Meydan Free Zone
Meydan Hotel, Nad Al Sheba · Est. 2009 · Meydan Free Zone Authority
Solo founders, e-commerce sellers, consultants and small trading/services SMEs wanting the cheapest credible Dubai-government free zone with instant digital setup and a Meydan/Nad Al Sheba address.
Businesses needing warehouses or industrial facilities, teams requiring more than 6 visas, regulated financial/crypto activities, or goods traders relying on VAT designated-zone treatment.
01Capability profile
02Where Meydan Free Zone sits
Meydan Free Zone: 43th percentile (AED 12,500) · Licence + registration, AED.
Meydan Free Zone: 92th percentile (3 days) · Total estimated days from application to operational.
Meydan Free Zone: 5th percentile (6 visas) · Absolute maximum visa allocation. Values above 500 clipped to the right edge so the bulk of the distribution stays readable.
Meydan Free Zone: Moderate · Corporate bank account opening difficulty. Each cell is one zone.
03Costs
- Base licence
- AED 12,500
- Registration
- AED 0
- Renewal (year 2+)
- AED 12,500
- 3-year total
- AED 37,500
- 2-year visa cost
- AED 3,500
- Establishment card
- AED 2,000
- Cancellation fee
- AED 1,500
- Visa renewal
- AED 2,700
- Visa cancellation
- AED 500
- Emirates ID (per visa)
- AED 2,250
- Dependent / spouse visa
- AED 6,000
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04Visas & workspace
- Maximum visas
- 6
- Flexi-desk cap
- 6
- Office cap
- 6
- Warehouse cap
- 10
- Family sponsorship
- Available
- Freelancer permit
- Not available
- Golden visa
- Available
- Green visa
- Available
- Medical required
- Yes
- Processing time
- ~7 days
- Virtual office
- Yes
- Flexi-desk
- Yes
- Coworking
- Yes
- Dedicated office
- Yes
- Executive office
- Yes
- Warehouse
- No
- Industrial unit
- No
- Land plot
- No
- Ejari issued
- Yes
- Parking
- Yes
- Dedicated office cost
- AED 30,000/yr
05Banking & setup
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to account
- ~14 days
- Minimum deposit
- AED 0
- Corp tax rate
- 0%
- Audit cost (est)
- AED 5,000
- UBO filing
- Required
- AML / KYC
- standard
- Instant licence availableThis zone issues the licence fully online — typically within an hour of application, no in-person visit (per the zone's published offering; visas and banking still follow the normal timelines below).
- Registration modeFully online — no in-person visit required
- Documents & applicationPassport, visa, business plan — ~3–5 days
- Licence issued~1 business day after submission
- Bank account activeAdditional ~14 days · Moderate banking
- OperationalTypically ~3 days, up to ~10 days
06Permitted activities
3 activity groups under 1 license
over 2
500 business activities across any industry
07Jurisdiction & ecosystem
This zone offers physical-office options sufficient for a standard QFZP substance posture, though the bar still applies at the entity level (CTGFZP1).
Focus: E-commerce, Trading, Services
No marquee tenants published; base is predominantly SMEs, e-commerce sellers, consultants and international founders
QFZP, audit, mainland-permit and substance values are sourced where the zone authority or FTA publishes them, and inferred from published zone characteristics otherwise. How we determine these values.
08Strengths & limitations
- ["Transparent published pricing: full FZ-LLC license from AED 12
- 500 including flexi-desk and 3 activity groups - one of Dubai's cheapest"
- 'Fawri instant license issued in under 60 minutes with money-back guarantee; 100% digital
- no physical presence needed'
- 'Dubai government-backed (Meydan City Corporation / Dubai Holding) with a guaranteed-bank-account programme across 26+ partners'
- 'Pay-as-you-grow visas: choose 0-6 allocations per license; visas
- medical
- Emirates ID and insurance handled in-house via mResidency/Meydan Plus'
- 'Multi-year licenses save up to 15%; installments via Tabby/Tamara and bank Easy Payment Plans']
- ['Visa quota capped at 6 per license - larger teams need multiple licenses or another zone'
- 'Advertised price excludes real visa-side costs (estab card AED 2
- 000/yr
- medical+Emirates ID AED 2
- 250
- mandatory insurance ~AED 1
- 680
- visa fee AED 3
- 500-4
- 000 each)'
- "Banking still bank-discretionary despite 'guaranteed account' marketing; digital banks are the realistic fast path"
- 'No warehouses/industrial space and dedicated-office pricing unpublished; NOT a VAT designated zone (no goods-handling VAT relief)'
- 'Customer reviews cite slow
- error-prone document handling after onboarding']
Not ideal for: Businesses needing warehouses or industrial facilities, teams requiring more than 6 visas, regulated financial/crypto activities, or goods traders relying on VAT designated-zone treatment.
09Tax considerations
Does your planned revenue qualify under the QFZP qualifying-income rules?
QFZP 0% only applies to qualifying income. Mainland trading or revenue from non-free-zone clients is generally non-qualifying and taxed at 9%.
Will you need audited accounts even if this zone doesn't require them?
FTA corporate-tax filing typically expects audited accounts for revenue above AED 50M, and banks often request them at much lower thresholds.
How much of your revenue will come from mainland UAE customers, and how does that affect QFZP and 5% VAT obligations?
Mainland revenue beyond ad-hoc levels can disqualify QFZP and triggers full 9% corporate tax plus standard VAT on supplies.
Do any of your customers, suppliers, or shareholders meet the FTA's related-party definition?
Related-party transactions need transfer-pricing documentation and may push otherwise-qualifying income into the 9% bracket.
These prompts are due-diligence questions, not tax advice. Confirm every answer with a UAE-licensed tax advisor before incorporating.
10Similar zones in Dubai
11About this data
Meydan Free Zone data is sourced from official zone authority publications, government fee schedules, and where available, verified against direct communications with the zone. All figures in AED.
- Location
- Meydan Hotel, Nad Al Sheba
- Established
- 2009
- Authority
- Meydan Free Zone Authority
- Last verified
- 2026-07-18
- Confidence
- high
- Methodology
- How we score →
- QFZP eligibility (0% corporate tax)Secondary · 2026-07-18Primary source ↗
- Audit requirementSecondary · 2026-07-18Primary source ↗
- Economic substanceSecondary · 2026-07-18Primary source ↗
- Mainland trading permitSecondary · 2026-07-18Primary source ↗
- Setup.instant licenseOfficial · 2026-07-17Meydan Free Zone — Fawri instant licence ↗
12Founder reviews
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