JAFZA Company Setup 2026: Licences, Costs, Visas, Facilities and Who Jebel Ali Free Zone Suits

JAFZA company setup is the process of forming and licensing a company in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, a Dubai free zone created by Decree No. 1 of 1985, run by the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority, owned by DP World and located beside Jebel Ali Port in the south-west of Dubai. Jafza issues its own trading, service, industrial, logistics, national industries and holding licences to FZEs, FZCOs, branches and public listed companies, registers offshore companies through approved agents, and leases the land, warehouses, offices and workstations those companies must occupy. It is known above all for logistics, re-export trade, distribution and light manufacturing, because goods can move between ship, bonded warehouse and road without leaving a customs-controlled area.

This guide is written for founders and finance teams comparing the Jafza free zone with its rivals. It covers the legal forms Jafza offers, the licence categories and what each allows, the documents for individual and corporate shareholders, every fee Jafza publishes on its service guides (with the date we read them), the facility options and the visa allocation each one brings, tax, mainland access and ongoing compliance. It also covers the zones Jafza now licenses outside Jebel Ali. If you are still choosing between the free zone and mainland routes for business setup in Dubai, our free zone vs mainland guide sets out that decision first, and our guide to Dubai free zones compares all of them.

Every figure below comes from Jafza’s service guides, the Dubai Legislation Portal, the Dubai Media Office, u.ae and the federal tax rules, read on 26 September 2026. Where Jafza’s pages disagree or are silent, we say so.

Jafza free zone at a glance

The table gives the short answer to each question a founder asks first, with the official basis next to it.

Two points shape nearly every Jafza file. Jafza is property-led: the lease comes before the licence and decides the visa count. And the Jafza free zone’s value lies in goods; a business that never touches a container, pallet or production line usually pays more here than in a zone built for service firms.

What Jafza is known for: its speciality and ecosystem

Jafza calls itself DP World’s flagship free zone and “the largest customs bonded zone in the Middle East”, with more than 11,000 businesses, about 130,000 jobs and trade worth USD 190 billion in 2024 (its figures, read 26 September 2026).

The port-to-warehouse model

Jebel Ali Port, also run by DP World and operating since 1985, sits directly beside the Jafza free zone. Goods landed at the port can move into a Jafza warehouse under customs control, be stored, repacked, labelled, assembled or sold, and leave again by sea, air or road to another country without customs duty ever being charged in the UAE. Duty falls due only when goods leave the free zone for the UAE mainland or another GCC state. That is the core reason distributors, re-exporters and regional logistics hubs choose Jafza.

Sectors Jafza names

Jafza’s site groups its community into sectors that include logistics, automotive and spare parts, food and agriculture, petrochemicals, retail and e-commerce, electronics and electrical, FMCG, healthcare distribution, manufacturing, and machinery and equipment. The Dubai Media Office noted in November 2025 that the Jafza free zone has “attracted more than 940 automotive and spare parts companies”, naming manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Volkswagen and Volvo.

What makes it different from rival zones

• Against DMCC: DMCC is an office-led zone in Jumeirah Lakes Towers built around commodities, services and technology. Jafza offers what DMCC cannot at scale: land, warehouses and a port gate.
• Against Dubai South: Dubai South’s Logistics District is built around Al Maktoum International Airport and air cargo. Jafza is sea-freight first, though the two are close and many groups use both.
• Against DAFZA: DAFZA sits at Dubai International Airport and suits high-value, low-volume goods such as luxury items and pharmaceuticals. Jafza suits bulk, heavy and containerised goods.
• Against the service-led zones: for consultancies, agencies and software firms, the licence and space costs at Jafza are rarely the cheapest. Zones built around flexi-desks, such as those in our Dubai free zones list, usually serve them better.

Jafza legal forms: FZE, FZCO, branch, PLC and offshore

All onshore Jafza companies are governed by the Jebel Ali Free Zone Companies Implementing Regulations 2016, which took effect on 24 August 2016 and brought every company type under one set of rules, replacing separate regimes from 1992 and 1999. Offshore companies sit under separate offshore regulations (Jafza lists a 2003 resolution and a 2013 Chairman’s Resolution on offshore companies). The table compares the forms.

Share capital: what “sufficient” means in practice

Before 2016, Jafza required AED 1,000,000 for an FZE and AED 500,000 for an FZCO. The 2016 Regulations removed both, and Jafza now says it “does not prescribe a minimum share capital for an FZE or FZCO”. Declare a figure that is credible for your plan, lease and bank: a company leasing a 1,000 sq m warehouse on AED 1,000 of capital invites questions. Non-cash contributions are allowed with over 75% shareholder approval and an auditor’s verification.

A separate figure appears on Jafza’s visa guide: shareholders applying for a residence permit face a “shareholder minimum investment” of AED 50,000. Jafza does not explain on that page whether this is paid-up capital or total investment, so ask at the application stage if your capital is lower.

Directors, manager and secretary

Jafza’s FZE guide asks for an appointment letter for the director, manager and secretary, and for the passport of each. Shareholders who are individuals must hold a passport valid for at least six months and be at least 21 years old.

Jafza licence types and permitted activities

Jafza issues seven licence types. Four are the main categories most founders choose between (trading, service, industrial, logistics); the others are specialised versions (general trading, national industries, holding). Every Jafza licence runs for one year from its issue date.

Jafza’s co-working page is explicit that “workstations can be used for the Trading and Service licenses” only. Industrial and logistics activities need a warehouse, a light industrial unit or land.

How to search the Jafza activity list

Jafza groups activities into families, visible through its cost calculator and the Dubai Trade application. List every product family or service you will sell in your first two years and match each to an activity. Staying within one group keeps you on the cheaper Jafza licence; adding activities later is an amendment with its own fee and delay.

Regulated activities: approvals outside Jafza

A Jafza licence does not replace the approvals other authorities require for regulated goods or services. The common ones are:

• Food, cosmetics and consumer products: Dubai Municipality registration of products and food import permits.
• Medicines, medical devices and pharmaceutical distribution: the Emirates Drug Establishment (which has taken over these permits from the Ministry of Health and Prevention) and, for Dubai facilities, the Dubai Health Authority where relevant.
• Chemicals, pesticides and fertilisers: the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and Dubai Municipality, by product.
• Telecom and wireless devices: the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) type approval.
• Gold, precious metals and stones: anti-money-laundering registration with the Ministry of Economy and Tourism (goAML), and, at Gold & Diamond Park, an NOC from the Park.
• Marine activities: a permit from the Dubai Maritime Authority (see Dubai Maritime City below).
• Industrial projects: Jafza’s environment, health and safety (EHS) application and, after fit-out, an Operational Fitness Certificate (OFC), which Jafza asks for on every licence except offices and workstations.

Our general trading licence guide lists the prohibited and restricted goods and their approving authorities in detail. The same lists apply to goods leaving Jafza for the mainland.

The zones Jafza licenses beyond Jebel Ali

Jafza’s licensing now reaches four places outside its Jebel Ali boundary, or linked to it. They are often described online as separate free zones with their own authorities, which is no longer accurate for all of them.

National Industries Park (formerly Technopark)

Technopark was created by Dubai Law No. 4 of 2003. Law No. 3 of 2016, issued on 7 March 2016, replaced the name “TechnoPark” with “National Industries Park” in that law and in every other Dubai law. The park is run by DP World UAE, covers about 21 sq km beside Jebel Ali, and offers industrial land from 10,000 sq m on long leases (its site mentions a minimum of 20 years for land) and offices at the NIP headquarters buildings. Its own pages present it as an onshore industrial zone for heavy and medium industry, not a free zone. Founders searching for “Technopark free zone setup” should therefore expect an industrial land lease plus the licensing route NIP confirms for their project, which is not the same as a Jafza FZE. Jafza’s fee schedule carries a separately priced “National Industries” licence (AED 5,500 for one group), but Jafza’s pages do not say which companies it covers, so confirm it with Jafza and NIP.

Dubai Gold & Diamond Park

Gold & Diamond Park is a jewellery, gemstone and precious metals park on Sheikh Zayed Road, operated by Emaar. Under an agreement announced by Jafza on 2 September 2020, Jafza took over “all regulatory activities such as licenses and registration” at the Park. Companies there operate under Jafza’s rules and licence structures. The Park has retail units, manufacturing blocks and offices (Jafza’s 2020 announcement counted 96 retail spaces, 108 manufacturing blocks and 245 offices). Jafza’s licence guides require a No Objection Certificate from the Park Authority for a new or renewed Park licence, and dealers in precious metals and stones must also register for anti-money-laundering reporting with the Ministry of Economy and Tourism.

Dubai Maritime City licensing

Dubai Maritime City, the peninsula between Port Rashid and Dubai Dry Docks, is part of DP World. Its own “set up a new business” page says “the registration of a business license is managed by Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza)”. The sequence it sets out is: initial approval from the concerned authority, a lease with Dubai Maritime City FZE, and a return to the authority with the lease to finish the licence. Marine activities are regulated separately by the Dubai Maritime Authority, which Law No. 3 of 2023 (issued 22 February 2023) renamed from the Dubai Maritime City Authority and affiliated with the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC). The Authority’s e-service “Marine Activity Permits in Free Zones and Private Development Zones” charges AED 5,020 for an annual maritime activity permit and asks for the free zone’s initial approval. A ship-management or marine-services company in Dubai Maritime City therefore needs both the Jafza licence and the Dubai Maritime Authority permit.

Dubai Auto Market and the former DUCAMZ

Decree No. 52 of 2025, issued on 17 November 2025, established a free zone on land plot 71117180 in Al Aweer First and gave Jafza the powers of the licensing authority there. The next day, the Dubai Media Office announced the launch of the Dubai Auto Market development by DP World: 22 million sq ft with more than 1,500 showrooms, workshop clusters, warehouses, an auction house and multi-storey parking, designed to handle more than 800,000 vehicles a year. DP World’s Dubai Auto Market site describes separate “Free Zone and Mainland areas”, with Jafza handling free zone licensing and DET the mainland side, and says lease renewals and payments now run through Dubai Trade.

The older Dubai Cars and Automotive Zone (DUCAMZ) at Al Aweer is still named on the FTA’s designated zone list, but it is no longer marketed under its own name, and secondary sources report its operations were folded into the Dubai Auto Market. We have not found an official notice that formally dissolves DUCAMZ, so a car trader with an existing DUCAMZ licence should confirm its status and renewal route with the Dubai Auto Market service unit (toll-free 800-37926) before renewing.

JAFZA company setup process, step by step

Jafza’s formation is “100% digital” and runs through its website and the Dubai Trade portal, though you can still use the sales centre. The order below combines Jafza’s own four-stage outline with the immigration, banking and tax steps that follow. Where Jafza publishes a service time, we give it; where it does not, we say so.

Why the lease comes before the licence

Jafza will not issue a licence to a company with nowhere to operate. Its FZE guide lists “select offering, license type, and complete payment” as one stage, and the licence renewal and new licence guides ask for an Operational Fitness Certificate for every facility except offices and workstations. For industrial and logistics companies, this means fit-out and inspection sit on the critical path. A company taking bare land may hold a licence long before it can trade from its own building, and many use a temporary office or a leased warehouse while they build.

Realistic timing versus the official figure

The 3 to 14 business day JAFZA company setup figure runs from “the time all required documents are submitted”, so attestation abroad is not counted. A founder with a passport and a clear plan taking a workstation often has a licence within two to three weeks of first contact; a foreign parent should allow for the attestation chain at home, which often takes longer than the Jafza steps.

Documents required for JAFZA company setup

Jafza’s FZE guide sets out the file. The lists below follow it, with the attestation route for foreign corporate documents.

Individual shareholders

• Jafza application form, signed.
• Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) application form.
• Business plan, one page at most.
• KYC form and Ultimate Beneficiary Owner (UBO) form.
• Appointment letter for the director, manager and secretary.
• Passport copy for each shareholder and officer, valid for at least six months; shareholders must be at least 21.
• No objection letter from the current sponsor if a shareholder already holds a UAE residence visa.
• A short business profile of the shareholder.

Corporate shareholders

• Everything above that applies to the company as shareholder.
• Certificate of incorporation or certificate of good standing.
• Memorandum and articles of association of the parent, notarised and attested.
• A board resolution approving the Jafza company, its share capital, the appointment of the director or manager and the legal representative, and a power of attorney.
• For a branch: a certificate of good standing of the parent “notarised and attested”, an incumbency certificate and passport copies of board members.

Attestation of foreign documents

Jafza’s rule for overseas parents is UAE Embassy attestation in the home country or, where there is none, notarisation through a GCC or Arab embassy followed by UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs attestation. Confirm with Jafza before relying on an apostille. Our document attestation service handles the UAE end, and our attestation process guide explains the order.

UBO and KYC

Jafza asks for a UBO KYC form for every new company and applies Cabinet Decision No. 109 of 2023 and Cabinet Resolution No. 132 of 2023. Anyone owning or controlling 25% or more must be declared, and changes reported within 15 days (see our UBO register guide).

Jafza licence cost: the official fee schedule

Jafza is one of the few Dubai zones that publishes its licence fees line by line in its service guides, rather than only as packages. The table collects the fees we read on Jafza’s guides on 26 September 2026. Rent is not included because Jafza does not publish rents for most facilities (its land page gives a starting rent; see the facility section).

What the Jafza licence fee table does not include

• Rent, usually the largest line, agreed in the lease.
• Medical tests and Emirates ID (see our medical fitness test service and Emirates ID services).
• Health insurance for every resident employee; Jafza lists optional premiums of about AED 106 to AED 499.
• Attestation, translation, audit, utilities and fit-out.
• VAT at 5% on Jafza’s non-regulatory services, which the Guidebook says “will apply”.

Where the sources conflict

Three conflicts are worth knowing. First, the AED 5,000 registration fee appears in Jafza’s November 2023 Guidebook but not on the current formation page or cost calculator text, so treat it as likely but confirm it on your quotation. Second, the same Guidebook gives the CIC renewal as AED 100 in one appendix, while the current renewal guide says AED 1,910; the live guide is the one to use, and the AED 100 figure is probably one component of the total. Third, Jafza’s visa pages say a residence permit is “valid for three years”, while the entry permit and renewal price tables sell one-year and two-year packages. Ask which validity your package gives before you pay.

Jafza’s cost calculator and packages

Jafza’s online cost calculator asks for licence type, number of activity groups and formation type, and shows figures only in the interactive tool. Any package you are quoted should break down into the lines above plus rent; if it cannot, ask before you sign.

JAFZA company setup and premises: Jafza office, warehouse and land options, and the Jafza visa count each brings

At Jafza, choosing the facility is choosing your visa ceiling. Jafza’s employee visa guide sets the allocation by property type, and its access-card rules count permanent access cards against “the total number of employees allowed to be hired in the facility”. The table sets the options side by side.

Two practical points follow. If you expect to hire more than two people in the first year, a single workstation will not carry them, and moving to an office later means a lease change and a CIC amendment. And if you plan a showroom with a large sales team, the five-visa cap on showrooms means pairing it with an office or warehouse. Jafza does let companies ask for a higher Jafza visa quota: its “Additional visa quota” service is free, takes one working day and needs only a company letter through Dubai Trade, but it is an approval, not an entitlement.

Lease terms and renewals

Jafza publishes separate lease terms for land, offices, warehouses and residences, and runs lease renewal online. The licence cannot outlive the lease, and plot and sublease holders with more than three years left can renew the licence for three years at once (AED 1,500 per licence type, plus the licence fees).

Jafza visa: residency for shareholders, staff and families

Each Jafza visa is processed through Jafza’s visa and operations team on Dubai Trade and issued as a Dubai residence permit (file numbers starting with 2 for Dubai). Jafza’s guides describe the process as follows.

1. Company ready: licence issued and lease (Jafza calls it the property settlement agreement) in place.
2. Computer Immigration Card: AED 1,975, one working day, valid one year.
3. Quota check: the number of visas your facility allows.
4. Entry permit: AED 2,378 for a normal one-year package, two working days; valid 60 days from issue and renewable only twice. Add AED 780 if the applicant is already in the UAE (change of status) and AED 920 for a sponsorship transfer.
5. Medical fitness test and Emirates ID biometrics.
6. Residence permit: issued on the passport record and linked to the Emirates ID.

Documents for a Jafza visa (employees)

Passport copy with at least six months’ validity, a colour photograph on a white background, and, for managerial and professional roles, a bachelor’s degree attested by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Applicants outside the UAE sign a letter of undertaking; applicants inside provide their current visa copy. The minimum age is 18. Jafza notes that nationals of Sri Lanka and Indonesia need attested medical reports.

Jafza visa for shareholders and investors

Shareholders can be sponsored by their own Jafza company. Jafza asks for a letter of shareholder confirmation from its commercial department and applies a partner or investor surcharge of AED 250 on the entry permit. Its visa guide mentions a “shareholder minimum investment” of AED 50,000. Shareholder visas use the company’s quota like any other visa.

Family sponsorship

Once resident, a Jafza employee or shareholder sponsors family through the normal Dubai family visa route with GDRFA, subject to the salary and housing rules. Our family visa salary guide explains the thresholds.

Golden Visa routes for Jafza shareholders

Owning a Jafza company does not by itself give a Golden Visa, but investors can qualify through the investor, entrepreneur or property categories set federally. Our Golden Visa service page and Golden Visa eligibility guide set out the thresholds.

Working outside the zone on a Jafza visa

Jafza’s visa guide says plainly that “a sponsored employee is only allowed to work within the free zone”. Staff who spend their day at a customer’s mainland site need the company to hold the right mainland permission, covered below. For a wider view of how free zone and mainland visas differ, see our free zone vs mainland visa guide and our free zone visa service.

Banking after JAFZA company setup

Banks treat a Jafza company well when its substance is visible: a real facility, a lease, named suppliers and customers, and shareholders whose source of funds is documented. The usual file is the licence, certificate of formation, memorandum and articles, share certificates, lease, shareholder passports and visas or Emirates IDs, the UBO declaration, a business plan with expected turnover, and proof of the source of funds. Companies holding only a workstation and trading high-value goods with parties in higher-risk countries face the longest reviews. Our corporate bank account guide covers the Central Bank KYC rules and what each bank asks.

Tax after JAFZA company setup: corporate tax, VAT and customs

Corporate tax and the Qualifying Free Zone Person

Every Jafza company is a taxable person under the federal corporate tax law and must register with the Federal Tax Authority within three months of licensing (FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024); late registration carries an AED 10,000 penalty. The standard rate is 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000. A Jafza company that meets the conditions of a Qualifying Free Zone Person pays 0% on its qualifying income under Cabinet Decision No. 100 of 2023. The main conditions are adequate substance in the zone, audited financial statements, arm’s-length pricing with related parties, not electing into the standard regime, and passing the de minimis test (non-qualifying revenue no more than 5% of total revenue or AED 5 million, whichever is lower).

Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025, which replaced No. 265 of 2023, lists the qualifying activities. Several fit Jafza’s core business: manufacturing and processing of goods, logistics services, distribution of goods in or from a designated zone to a customer that resells them, holding shares, headquarter services to related parties, and ship ownership and management. Because Jafza is a designated zone, the distribution route is especially relevant. Retail sales to consumers and most services to mainland customers are not qualifying and count against the de minimis limit. Qualifying Free Zone Persons cannot use Small Business Relief. Our corporate tax registration guide covers registration step by step; take tax advice on the qualifying test itself.

Law No. 19 of 2021 amended Dubai Law No. 2 of 1986 to give Jafza entities a zero tax rate “for fifty (50) years” on local taxes for operations within the Jafza free zone. That Dubai-level guarantee does not override federal corporate tax, which applies through the Qualifying Free Zone Person rules.

VAT and the designated zone

The FTA’s list of designated zones under Cabinet Decision No. 59 of 2017 (as amended) includes “Jebel Ali Free Zone (North-South)”. Supplies of goods between companies inside a designated zone, and goods held under customs suspension, can fall outside the scope of UAE VAT, while services in a designated zone are taxed as normal. Goods leaving the Jafza free zone for the mainland are treated as imports. Register for VAT if your taxable supplies exceed AED 375,000 a year (voluntary registration from AED 187,500). The designated zone rules are technical, so use the FTA’s VAT designated zones guide and a tax adviser for the treatment of your transactions.

Customs

Jafza is a customs-bonded area. Goods entering from abroad are not charged customs duty while they stay in the Jafza free zone; duty (normally 5% of the CIF value) is paid when they enter the UAE mainland. Every trading company needs a Dubai Customs business code, registered on Dubai Trade, before its first shipment.

Trading with the Dubai mainland from Jafza

A Jafza company can sell goods to mainland customers. The goods leave the Jafza free zone through Dubai Customs, the buyer or the Jafza company pays customs duty, and VAT applies. What a Jafza company cannot do on its licence alone is operate on the mainland: open a shop, run a site team, or provide services from mainland premises.

Dubai Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025 (3 March 2025) set the current routes for free zone companies in Dubai:

• A DET branch licence for a free zone company that wants a permanent mainland operation (AED 10,000 a year, as settled in our mainland series).
• A permit for defined mainland activity for a limited period. The Dubai Media Office announced the Free Zone Mainland Operating Permit on 8 October 2025 at AED 5,000.

Jafza’s own announcements on Dubai Trade confirm that the DET permit is available to its companies. Separately, Dubai introduced the Dubai Unified Licence (announced by the Dubai Media Office on 12 November 2025), which Jafza describes as a single identifier for every business “across both free zones and mainland businesses”. It does not by itself grant mainland trading rights. Our mainland company formation guide explains the mainland side if you later need a full mainland company.

Jafza is also clear on one thing that surprises people: you cannot move a mainland company into Jafza. Its licence page says there is no transfer option; you form a new Jafza company or a branch.

Jafza licence renewal and ongoing compliance

The failure we see most is a lapsed lease or OFC blocking the licence renewal, and with it every visa renewal. Keep lease, licence, CIC and audit dates in one calendar.

Jafza free zone pros and cons

Who the Jafza free zone suits

• Importers, distributors and re-exporters who store goods in the UAE and sell across the region.
• Freight forwarders, customs brokers and third-party logistics providers.
• Manufacturers and assemblers who need land, warehouses or light industrial units near a port.
• Automotive, spare parts, tyre and machinery traders.
• International groups setting up a regional distribution centre or headquarters with a physical operation.

Who should look elsewhere

• Solo consultants and service firms with no goods: a flexi-desk zone is usually cheaper. See our IFZA guide and Meydan Free Zone guide.
• Commodities, crypto and office-based trading desks: DMCC is built around them.
• Air-cargo-led and e-commerce fulfilment businesses: compare Dubai South and DAFZA.
• Industrial projects wanting lower land costs outside Dubai: compare KEZAD in Abu Dhabi and SAIF Zone in Sharjah.
• Businesses whose customers are mostly on the Dubai mainland: a mainland company may be simpler than a Jafza company plus a permit.

JAFZA 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 spare parts re-exporter who outgrew a workstation

A founder took a workstation with a Jafza licence for trading (AED 5,000) to test the market, then won orders from East Africa and needed three staff and stock. The workstation allowed two visas and could not hold goods. The fix was a light industrial unit, a lease change, a CIC amendment and an additional quota request (free, one working day). The lesson: if stock and staff are in the plan for year one, start with the unit.

2. A European parent forming an FZE distribution hub

A manufacturer formed a Jafza FZE to hold regional stock. Jafza’s side took about two weeks; the board resolution, certificate of good standing and articles took longer to notarise and attest through the UAE Embassy in the home country. The company chose a trading licence with two activity groups (AED 8,500) rather than general trading (AED 15,000) because its products fell in two families. Distribution to resellers from the designated zone was relevant for its corporate tax planning.

3. A freight forwarder choosing between logistics and trading

A forwarder wanted to clear, store and move other companies’ cargo. That is a logistics activity, so a trading Jafza licence was the wrong tool. The logistics licence costs AED 15,000 and needs a warehouse or larger facility. The company took a warehouse unit in Jafza Gateway and registered with Dubai Customs for its business code before its first clearance.

4. A jeweller moving to Gold & Diamond Park

A jewellery trader wanted a showroom on Sheikh Zayed Road rather than at Jebel Ali. The licence was issued through Jafza, with a No Objection Certificate from the Park, and the company registered on goAML as a dealer in precious metals and stones. Visa numbers followed the unit taken at the Park.

5. A holding company that did not need a facility

An investor wanted a UAE company to hold shares in operating subsidiaries and a Dubai property. With no staff and no operations, a Jafza offshore company (AED 10,000 registration, through a Registered Agent, no visas) fitted better than a holding licence at AED 30,000 plus premises. Had the investor needed a residence visa through the company, the offshore route would not have worked.

JAFZA company setup myths: what circulates online that is not true

How to verify every Jafza figure in this guide

JAFZA company setup: how MIRDXB PRO helps

MIRDXB PRO is an independent PRO and business-setup consultancy in Al Barsha 1, Dubai. We are not Jafza, DP World or an official Jafza partner, and Jafza does not list us. What we offer is a second pair of eyes on the decisions that are expensive to reverse, and the government work that follows the licence.

What we do

• Match your goods or services to the right Jafza licence type and activity groups, and tell you in writing when a cheaper licence or another zone fits better.
• Compare facility options against your hiring plan, so the visa allocation matches the people you will actually employ.
• Prepare the application file: forms, business plan, KYC and UBO declarations, appointment letters and board resolutions for corporate shareholders.
• Coordinate attestation of foreign corporate documents and legal translation.
• After the licence: Computer Immigration Card, entry permits, medicals, Emirates ID and residence permits, family visas, and renewals, through our free zone company setup support and PRO team.
• Prepare the company for corporate tax registration and, where needed, VAT and the Dubai Customs business code.

How it works

1. Message us on WhatsApp with your activity, goods, space needs and hiring plan.
2. We send a written plan: legal form, licence type, activity groups, facility, visa count, the Jafza fees from its published guides, a timeline and our fee.
3. You confirm; we prepare and check the file before submission, and follow it through Jafza’s sales and registration teams.
4. Once the Jafza licence is issued, we run the immigration file and the first visas, then hand over a compliance calendar.

What it costs

Jafza’s fees, rent and all government charges are passed on at cost, on the authority’s receipt. Our own fee is quoted in writing before we start and depends on the work involved; see our fees page. We never mark up a government or free zone fee.

Why founders use us

• We work from Jafza’s published service guides and name the source of every figure.
• We tell you when Jafza is not the right zone, and when you can do a step yourself on Dubai Trade.
• We cover the chain after the licence: immigration, Emirates ID, family visas, 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; owners abroad can instruct us under a power of attorney.

If you want the whole project handled, from zone choice to first visa, see our business setup service.

What we will and will not do

• We will show each published Jafza fee and its source; we will not quote a package that hides rent or the registration fee.
• We will tell you when another zone or the mainland fits better; we will not push a larger facility than your visas need.
• We will prepare, check and submit your files; we do not guarantee approvals or claim to speed up Jafza or GDRFA.
• We will explain the tax framework; your qualifying income test needs a registered tax agent or adviser.

Related guides

• Free zones in the UAE: the complete guide
• Dubai free zones list
• Dubai South free zone company setup
• DMCC company setup
• DAFZA company setup
• DUQE free zone company setup
• Free zone vs mainland: visas and trading
• General trading licence in Dubai
• Corporate tax registration in the UAE
• Corporate bank account in the UAE
• UBO register in the UAE
• Establishment card explained

Handling Jafza immigration files, renewals and attestation alongside your other government work is what our PRO services in Dubai team handles every day.