Freelance visa in Dubai and the UAE, permits and fees

Key Takeaways

A UAE freelance visa is a residence visa that follows from a permit or licence, which a free zone or MOHRE issues first.
DMCC lists FreelanceUAE at AED 4,020 for a one-year licence without a visa, and RAKEZ lists its freelance permit from AED 6,100 (October 2026).
ICP's freelancer Green Residence needs a MOHRE permit, a degree or diploma and at least AED 360,000 of income a year over two years.
The USD 3,500 on the Dubai virtual work visa is a monthly income test, not a fee; GDRFA's page shows AED 200 plus levies and no VAT.
A permit carries no 0% tax rate of its own, and advisers commonly report that many freelance packages do not cover invoicing mainland clients.

A freelance visa in Dubai comes last of three documents and cannot be bought on its own. A solo consultant, designer, developer or writer needs to know which permit leads to which visa, what the published fees are and where the tax position changes. Prices are as published in October 2026.

Permit, visa and licence are different documents

Permit first, visa second: the permit is your right to work for yourself and the visa your right to live in the UAE on the back of it. A free zone or the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) issues the first. Immigration issues the second, through GDRFA in Dubai and the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) at federal level. The Emirates ID follows the visa.

Packages sold as a freelance visa are either a permit with a visa application attached or a permit alone. DMCC's current package is the second kind, because DMCC states that its visa packages are temporarily on hold due to upcoming updates from UAE Immigration. The third route, a mainland professional licence, is a trade licence from the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET, formerly DED) in Dubai or from ADDED in Abu Dhabi, held by one person.

When a quote says "freelance visa" and lists a licence fee, ask which of the three documents you are paying for.

Free zone freelance permits and who issues them

Zones issue a freelance permit to one person for one activity. DMCC lists its FreelanceUAE package at AED 4,020 for a one-year licence without a visa, with one profession and no employees, plus the AED 20 Knowledge and Innovation fee that DMCC adds to its charges (DMCC, October 2026). RAKEZ lists its freelance permit from AED 6,100 in 1 and 2-year packages, eligible for a UAE residence visa (RAKEZ page, stamped December 2025). The holder is a sole practitioner with one activity, no staff and no extra visas.

Banking is where the two differ in practice. RAKEZ states that its permit holder cannot open a corporate bank account. DMCC says bank support through its partner bank requires a valid UAE visa and the FreelanceUAE licence, so a licence taken without a visa does not meet that condition.

Other zones sell freelance or sole-professional licences as well. Ajman Free Zone, Dubai South and Dubai Airport Free Zone all list one, and each sets its own price and visa allowance. The zone's own price list is the only reliable source for either figure. For a wider view of zones, see the free zones in the UAE, listed by emirate.

The activity code is the first thing to check. It differs from zone to zone and decides whether the visa follows. Consulting is rarely a single category on a zone's list, and the permit covers only one. A permit issued for a code that does not match your invoices leaves you with the wrong approvals and fees, and a later amendment costs a fee and a notification to your bank. Read the zone's activity list before you pay, and copy the exact wording into your client contracts.

MOHRE self-employment permit and the Green Residence route

MOHRE issues freelance and self-employment permits to individuals who work independently without a sponsoring employer. The permit matters because the freelancer category of the Green Residence starts with it. Read the current MOHRE fee in the MOHRE app on the day you apply, because it is not a figure to copy from a guide.

ICP's Green Residence guide (September 2026) sets three conditions for freelancers. You need a MOHRE freelance or self-employment permit, at least a bachelor's degree or a specialised diploma, and freelance income of at least AED 360,000 a year over the previous two years. The residence lasts five years and is renewable. A freelancer in the first year has no two-year record to show, so for most newcomers the Green Residence is a later step and not the entry route.

Add a fourth document to the mix: the Dubai virtual work visa. GDRFA Dubai's page shows a residence permit fee of AED 200 plus levies, states no VAT and gives 48 hours expected completion (page dated 11 October 2026). The USD 3,500 figure often quoted as its fee is the monthly income test (u.ae, August 2026). The visa lasts one year and asks for proof of remote work for an organisation outside the UAE, so it is built for people employed from abroad. A freelancer with several clients should ask GDRFA whether contracts count as that proof.

Mainland professional licence and Abu Dhabi Tajer

Mainland professional licences suit freelancers whose clients are UAE companies or government bodies. Dubai's official guide lists professional as one of five licence types, next to industrial, commercial, E-Trader and dual, and registration runs in three stages: initial approval, trade name, then the licence (dubai.ae, October 2026). Corporate and government buyers in the UAE often prefer a mainland counterparty to a free zone one.

No single government fee applies, because it depends on the activity. Ask DET for the itemised government fee for your exact activity before you compare it with a zone permit. The mainland company setup route explains the LLC alternative when you plan to hire.

Abu Dhabi has its own set. ADDED lists a Freelancer licence and a Tajer (Abu Dhabi Trader) licence among seven types, and the Freelancer licence works without physical office premises (ADDED, October 2026). In September 2026 ADDED gave Tajer holders whose no-premises period ends in 2026 one more year without premises. ADDED describes Tajer as issued to UAE citizens and residents, so it follows a residence visa and does not replace one for someone abroad.

Mainland clients, invoicing and Corporate Tax

Whether you may invoice a Dubai mainland client from a free zone permit depends on the zone and the permit. Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025 gives eligible free zone establishments three routes into Dubai. They are a mainland branch, a branch operating out of the zone at AED 10,000 a year, and a permit of up to six months at AED 5,000. The six-month permit was launched on 8 October 2025 as the Free Zone Mainland Operating Permit, renewable at AED 5,000 every six months, and it needs a Dubai Unified Licence (Dubai Media Office).

Ask your zone, in writing, whether a freelance permit counts as an establishment for these routes. If the Resolution covers your permit, invoicing Dubai mainland clients without one of the three routes is outside what it allows, Dubai legislation and its penalties apply (Article 10), and audit and inspection follow (Article 11). The routes cover Dubai only.

Tax is the next gap, because a permit carries no rate of its own. If it is issued to you as an individual, the natural-person test applies. Business income is taxed only when gross turnover exceeds AED 1,000,000 in a calendar year (Cabinet Decision 49 of 2023). A resident individual above that line registers by 31 March of the following year. If your zone incorporates a company for you, that company registers for Corporate Tax within 3 months of incorporation (FTA Decision 3 of 2024). Ask which of the two you hold.

Only a Qualifying Free Zone Person on Qualifying Income gets the 0% rate (Ministerial Decision 229 of 2025), and consulting fees from mainland customers are not Qualifying Income. VAT is a separate line: registration is mandatory when taxable supplies and imports exceed AED 375,000 over the past 12 months or are expected to within 30 days, and voluntary from AED 187,500 of supplies, imports or taxable expenses (FTA, as of October 2026). The English texts on tax.gov.ae and mof.gov.ae are not official translations. Which test applies depends on how the permit is issued, so read the permit terms with a corporate tax consultant.

What it costs and what the price leaves out

These are the published prices as of October 2026. Each issuer sets its own, and none of them includes every line listed after the table.

Route	Issuer	Published price	What it covers
FreelanceUAE	DMCC	AED 4,020	One-year licence without visa; visa packages on hold
Freelancer permit	RAKEZ	From AED 6,100	1 and 2-year packages; sole practitioner; no corporate bank account
Virtual work residence permit	GDRFA Dubai	AED 200 plus levies; the page shows no VAT	Government fee only; USD 3,500 is the monthly income test
Freelance or self-employment permit	MOHRE	Shown in the MOHRE app	Required for the Green Residence

Headline prices leave out the medical fitness test, whose fee depends on the centre and the speed, so ask the centre for its current list. It leaves out the Emirates ID, where ICP's fee scales with the years of residence. And it leaves out health insurance, which the virtual work visa asks for as a copy and which u.ae lists as a basic package at AED 320 a year for private-sector workers (September 2026). Individual government steps run to 48 hours or 2 days, but no authority publishes a start-to-finish time, so plan around the zone's own estimate.

For the wider cost picture, the step-by-step guide to setting up in Dubai yourself covers the lines a company needs and a permit holder does not.

Which route fits which kind of freelancer

Start from where your clients are and where you will live.

Clients abroad and a wish for residence: a free zone permit with a visa package on sale. Check that the zone sells it today, because DMCC's visa packages are on hold.
Clients mostly UAE companies or government: a mainland professional licence, or a free zone route into Dubai if your zone allows it.
Employed by a company abroad and earning at least USD 3,500 a month: the virtual work visa.
A degree and two years above AED 360,000: the MOHRE permit and then the Green Residence.

Doing this alone is fair when you are one person with a standard consulting or creative activity, clients abroad and a zone with an online portal. Even then the weak points are the activity wording, the bank file and Corporate Tax registration. The seven steps to start a business in Dubai show where those fall in the order.

Advice pays at three points: the activity code, where your clients are, and your tax position. A business setup consultant can check all three against the zone's price list before you pay, and you should ask for the permit, the visa and the licence to be quoted as separate lines. The guide on how to choose a business setup consultant lists the questions to ask.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can a freelancer get a UAE residence visa?

Yes, through a free zone permit that is eligible for a residence visa, such as the RAKEZ freelance permit from AED 6,100, or through the five-year Green Residence if you hold a MOHRE permit and meet the income test. DMCC says its visa packages are on hold (RAKEZ, DMCC and ICP, as of October 2026).

Is USD 3,500 the fee for the Dubai virtual work visa?

No. USD 3,500 is the monthly income test for the one-year virtual work visa (u.ae, August 2026). The GDRFA Dubai page shows a residence permit fee of AED 200 plus levies and states no VAT (page dated 11 October 2026). The visa also asks for proof of remote work for an organisation outside the UAE.

Does a freelance permit give a 0% tax rate?

No. The 0% rate applies only to a Qualifying Free Zone Person on Qualifying Income (Ministerial Decision 229 of 2025). If your permit is personal, the natural-person test applies, and Corporate Tax registration is due once turnover passes AED 1,000,000 in a calendar year (Cabinet Decision 49 of 2023).

Can I invoice mainland clients with a free zone freelance permit?

It depends on the zone and the permit. Dubai's Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025 gives eligible free zone establishments a mainland branch, a dual licence at AED 10,000 a year or a six-month permit at AED 5,000. Ask your zone in writing whether your permit qualifies.

Do I need a MOHRE permit for the freelancer Green Residence?

Yes. ICP requires a MOHRE freelance or self-employment permit, a bachelor's degree or specialised diploma, and freelance income of at least AED 360,000 a year over the previous two years (September 2026). Read the current MOHRE fee in the MOHRE app on the day you apply.