Meydan Free Zone Company Setup 2026: Law, Licences, Published Costs, Visas and Who It Suits

Meydan Free Zone company setup is the process of forming a limited liability company or branch licensed by Meydan Free Zone, the free zone operated by the Meydan City Corporation under Dubai Law No. 5 of 2009, and based at the Meydan Grandstand in Nad Al Sheba, Dubai. The law, issued on 24 February 2009, created Meydan City as a government corporation whose original purpose was to make Dubai a centre for equestrian sport, and provided that “a free zone will be established” within it. Today the free zone is best known for low-cost, fully digital licences, a published price list, over 2,500 activities and the Fawri licence issued in under an hour.

This guide covers the legal basis, the legal forms and the zone’s own company regulations, the Meydan Free Zone activities list, the regular and Fawri routes step by step, documents, every published Meydan Free Zone cost line with its source, visa allocation and the Meydan Free Zone visa process, banking, corporate tax and VAT, mainland access, renewal and compliance, and who should choose another zone. Where Meydan’s own pages disagree with each other, we show both.

If you are still choosing between a free zone and the mainland, read our free zone vs mainland comparison and the list of Dubai free zones. For an overview of business setup in Dubai, including mainland options, start with our service page.

Meydan Free Zone company setup at a glance

What Meydan Free Zone is: legal basis and authority

Meydan Free Zone is not a brand sitting on top of another zone. It is a free zone in its own right, created by the Dubai law that established the Meydan City Corporation.

Law No. 5 of 2009

• The corporation. Article 3 creates “a public Corporation wholly owned by the Government” with financial and administrative autonomy, and “a city named ‘Meydan City’ in which a free zone will be established”.
• Its purpose. Article 4 lists equestrian aims: promoting Dubai as an international centre for equestrian sports and attracting equestrian investment. The commercial free zone grew out of that project.
• Licensing power. Article 5 gives the corporation power to “license Establishments, regulate procedures and matters relating thereto, and set the conditions and rules governing their work”.
• Customs. Article 14 exempts goods brought into the free zone from customs duties.
• Tax. Article 17 exempts establishments in the free zone “from all taxes” for fifty years. Federal corporate tax and VAT still apply; see the tax section.
• Ownership. Article 20 allows companies “wholly owned by a UAE or non-UAE national”.

Later amendments

Law No. 12 of 2021, issued 7 July 2021, restructured the corporation’s governance. Law No. 7 of 2024, issued 24 March 2024, replaced several articles and restated the corporation’s power to “register and license Establishments and other entities”. Neither changed the basic position: Meydan licenses its own companies.

The zone’s own company regulations

The Meydan Free Zone Companies and Licensing Regulations 2022 are the rulebook for your company. They cover incorporation, shares, directors, accounts, penalties and liquidation, and they expressly state that Federal Law No. 32 of 2021 on Commercial Companies “shall not apply within the Authority”. That matters when you draft a shareholders’ agreement or plan a share transfer: the Meydan regulations, not the federal law, set the rules.

What Meydan Free Zone is known for

Meydan’s name comes from the Meydan Racecourse, and the city project behind it was built around horse racing. The free zone that grew from it has a very different identity: a digital, price-transparent licence factory for small and mid-sized businesses.

The Meydan speciality

• Speed. The Fawri licence is marketed as issued “under 60 minutes, entirely online”, with a “full refund if license not issued within 60 minutes”.
• Published prices. Meydan publishes its starting prices, visa allocation fee, visa fees and workspace prices, and runs an online cost calculator. Many rival zones publish only packages or nothing.
• Breadth of activities. Over 2,500 activities, with three activity groups in the base price and the ability to combine activities across different industries.
• Long licence terms. Meydan’s FAQ says the licence can be valid for “up to 10 years”, with up to 15% off multi-year terms.
• Location. A Dubai address at a landmark building close to Downtown Dubai, Business Bay and Mohammed Bin Rashid City.
• Add-on services. Meydan Plus sells banking assistance, medicals and Emirates ID, accounting, VAT and corporate tax services alongside the licence.

How Meydan compares with its closest rivals

Meydan Free Zone legal forms and company rules

The 2022 regulations recognise three kinds of entity. The marketing labels vary: Meydan’s pages use FZE, FZCO and FZ-LLC for what the regulations call a “Company”, “a limited liability company incorporated within the Authority”. Use the exact form and suffix printed on your certificate of formation.

Limited liability company

• Shareholders. The regulations allow “a minimum of one (1) and a maximum of hundred (100) Shareholders” (clause 5.1). Meydan’s FAQ says “a maximum of 50 shareholders are allowed on a license”, and the cost calculator includes six shareholders and charges AED 2,000 for each extra one.
• Share capital. The regulations set no minimum. Shares are in dirhams, one class, whole numbers. Meydan’s FAQ suggests “a capital of 100,000 AED” and says an investor or partner visa needs “AED 50,000 share capital or more”.
• Liability. “Limited to the amount paid” on the shares.
• Directors. One or more, appointed by ordinary resolution; the FAQ caps them at four on the licence.
• General manager. One or more required under the regulations; the FAQ says only one manager can appear on the licence.
• Secretary. Not required by the regulations.
• Memorandum. Optional for a single shareholder, mandatory for several.
• Registered address. The company must “at all times have a registered address within the Authority”; the included flexi desk and lease agreement meet this.

Branch

A branch is “a place of business within the Authority established by a Company or a Foreign Company”. It is not a separate legal person, so the parent carries its liabilities. The Fawri route does not allow branches: “only Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) are eligible”.

Redomiciled entity

A company from another jurisdiction can continue into Meydan as a Meydan company. This is less common and needs the other jurisdiction to permit the move.

Meydan Free Zone activities and licence routes

How the Meydan Free Zone activities list works

Meydan says it supports over 2,500 activities, grouped into categories such as administrative, healthcare, services, agriculture, ICT, manufacturing, trading, education, professional and real estate. The Fawri page refers to “1,800+ approved activities” for that route. Both are on meydanfz.ae’s business activities list.

• Three activity groups are included in the licence price.
• Additional activities cost AED 1,000 each (cost calculator).
• Activities from different industries can be combined on one licence, according to Meydan’s FAQ.

Regulated activities

Some activities need another authority’s approval whatever the zone: virtual assets (VARA), training and education (KHDA), health services and products (Dubai Health Authority, Emirates Drug Establishment), food and cosmetics (Dubai Municipality), media (National Media Authority, formerly the UAE Media Council) and financial services (Central Bank or the federal capital markets regulator). Meydan’s FAQ notes that for virtual asset businesses a limited liability company is preferable and that VARA licences renew annually. Get the approval route confirmed before you pay.

Regular licence vs Fawri

The headline gap is AED 2,500, but the Fawri package includes establishment card and e-channel activation. Meydan’s investor visa page prices the immigration card at AED 2,000 for a regular licence, so for a single founder who will take a visa the real difference narrows to about AED 500, and the Fawri buyer gets the licence the same day.

Meydan Free Zone company setup process, step by step

1. Name check. Online at meydanfz.ae. Meydan quotes 20 minutes. Names must be acceptable to the Authority and not identical or similar to an existing company’s.
2. Choose activities and route. Up to three activity groups; regular or Fawri.
3. Upload documents and pay. Passport-based for individuals; corporate shareholders upload attested corporate documents. Payment is digital; Meydan offers instalment plans for some UAE residents.
4. Approval and licence. Fawri in under an hour; regular in one to five days depending on the page you read. You receive the licence, certificate of formation, share register, memorandum and articles, and lease agreement.
5. Immigration profile. Establishment (immigration) card and e-channel activation. Meydan quotes one to two business days.
6. Visa allocations and visas. Buy allocations (AED 1,850 each, up to six), then apply for investor or employee visas. Meydan quotes three to seven business days, or five to seven working days on its investor visa page.
7. Medical and Emirates ID. Through a Dubai medical centre and ICP biometrics.
8. UBO filing. Within 60 days of formation and 15 days of any change (Cabinet Decision 109/2023, repeated in Meydan’s FAQ).
9. Corporate tax registration. Within three months of incorporation (FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024); AED 10,000 penalty if late.
10. Bank account. Meydan advertises a “Guaranteed Bank Account” with more than 26 partner banks and says account initiation takes one business day. Approval remains the bank’s decision.

Documents required for Meydan Free Zone company setup

Individual shareholders

• Valid passport copy for each shareholder, director and manager.
• Selected activities (up to three groups) and up to three trade name options.
• For UAE residents, Emirates ID and visa details where requested.

Meydan’s document page says attested documents, embassy stamps, an employer NOC and a tenancy contract are not required for an individual-owned licence: “Start with your passport, not a paper trail.”

Corporate shareholders

Meydan states: “For corporate shareholders, notarized and attested Certificates of Incorporation and Memorandum & Articles of Association are required.” In practice you should also expect a board resolution appointing the representative and details of the individuals who ultimately own the parent, because the beneficial owner register must be filed within 60 days.

Attestation route

Foreign corporate documents are usually notarised in the home country, legalised by its foreign ministry, attested by the UAE embassy and then by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Our guide to apostille vs attestation explains the options, and our document attestation service handles the UAE side.

Meydan Free Zone cost: every published fee line

Meydan publishes more of its prices than most Dubai zones. The table lists each line with the Meydan page it comes from. Meydan’s calculator describes its estimates as “indicative” and says “final pricing is confirmed after business activity approval, immigration clearance, and document verification”. Figures were checked on 26 September 2026.

A worked first-year total

For one founder on a regular licence with one investor visa, Meydan’s published lines add up to about AED 24,300: licence AED 12,500, visa allocation AED 1,850, immigration card AED 2,000, investor visa AED 4,000, Innovation and Knowledge fees AED 20, medical and Emirates ID AED 2,250 and Category A insurance AED 1,680. Using the Fawri route instead, with the establishment card included, gives about AED 24,800. Insurance and the medical can be bought elsewhere, so your number may be lower.

Meydan Free Zone cost traps

• Capital and the investor visa. A founder who needs an investor visa must meet the AED 50,000 share capital condition in Meydan’s FAQ.
• Allocations are not visas. AED 1,850 buys the right to one visa; the visa itself, medical, Emirates ID and insurance are extra.
• Add-ons are optional. Meydan Plus services (bank assistance AED 1,500, VAT registration AED 1,500, corporate tax starter AED 1,200, bookkeeping from AED 1,000 a month, PO box AED 1,700 a year) are Meydan’s own service prices, not government fees.
• Renewal. The licence, flexi desk lease, immigration card and every visa renew on their own cycles. Multi-year licences reduce the licence line only.
• Audit and accounting. Meydan can ask for audited statements, and a company claiming the 0% rate must have them.

Meydan Free Zone office options and the Meydan Free Zone visa cap

Every Meydan company needs a registered address in the zone, and the licence includes a flexi desk lease. Upgrades are at the Meydan Business Centre.

Unlike many zones, Meydan’s published cap of six visa allocations applies per licence, and its workspace pages do not tie a visa number to each workspace. Meydan’s setup guide says the flexi desk “counts toward compliance”. If you need more than six visas, ask Meydan in writing whether a larger space unlocks more, because this is not published.

Meydan is not a logistics zone. If you need to hold stock, use a third-party warehouse or look at JAFZA or Dubai South.

Meydan Free Zone visa: residency for founders, staff and families

A Meydan Free Zone visa is a Dubai residence visa sponsored by your Meydan company and issued through GDRFA. The residence file starts with 2, Dubai’s code. Meydan runs the application through its own immigration system after the establishment card is active.

How easy is a Meydan Free Zone visa?

For a clean applicant with the right allocation, it is routine. The limits are the six-allocation cap, the capital condition for investor visas, and the security and medical checks that apply to all residence visas. Meydan quotes visa processing of three to seven business days; neither Meydan nor GDRFA publishes an approval rate.

Steps

1. Immigration card (establishment card) and e-channel activation. Meydan quotes one to two business days.
2. Visa allocation purchased for the person.
3. Entry permit from outside the UAE, or change of status inside.
4. Medical fitness test in Dubai. The federal examination fee is AED 250 at a standard centre; Meydan sells a combined medical and Emirates ID service at AED 2,250. See our medical fitness test guide.
5. Emirates ID biometrics. ICP charges AED 100 per year of residence plus AED 100 smart services on its card; our Emirates ID typing service can handle it.
6. Residence issued electronically for two years, renewable while the company is active.

Meydan Free Zone visa types

• Investor or partner visa: for shareholders, subject to the AED 50,000 capital condition in Meydan’s FAQ.
• Employment visa: for staff, from AED 3,500 plus allocation. Meydan’s Fawri page notes no employer NOC is needed for a working professional who sets up a company, but check your employment contract for conflict clauses.
• Dependent visas: spouse and children sponsored by a resident founder or employee; Meydan lists a AED 3,000 deposit where the investor sponsors.
• Golden Visa: shareholders who meet investor or entrepreneur criteria can apply separately; see our Golden investor visa service.

How free zone visas differ from mainland work permits is covered on our free zone visa service page.

Opening a bank account after Meydan Free Zone company setup

Meydan advertises a “Guaranteed Bank Account” through more than 26 partner banks, non-resident banking and a corporate IBAN. Treat “guaranteed” carefully: the bank still runs its own due diligence. What banks ask for:

• Licence, certificate of formation, share register, memorandum and articles, lease.
• Passports and, where held, residence visas and Emirates IDs of shareholders and signatories.
• Business profile, expected turnover, main counterparties and countries.
• For corporate shareholders, the parent’s attested documents and ownership chart.

Our corporate bank account guide explains what each type of bank expects.

Meydan Free Zone tax: corporate tax, VAT and customs

Corporate tax

Law 5/2009 exempts free zone establishments from “all taxes” for 50 years, but federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 applies corporate tax to free zone companies. Every Meydan company must register within three months of incorporation and file annual returns. It pays 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above, unless it is a Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP), which pays 0% on qualifying income.

QFZP status needs adequate substance, qualifying income, audited financial statements, transfer pricing compliance and non-qualifying revenue below the lower of 5% of revenue or AED 5 million (Cabinet Decision No. 100 of 2023). Qualifying activities are listed in Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025, which replaced Ministerial Decision No. 265 of 2023. Consulting, marketing and sales to individuals are not on the list, so most small Meydan service companies are taxed as normal companies. A QFZP cannot use Small Business Relief.

Meydan’s own tax page cites Ministerial Decision No. 84 of 2025, under which audited statements are required for revenue above AED 50 million or for any QFZP. See our corporate tax registration guide.

VAT

Meydan Free Zone does not appear on the VAT designated zones list as published (Cabinet Decision No. 59 of 2017 as amended). A Meydan company registers for VAT once taxable supplies pass AED 375,000 and charges 5% like a mainland business. Check the FTA’s current list before relying on any zone treatment.

Customs

Article 14 of Law 5/2009 exempts goods brought into the free zone from customs duty, but Meydan is not a fenced logistics zone. Traders importing goods for the UAE market pay duty and import VAT under the normal rules and need a Dubai Customs client code.

Trading with the Dubai mainland from Meydan

Meydan’s home page mentions “mainland access available with NOC and DET approval”. The current framework is Dubai Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025:

• DET branch licence for the free zone company: AED 10,000 a year.
• Free Zone Mainland Operating Permit (Dubai Media Office, 8 October 2025): AED 5,000, for temporary activity up to six months.

Selling to mainland companies from your free zone base, using a mainland distributor, or setting up a separate mainland company remain alternatives.

Meydan licence renewal and ongoing compliance

Meydan does not publish a late-renewal fine amount. Renew before expiry, and if you move to a multi-year licence, diarise the immigration card and visa renewals, which do not follow the licence term. Our UBO register guide explains the beneficial owner filing.

Choosing Meydan Free Zone activities that match your business

The Meydan Free Zone activities list is broad, which makes it easy to pick the wrong wording. Banks, VAT officers and future buyers all read the licence activity against your invoices, so the choice matters more than the price of an extra activity.

Three practical rules. First, put the activity that earns most of your revenue first. Second, use the three included groups for activities you will actually carry out in year one; each extra activity is AED 1,000. Third, if you will ask a bank for an account, keep the activity mix coherent: three unrelated groups can prompt more questions at onboarding.

Meydan Free Zone visa renewal, cancellation and changes

A Meydan Free Zone visa lasts two years. Renewal repeats the medical and Emirates ID steps, and the company’s immigration card and licence must be valid at the time. Plan renewals so that the licence renewal date does not fall in the middle of a visa renewal.

• Cancelling a Meydan Free Zone visa. The company cancels the visa through Meydan’s immigration system. The holder then has a grace period to leave or change status; overstaying after that costs AED 50 a day under federal rules.
• Family members first. Dependants sponsored by a Meydan visa holder must be cancelled or transferred before the sponsor’s own visa is cancelled.
• Moving an employee to another company. The new employer applies for its own visa; the Meydan visa is cancelled and the allocation becomes free for the next hire.
• Closing the company. Cancel every visa and the immigration card before the licence, then deregister from corporate tax within three months of cessation.
• Adding allocations. Each new allocation is AED 1,850, up to the six-per-licence cap Meydan publishes.

Meydan Free Zone pros and cons

Who Meydan Free Zone company setup suits, and who should look elsewhere

Meydan suits

• Solo founders who want a licence the same day through Fawri.
• Consultants, agencies, e-commerce and technology businesses with up to six staff visas.
• Founders who want to see prices before they speak to anyone.
• Holding companies and founders abroad who want a multi-year licence with low running cost.

Look elsewhere if you

• Need more than six visas from day one or a large physical office: DMCC or Dubai Silicon Oasis.
• Want an alternative partner-sold licence to compare: IFZA.
• Need warehousing or re-export: JAFZA.
• Do not need a Dubai visa and want the lowest cost: SHAMS or RAKEZ.
• Sell mainly to the Dubai mainland or to government: a mainland company.

Our guide to all UAE free zones compares every zone, and our free zone company setup support can do the comparison for you.

Meydan Free Zone 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 solo marketing consultant who wanted a licence the same day

A consultant already employed in Dubai wanted her own company for side projects. Fawri fitted: one owner, three activity groups, AED 15,000 including the establishment card, and no employer NOC required by Meydan. We checked her employment contract for a conflict-of-interest clause first, because Meydan’s NOC waiver does not override her contract. She kept her employment visa and did not buy a visa allocation.

2. Two partners who each wanted an investor visa

Two founders planned AED 10,000 capital. Meydan’s FAQ ties the investor visa to AED 50,000 share capital or more, so we set capital at that level before incorporation and budgeted two allocations (AED 3,700), two investor visas (about AED 8,000) and one immigration card (AED 2,000). Fawri was not available because there were two owners, so they used the regular licence.

3. A founder who needed eight staff

A software house expected eight staff in its first year. Meydan publishes a cap of six allocations per licence. We asked Meydan in writing whether a dedicated office would lift the cap and, in parallel, costed Dubai Silicon Oasis and DMCC. The founder chose to start in Meydan with six and move if the cap became a problem, accepting the transfer cost as a risk.

4. A holding company for property abroad

An investor wanted a Dubai holding company for overseas shares. A five-year Meydan licence with the multi-year discount kept the annual cost low. Holding shares is a qualifying activity for the 0% corporate tax rate, but only with audited accounts and adequate substance, so we added an annual audit and board meetings in Dubai to the plan.

5. A trainer who needed KHDA approval

A founder wanted to run in-person training courses in Dubai. The activity was available on the Meydan list, but in-person training in Dubai can need KHDA approval. We sequenced the licence and the KHDA application so the courses did not start before approval.

Meydan Free Zone myths: what circulates online that is not true

How to verify every Meydan Free Zone figure in this guide

Meydan Free Zone: where the sources are silent or disagree

• Setup time: five different figures on Meydan’s own pages (60 minutes to 5 days).
• Shareholders: regulations allow 100, the FAQ says 50, the calculator includes six before charging extra.
• Licence term: FAQ says up to 10 years; the calculator offers one to six years.
• Form names: FZE, FZCO and FZ-LLC are all used for the same limited liability company.
• Visa cap by workspace: not published beyond six allocations per licence.
• Late renewal fines: “as determined by the Authority”, with no published amount.
• Older references: the 2022 regulations cite the 2018 AML law, since replaced by Federal Decree-Law No. 10 of 2025; the current law applies.

Meydan Free Zone company setup: how MIRDXB PRO helps

MIRDXB PRO is an independent PRO and business-setup consultancy in Al Barsha 1, Dubai. We are not Meydan Free Zone or the Meydan City Corporation, and we are not listed as a Meydan partner. We compare Meydan with the alternatives on your facts and handle the government work around the licence.

What we do

• Choose between the regular and Fawri routes and between Meydan and other zones.
• Set capital, shareholders and activities so the visas you need are available.
• Prepare corporate shareholder documents and the attestation chain.
• Run investor, employee and family visas, medicals and Emirates ID.
• Register corporate tax and VAT, file UBO details and arrange the mainland permit if needed.

How it works

1. WhatsApp us your activity, owners, visas and where your clients are.
2. We reply in writing with the route and Meydan’s published fee lines.
3. We quote our fee in writing before we start.
4. We prepare the file and track the Meydan Free Zone company setup, immigration card and visas to completion.
5. We diarise renewals, UBO and tax deadlines.

What it costs

Meydan and government fees are passed on at cost on the issuing body’s receipt. Our fee is quoted in writing before we start; see our fees page. For mainland and other options, see our business setup service.

Why founders use us

• We cite the source for every fee, as this guide does.
• We are independent of every free zone.
• We tell you when you can do it yourself; Meydan’s portal is designed for self-service.
• Visit us in Al Barsha 1: Monday to Thursday and Saturday 09:00 to 18:00, Friday 09:00 to 12:00.

What we will and will not do

• We will show every Meydan and government fee on the issuer’s own invoice or receipt.
• We will tell you if Meydan’s visa cap, capital rule or activity approvals make another zone better.
• We will not claim to be Meydan, a Meydan partner or a government body.
• We will not promise visa or bank approvals or times the authorities do not publish.
• We will not form companies whose purpose is selling visas or hiding ownership.

Related guides

• Free zones in the UAE
• Dubai free zones list
• IFZA company setup
• DMCC company setup
• Expo City Dubai free zone
• Free zone vs mainland visas
• Corporate tax registration
• UBO register
• Establishment card explained

Keeping visas, the immigration card and renewals on track after setup is what our PRO services in Dubai team handles.