Key Takeaways
- No visa can be issued until your free zone company has an active establishment card and a quota from the zone. The quota usually depends on the package or the space you lease.
- An entry permit from ICP is valid for 60 days, and residence must be completed within 60 days of entry. For visas on a company that doesn't trade, ICP gives the fine as AED 20,000 in one place and AED 2,000 in another (ICP, October 2026).
- Since 1 January 2025, a private-sector residence permit can't be issued without health insurance. u.ae lists a basic package at AED 320 a year (September 2026).
- Establishment card prices vary by zone. DMCC charges AED 1,825 a year (schedule, October 2026) and DIFC USD 618 (handbook, September 2026).
- Green and Golden Residence are separate options with personal thresholds. You apply to ICP for them, and they aren't sold as part of a package.
Getting a free zone visa in the UAE follows a fixed order. Your company first needs an establishment card and a visa quota from the zone, and only after that can anyone apply for an entry permit. Below, the steps appear in the order the authorities describe them. Every cost is marked as a government fee, a zone price or a package price.
Who issues which part of a free zone visa
Three bodies are involved. The zone authority takes your application and sets the quota, the number of residence visas your company may apply for. The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) lists the establishment card, the entry visa and the residence permit among its federal services. Of these, the establishment card is the immigration record that allows a company to sponsor visas. In Dubai it's issued by the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA), as DIFC's handbook states.
Mainland companies, those licensed outside the free zones, go a different way. The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) issues their work-permit quota, and a valid Ta'qeem report is a condition. Ta'qeem is MOHRE's check of your business before it sets the quota. In February 2026 MOHRE said quotas are now issued instantly. Its establishment card service lists a Ta'qeem fee of about AED 406 and two working days (MOHRE service page, as of October 2026, subject to change).
Establishment card and quota before any visa
The establishment card comes first. ICP asks for a valid trade licence, the document that lets your company do business, and an authorised signatory with an Emirates ID or Unified Number. A free zone company applies through its free zone authority (ICP, October 2026). ICP lists AED 100 for the application, AED 100 a year, AED 100 for smart services and AED 2,000 to subscribe to its electronic system for establishments (ICP establishment card service page, as of October 2026). Zones set their own card prices, which you'll find in the cost table further down.
Next comes the quota. There's no formula that applies across the UAE. Each zone sets its own, usually by package or by the desk or area you lease. Use the table to see how each zone words its rule (as of October 2026).
| Zone | Quota follows | What the zone publishes | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| RAKEZ serviced office | Desks | Up to 2 visas for one desk and up to 4 for two desks. Four at most per company, with at least 3 m2 per desk. | Zone rule. |
| RAKEZ packages | Package | None on Biz Starter and Basic, one on Lite and all-inclusive. Extra visas cost AED 4,000 each. | Package. |
| DMCC | Desk or office type | No quota formula on the schedule. AED 500 per extra visa plus a AED 250 application fee. | Fee schedule. |
| DIFC | Space occupied | The allocation depends on the type of space. There's no figure for a flexi desk; DIFC Government Services can tell you. | Zone rule. |
| ADGM Tech Startup | Dedicated desk | Three employee visas for each dedicated desk. A hot desk doesn't count. | Zone rule. |
| Ajman Media City | Package | 0, 1, 2 or 3 visas depending on the package, from AED 4,999 to AED 22,999. | Package. |
| SHAMS | Licence ceiling | SHAMS advertises up to 50 visas per licence, if the office qualifies. | Ceiling. |
A package can promise more visas than the space you lease allows. When that happens, the zone approves a smaller quota than your quote showed, and you've paid for visas you can't use. Have the zone confirm the allowance in writing, linked to your desk or area, before you pay. The zone guides go into detail for RAKEZ and Ajman Free Zone, and the overview of free zones in the UAE covers the rest.
Investor, partner and employee visas compared
Your shareholding decides whether you can get an investor or partner visa. Employee visas come out of the quota. At DMCC, the investor visa is for a company with a single shareholder. The partner visa needs a shareholding worth at least AED 50,000 (DMCC visa guidelines, October 2026). DMCC charges AED 2,972.5 for a new two-year employment visa applied for from outside the UAE (schedule, as of October 2026). Other zones price the same step differently.
In Dubai, GDRFA lists a green residence permit for investors and partners of up to five years. Issuance costs AED 200 plus levies, and the listed processing time is 48 hours (GDRFA service page, as of October 2026). GDRFA's green visa issuance page for the same group asks for a paid share of at least AED 1,000,000. Check which threshold applies to you.
No single authority describes the whole process. Pieced together from the separate services they list, the usual order is:
- The zone issues the trade licence.
- The establishment card is activated.
- The zone confirms the quota.
- ICP issues the entry permit. This is listed at 2 days, and the permit is valid for 60 days.
- The person enters the UAE, has the medical test, gets insurance and gives Emirates ID biometrics (fingerprints and photo). Residence has to be completed within 60 days of entry.
Companies often get stuck by hiring before the card is active. Until it is, the company can't sponsor anyone, and the first employee has to wait. A PRO (public relations officer), the person who handles government paperwork, can take care of the whole sequence. The PRO services guide explains what to ask a PRO to do. To see where the visa fits in the wider setup, read the step-by-step guide to a Dubai company.
Medical test, Emirates ID and health insurance
Residence requires a medical fitness test. No authority publishes one fee for it. The price depends on the centre and how fast you want the result, which is why you should use the current price list from your zone or the centre.
The Emirates ID comes with the residence permit in one combined application. ICP's fee for residents rises with the number of years of residence, plus a smart-service fee, and processing is listed at 5 days (ICP, as of October 2026). Look at ICP's live fee table before you quote anyone a total.
Health insurance is a precondition. From 1 January 2025, employers have to buy a policy before a residence permit for a private-sector worker can be issued or renewed. This applies in all emirates (u.ae, 8 September 2026). The basic package is listed at AED 320 a year. Workers whose permits were issued before 1 January 2025 get cover when they renew. Make sure your first-year budget includes insurance, Wage Protection System payments (the UAE's electronic salary system) and end-of-service accruals, the gratuity you set aside for each employee.
Fines that catch new companies
One fine catches many new companies: applying for entry permits before the company is actually doing business. ICP's visa page gives that fine as AED 20,000 in its terms and AED 2,000 in its fines list (ICP, October 2026). ICP can confirm which amount applies. A licence on its own doesn't prove that a company trades. Ask your zone what evidence of activity it expects before you request the first permit.
Smaller fines add up too. ICP lists AED 50 a day for staying past the end of an entry permit. The AED 2,000 in its fines list is the same entry-visa item mentioned above, not a separate fine for the establishment card. Renewing an Emirates ID late costs AED 20 a day, up to AED 1,000 (ICP and u.ae, as of October 2026).
Free zone visa costs, with the official fees marked
There's no single price for a free zone visa. The costs come from three kinds of source: government fees, zone fee schedules and zone packages. Use the table to add up your own costs and see where each figure comes from.
| Fee | Amount | Label and source |
|---|---|---|
| Establishment card through ICP | AED 100 application, AED 100 a year, AED 100 smart services, AED 2,000 system subscription | Government fee, ICP. |
| Establishment card at DMCC | AED 1,825 a year | Fee schedule, DMCC. |
| Establishment card at DIFC | USD 618, or USD 656 express, plus a USD 680 sponsorship deposit | Fee table, DIFC handbook, September 2026. |
| Entry permit | AED 100 application, AED 100 issuance, AED 100 smart service | Government fee, ICP. |
| Residence permit for employment | AED 100 application, AED 100 a year, AED 100 smart services, and AED 500 more if you change status inside the UAE | Government fee, ICP. |
| New two-year employment visa at DMCC | AED 2,972.5, applied for from outside the UAE | Fee schedule, DMCC. |
| Extra visa quota at DMCC | AED 500 per visa plus a AED 250 application fee | Fee schedule, DMCC. |
| Extra visa on the RAKEZ all-inclusive package | AED 4,000 each, up to three | Package, RAKEZ. |
| Health insurance, basic package | AED 320 a year | u.ae, September 2026. |
| Medical test and Emirates ID | No single published figure | Depends on the centre and the years of residence. |
Add up only the fees that apply to you, and keep the source next to each one. A total without sources can't be checked. For an estimate of the whole setup, see the cost guide.
Nobody publishes an end-to-end time either. The step times on record are 2 working days for MOHRE's card, a quota that MOHRE now says it issues instantly, and 2 days for the ICP entry permit. A GDRFA card or residence permit takes 48 hours, and the Emirates ID 5 days.
Golden and Green Residence for owners, and how they differ from a company visa
Golden and Green Residence aren't company visa packages. Both are self-sponsored, which means you act as your own sponsor instead of relying on a company. A company visa depends on the company's licence, card and quota. These two depend on personal conditions that ICP checks, such as income, capital or an approved project.
Green Residence lasts five years and can be renewed (ICP, September 2026). Skilled workers need a salary of at least AED 15,000 a month. Freelancers need a MOHRE permit, a bachelor's degree or specialised diploma, proof that they're financially solvent and freelance income of at least AED 360,000 a year over the previous two years. Investors and business partners need proof of investment.
The capital figure for investors isn't clear. An ICP residence permit service page (content dated 11 December 2024) and GDRFA Dubai's green visa issuance page for investors and partners both ask for at least AED 1,000,000. ICP's Green Residence guide (September 2026) gives no amount at all. ICP can tell you which applies to you. Freelancers need the permit first, as the guide to the freelance visa and freelance permit explains.
ICP's Golden Residency guide (10 September 2026) gives 10 years, renewable, for every category, including entrepreneurs and property investors. The 5 years still shown on u.ae for some categories comes from an older summary on the portal. For investors in public investments, ICP's overview lists AED 2,000,000, held as a deposit with an investment fund or national bank, as company capital or as a partner's share. A company that pays at least AED 250,000 a year in federal taxes also qualifies. The capital has to be fully owned, not borrowed. Property investors need property worth at least AED 2,000,000. For entrepreneurs, ICP lists options such as an SME (a small or medium-sized business) with annual revenue of at least AED 1,000,000, or approval from an accredited incubator. The issuing authority confirms the threshold when you apply.
An owner can hold a company visa and still apply for Green or Golden Residence on personal grounds. If you're still choosing the zone behind your company visa, the guide to a free zone company in Dubai walks through the options.
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