Key Takeaways
- The standard Meydan package costs from AED 12,500 a year and the Fawri instant licence from AED 15,000. Neither price includes a visa (Meydan, as of October 2026).
- Every Meydan company is an LLC. Fawri is only for one person who is shareholder, manager, director and UBO (ultimate beneficial owner) at once, and branches can't use it.
- Your first investor visa usually adds about AED 7,850, Meydan says. That covers the visa fee, the allocation and the establishment card (Meydan, as of October 2026).
- To work on the Dubai mainland you need a no-objection certificate from Meydan plus approval from the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET, formerly DED). The six-month permit costs AED 5,000.
- There's no published renewal fee. Get the renewal price for your package from Meydan before you commit to year one.
The Meydan Free Zone license cost you'll see quoted is AED 12,500 a year, and that's a starting point. It pays for a licence, registration and a flexi desk, which is a shared workspace rather than an office of your own. Visas, medical tests and Emirates ID are charged on top.
What Meydan Free Zone is
Meydan Free Zone is one of the 21 free zones on the Government of Dubai's list (dubai.ae, page modified 3 April 2026). That means it's an area with its own authority, licensing companies under its own rules. Meydan's official site is meydanfz.ae.
You don't have to live in the UAE to use it. Meydan offers a remote setup for non-residents from AED 12,500 and says taking a residence visa is optional (Meydan, as of October 2026).
Every company Meydan registers is a limited liability company (LLC), where the owners risk only what they put into the business. Meydan calls it a "MoFA approved LLC license", MoFA being the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For how that compares with other Dubai zones, see the guide to free zone companies in Dubai.
Packages and what is in the price
The standard package starts at AED 12,500 per year. For that you get the trade licence (the document that lets your company do business), company registration, a digital application, access to Meydan's online portal, up to three activity groups and a flexi desk. Meydan says plainly that a visa, medical tests, Emirates ID and other extra services aren't part of the base package.
Because the application is digital, you can start the licence online. Two things deserve a careful look at that stage. One is the activity wording that will be printed on your licence. The other is the visa terms, which Meydan prices on their own.
You don't need to pay in any share capital, the money the owners commit to the company. Meydan's Fawri page says so directly. Its general FAQ does suggest putting a nominal capital of AED 100,000 into the articles, but only as a recommendation.
Pay for several years at once and you can get up to 15% off. Extra shareholders, extra activities and longer terms are all priced on Meydan's calculator. The final price is only confirmed once your activity has been approved and immigration has cleared you, according to Meydan.
The flexi desk comes with every licence. Meydan says you aren't required to lease a physical office to get started. Office space is a paid add-on, and you won't find office or workspace costs in the calculator.
Fawri instant licence and bank account help
Fawri is the quick option. It costs from AED 15,000, includes the trade licence and the core company documents, and Meydan advertises that you can be licensed in 60 minutes (Meydan Fawri page, as of October 2026).
It's designed for a single owner who fills every role: shareholder, manager, director and UBO, the ultimate beneficial owner, meaning the real person who, at the end of any chain of holdings, owns or controls the company. Only LLCs qualify, and branches aren't allowed. A facility lease agreement is included at no extra cost.
Those 60 minutes get you the licence and nothing else. Visas, the establishment card (the immigration record that lets your company sponsor visas) and the bank account each take their own time.
Meydan also advertises a guaranteed bank account process with one of its partner banks. It starts one business day after your licence goes live, and Meydan charges for the help separately (Meydan, as of October 2026). The bank will still run its own customer checks. Each bank has its own rules on who may sign and which documents it wants, and it's the bank, not the zone, that can tell you what applies.
Meydan Free Zone visa allocations, prices and eligibility
Visas are paid for on top of the licence. Meydan's home page gives these starting prices:
- investor visa from AED 4,000
- employee visa from AED 3,500
- immigration establishment card from AED 2,000
- help with the medical test and Emirates ID from AED 2,250
When the investor sponsors a family member, the calculator adds a deposit of AED 3,000 for that dependent visa.
Meydan says the first investor visa typically adds about AED 7,850 in total. Yet the three starting prices that apply to it (visa, card, medical and ID) come to AED 8,250. It's worth getting a total worked out for your own case.
The visa allocation is the number of residence visas your company may apply for. Neither the price page nor the calculator mentions a cap, and the allocation price is set in the calculator. Check both the number and that price for your package.
According to Meydan's FAQ, investor and partner visas need share capital of at least AED 50,000. The immigration card and the visa allocation also have to be in place.
How long a residence visa is valid is decided when it's issued. Meydan's pages don't name one period, so find out which validity you'll get and what renewal costs. For a wider look at visa fees, the guide to freelance visa costs may help.
Mainland access with a no-objection certificate
The mainland means anywhere in the emirate outside a free zone. Meydan says its companies can work there with a no-objection certificate, a letter in which Meydan confirms it has no objection, together with approval from DET, Dubai's mainland licensing office. You don't need a separate mainland licence. Another Meydan page mentions a mainland permit that lets its companies work with mainland firms. Meydan sets the conditions and its own fee for that.
The government fees come from Dubai's rules. Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025 charges AED 10,000 a year for a branch operating out of the free zone. A permit of up to six months costs AED 5,000 (Article 12, as of October 2026). Both need the free zone's approval first, and both cover Dubai only. Meydan doesn't list any price of its own for its mainland permit. Ask Meydan whether DET's fee is the only charge you'll face.
Mainland income is taxed. When the Dubai Media Office announced the six-month permit on 8 October 2025, it said 9% Corporate Tax applies to the related mainland revenue. Resolution 11 of 2025 also makes you keep separate financial records for the mainland activity (Article 3(b)). The guide to mainland versus free zone compares the two kinds of licence.
How banks read a general trading label
Meydan's own Fawri FAQ warns that General Trading is classed as high-risk. Mixing it with several unrelated activities can make it harder to open a corporate bank account (Meydan, October 2026).
A bank makes up its own mind. It looks at the activity wording, who owns the company, and where the money comes from. The Central Bank's customer due diligence guidance, listed as in force from 7 November 2025, tells banks to verify both their customers and the beneficial owners behind them. For the current text, check the Central Bank rulebook.
Setup advisers say a licence that names the products you actually sell is easier for a bank to match with your invoices and customers. A broad general trading label, picked to keep every door open, tends to draw more questions. By the time the bank replies, you've already paid the AED 12,500 or AED 15,000.
The Dubai Free Zones Council has acknowledged the problem. On 25 December 2025 it noted that free zone companies were struggling to open bank accounts and said shared risk-classification standards were being developed (Dubai Media Office). Choose your activity wording with the bank in mind, and settle it before the licence is paid for.
Renewal and the other costs to add
You won't find a renewal fee on Meydan's price page, Fawri page, remote-setup page or calculator. The table lists the fees Meydan does publish, so you can add up a first-year budget.
| Fee | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Standard licence, per year | From AED 12,500 | Package |
| Fawri instant licence | From AED 15,000 | Package |
| Bank-account support | Priced separately, advertised as a guaranteed process | Meydan Fawri page |
| Investor visa | From AED 4,000 | Package price, Meydan home page |
| Employee visa | From AED 3,500 | Package price, Meydan home page |
| Immigration establishment card | From AED 2,000 | Package price, Meydan home page |
| Medical and Emirates ID assistance | From AED 2,250 | Package price, Meydan home page |
| First investor visa, typical total | About AED 7,850 | Meydan home page |
Some costs aren't in the table because they come from the tax side. Your company has to register for Corporate Tax with the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) within three months of incorporation (FTA Decision 3 of 2024). Registering late means an AED 10,000 penalty (Cabinet Decision 75 of 2023 as amended), as of October 2026. A company that earns the 0% rate as a Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP), a free zone company that meets the conditions for that rate, needs audited financial statements (Ministerial Decision 229 of 2025).
Meydan's pages don't answer the first three points below. The fourth affects how a bank will look at your company. Get all four in writing before you pay:
- the renewal price of your package and the discount for a longer term;
- the visa cap for your package and how long the residence visa is valid;
- the conditions and fee of the mainland permit, if you plan to sell on the mainland;
- the activity wording exactly as it will be printed on the licence.
If you want to compare totals across zones, see the guide to free zone company setup costs.
RAKEZ and DMCC also publish package prices. The IFZA profile explains why one popular Dubai zone can't be compared in the same way.
AdvisoryHub may receive a fee when you request an introduction; it does not affect the information on this page.
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