early; our equivalency guide explains how UAE bodies treat foreign qualifications.

Beneficial owners

Under Cabinet Decision No. 109 of 2023, the company files its real beneficiary data with DDA within 60 days of registration and updates it within 15 days of any change. Our UBO register guide covers the details.

Dubai Knowledge Park licence cost: the official fee lines

Dubai Knowledge Park’s FAQ describes its pricing only as “competitive and in alignment with prevailing market rates”. The official fee lines we could verify are below, checked on 26 September 2026.

On those lines, the published government-side minimums in year one are:

• HR consultancy (no KHDA): AED 3,500 + AED 15,000 + AED 20 = AED 18,520.
• Training institute with two activities: AED 18,520 (DDA) + AED 15,000 (KHDA) = AED 33,520.
• Training institute with five activities across two segments: AED 3,500 + AED 25,000 (two segments) + AED 20 (DDA) + AED 20,000 (KHDA) = AED 48,520.
• Training freelancer: AED 7,500 plus AED 20 in dirham fees for the permit.

Rent, visas, attestation and the executive search guarantee come on top. From year two, the DDA registration fee falls away, but the DDA licence and KHDA permit both renew. Ask any package provider to separate these lines; a “Dubai Knowledge Park package” that omits the KHDA permit is not a price for a training institute.

Office and co-working options in Dubai Knowledge Park

At one employee per 80 sq ft, a 400 sq ft office supports five visas and a 1,600 sq ft training floor supports twenty. For events, the community rents amphitheatres, an auditorium and conference facilities, which lets a small institute run large sessions without leasing a big floor all year.

Dubai Knowledge Park visa and residency

Visas for Dubai Knowledge Park companies are applied for through axs and issued by GDRFA Dubai. The company first opens its immigration file (establishment card), then each person goes through the entry permit, medical fitness test, Emirates ID and residence visa steps. The Dubai Knowledge Park FAQ confirms that the community’s government services department can issue visas for its companies and that family and domestic-help sponsorship is available through axs.

• Shareholders and managers: sponsored by the company within the allocation.
• Trainers and staff: sponsored by the company; employment follows DDA’s employment regulations, which DDA publishes with Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021.
• Freelancers: one visa per freelancer on a hot desk (FAQ).
• Family: sponsored by the visa holder through GDRFA; see our family visa service.
• Golden Visa: teachers and education professionals may qualify for 10-year residence on their own merits; see our Golden Visa for teachers guide, and our Golden Visa service for investor routes.

Our free zone visa service covers the axs side of this, and our free zone vs mainland comparison sets out how a free zone visa differs from a mainland one.

Banking for a Dubai Knowledge Park company

Banks will ask for the DDA licence, incorporation documents, lease, passports and residence status of shareholders and signatories, the beneficial owner chart and a business plan. For a training institute, the KHDA permit is often the document that makes the file credible, because it proves the business can legally take learners’ fees. Executive search firms should also expect questions about the AED 100,000 guarantee if they ask their bank to issue it. See our corporate bank account guide.

Tax for a Dubai Knowledge Park company

Corporate tax

A Dubai Knowledge Park company can be a Qualifying Free Zone Person only if it meets Cabinet Decision No. 100 of 2023: substance in the zone, audited accounts, no election for the standard regime, qualifying income, and non-qualifying revenue within the de minimis limit (the lower of 5% of revenue or AED 5 million). The qualifying activities are listed in Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025, which replaced Ministerial Decision No. 265 of 2023 from 1 June 2023. Training, education, HR consultancy and executive search are not on that list.

In practice, most Dubai Knowledge Park companies should plan for the ordinary regime: 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it. Income from other free zone companies can be qualifying, but courses sold to individuals are excluded, because transactions with natural persons are generally non-qualifying. A company that is not a Qualifying Free Zone Person may instead claim Small Business Relief where its revenue is within the threshold, for periods ending on or before 31 December 2029. Register on time to avoid the AED 10,000 late registration penalty; see our corporate tax registration guide. This is a summary, not tax advice.

VAT

Dubai Knowledge Park is not a designated zone, so ordinary VAT rules apply. Zero-rating for education is narrow: the FTA’s education sector guide (VATGED1, June 2026) requires both a qualifying educational institution and a recognised curriculum, and applies mainly to nurseries, schools and publicly funded higher education. Commercial training courses, HR consultancy and search fees are generally standard-rated at 5%. Register once taxable supplies pass AED 375,000 in 12 months.

Training clients on the Dubai mainland

The Dubai Knowledge Park FAQ is explicit that the licence covers the free zone: “you can only operate within the free zone”. Corporate clients on the mainland can buy your courses and consultancy, and many attend in the park. Running a permanent training centre, a branch office or repeated on-site delivery in the mainland is different, and needs a route under Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025: a branch licence from the Department of Economy and Tourism or a Free Zone Mainland Operating Permit (announced by the Dubai Media Office on 8 October 2025 at AED 5,000). A mainland training location also needs its own KHDA permit, because KHDA’s approval is tied to premises.

Renewal and ongoing compliance

• DDA licence: valid one year, renewed annually (FAQ).
• KHDA permit: valid one year; apply for renewal at least 30 days before expiry, with fees and fines cleared.
• Lease: keep a registered office in the zone at all times.
• Accounts: annual financial statements and an auditor under the Private Companies Regulations.
• UBO: update within 15 days of any change.
• Executive search: maintain the AED 100,000 deposit or guarantee for as long as the segment is on the licence.
• Visas: renew through axs before expiry.

Dubai Knowledge Park free zone: pros and cons

Who Dubai Knowledge Park suits

• Professional, management and soft-skills training institutes serving corporate clients.
• Language, computer, fine arts and tutoring centres that want a KHDA-permitted base.
• HR consultancies, assessment and psychometric testing firms, learning content developers.
• Executive search firms with the capital to lodge a guarantee.
• Independent trainers and coaches who want their own licence and visa.
• Professional associations prepared to go through Community Development Authority registration.

Who should look elsewhere

• Universities, colleges, schools and nurseries: Dubai International Academic City.
• HR outsourcing and shared services at scale: Dubai Outsource City.
• General consultants who will never run courses: a broader, cheaper licence such as IFZA may fit better.
• EdTech platforms selling software rather than training: compare Dubai Internet City.
• Volume recruitment agencies: MOHRE-licensed recruitment on the mainland.

Dubai Knowledge Park company setup in practice: five 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.

1. A leadership trainer who began as a consultant

A founder licensed an HR consultancy (segment 21.8) and then started selling open leadership workshops. Workshops are training, so the business needed a training segment (21.1), a KHDA permit and, because it now held two segments, an extra AED 10,000 a year on the DDA licence. Starting with segment 21.1 and adding HR consultancy as a second segment from day one would have avoided an amendment and a gap in which courses could not legally run.

2. A language centre choosing its activities

A language school wanted English, Arabic and French courses. Language Training (21.3) has a single activity, language skills training, so the school needed one DDA segment at AED 15,000, not three. KHDA counts activities on its own permit, so the founder asked KHDA at initial approval how the three languages would be counted for the fee tier. The founder sized the classroom floor before signing, since KHDA reviews premises and the permit is tied to them.

3. An executive search firm’s cash plan

A search firm budgeted for the AED 3,500 registration and AED 15,000 licence but not for the AED 100,000 deposit or bank guarantee that DDA requires for segment 21.12. We moved the guarantee to the start of the plan, since it has to be in place with DDA. No KHDA certificate was needed.

4. A freelance coach who wanted a brand

A coach took the AED 7,500 training freelancer permit, which comes with one visa on a hot desk. A year later she wanted to trade under a brand and hire an assistant. The freelance permit works in the holder’s birth name only, so she moved to an FZ-LLC, with AED 10,000 default capital, a DDA licence and her own KHDA permit for the training activity.

5. A foreign certification body opening a branch

An overseas professional certification body opened a branch to run exam preparation courses. A branch needed no share capital, but the parent’s incorporation certificate, good standing certificate, articles and board resolution had to be notarised and attested by the UAE embassy. KHDA’s initial approval needed the certifying body’s own approval of the preparation courses, which the parent issued. Assessment and testing (21.11) was added for exam delivery, at AED 10,000 as a second segment.

What circulates online about Dubai Knowledge Park that is not true

How to verify every figure in this Dubai Knowledge Park guide

Dubai Knowledge Park company setup: how MIRDXB PRO helps

MIRDXB PRO is an independent PRO and business-setup consultancy in Al Barsha 1, Dubai. We are not DDA, KHDA, TECOM Group or axs, and we are not listed as an official Dubai Knowledge Park partner. We prepare, submit and follow up on your behalf, and we tell you when a step is one you can do yourself.

What we do

• Map your courses or services to the right Dubai Knowledge Park segments and tell you whether KHDA applies.
• Prepare the DDA application and resolutions, and arrange notarisation, UAE embassy attestation and translation of corporate documents.
• Coordinate the KHDA initial approval and final permit with the DDA stages so the six-month window is not wasted.
• Match the lease to your visa plan, then open the immigration file and process investor, trainer, staff and family visas, medical tests and Emirates ID.
• File the UBO register and keep a calendar of DDA, KHDA, lease and visa renewals.

How it works

1. WhatsApp us your courses or services, shareholders and visa needs.
2. We reply in writing with segments, KHDA tier, published fees, documents and an itemised quote.
3. You approve; we collect and attest documents.
4. We file with DDA and KHDA in the right order and track each stage.
5. We hand over the licence, the KHDA permit, visas and a renewal calendar.

What it costs

DDA, KHDA, TECOM, axs, GDRFA, medical and Emirates ID fees are passed on at cost, with receipts. Our own fee is quoted in writing before we start and does not change unless the scope does. See our fees page and our business setup service.

Why founders use us

• We work from the DDA Decision and KHDA’s service cards, and show you the source for every fee.
• We sequence DDA and KHDA together, which is where most training setups lose time.
• We handle both the licence and the visa, medical and Emirates ID steps.
• Our Al Barsha office is open Monday to Thursday and Saturday 09:00 to 18:00, and Friday 09:00 to 12:00.

If you have not settled on a zone yet, our company formation support starts with a side-by-side comparison.

What we will and will not do

• We will show you every official fee line and its source.
• We will tell you if you do not need KHDA, or if another zone fits better.
• We will give you our fee in writing before any work starts.
• We will not present ourselves as DDA, KHDA, TECOM or an official Dubai Knowledge Park partner.
• We will not guarantee KHDA approval or promise times shorter than the authorities publish.
• We will not advise you to license a consultancy segment to avoid KHDA while selling courses.

Related guides

• Free zones in the UAE
• Dubai free zones list
• Dubai International Academic City
• Dubai Outsource City company setup
• Dubai Internet City company setup
• IFZA company setup
• Golden Visa for teachers
• Corporate tax registration
• UBO register
• Corporate bank account

Running the immigration file, renewing trainer visas and keeping the establishment card current is what our PRO services in Dubai team does every day.