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Tier 2 · Dubai

Regulator, not a free zone

This is a regulatory body rather than a free zone you can register a company in. It's listed for context, not as a setup option.

Department of Planning and Development - Trakhees (Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation)

Dragon Mart 1 (1st floor), International City / Warsan 1, Al Awir Road, Dubai; EHS office also at JAFZA Gate 3, Jebel Ali · Est. 2008 · Trakhees - Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation

high confidenceVerified 18 Jul 2026official ↗
Find zones like this →
Best for

Retailers, traders, F&B and service businesses operating inside Nakheel/PCFC Special Development Zones (Dragon Mart, International City, Palm Jumeirah, JVC) that need a Dubai local or free-zone licence with integrated permits, EHS and visa services.

Not ideal for

Businesses wanting a packaged free-zone setup with transparent fixed pricing, flexi desks or guaranteed 0% corporate tax; companies outside Trakhees' SDZ geography should use Dubai DED or a conventional free zone.

01Capability profile

Six independent dimensions, scored from official zone data.

?
Banking10/15
?
Visa scale4/15
?
Cost (lower=better)10/20
?
Activity breadth12/25
?
Workspace options0/15
?
Location9/10
02Where Trakhees sits

Tick marks for every zone, Trakhees highlighted. The shape of the field, not just the rank.

Year 1 cost← lower is better

Licence + registration, AED.

Setup time← lower is better

Trakhees: 40th percentile (10 days) · Total estimated days from application to operational.

Visa caphigher is better →

Trakhees: 9th percentile (7 visas) · Absolute maximum visa allocation. Values above 500 clipped to the right edge so the bulk of the distribution stays readable.

Banking ease← better
Easy
4
Moderate
73
Difficult
15
Very difficult
1

Trakhees: Moderate · Corporate bank account opening difficulty. Each cell is one zone.

03Costs

Year-one license, renewals, and 5-year totals in AED.

—
Year 1 minimum · AED
Show in
Base licence
AED 10,000
2-year visa cost
AED 2,781
Hidden & one-off costs
Establishment card
AED 3,088
Visa renewal
AED 1,985
Visa cancellation
AED 355
Emirates ID (per visa)
AED 370
Dependent / spouse visa
AED 2,500
Year-on-year fee tracking begins 2026 — changes appear here as they accrue.
Indicative, from published ratesOfficial fee schedule ↗Verified 2026-07high confidence

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04Visas & workspace

Visa caps, workspace options, and family-sponsorship rules.

Visa allocation
Maximum visas
7
Flexi-desk cap
1
Office cap
5
Family sponsorship
Available
Freelancer permit
Not available
Golden visa
Available
Green visa
Available
Medical required
Yes
Processing time
~14 days
Workspace options
Virtual office
No
Flexi-desk
No
Dedicated office
No
Warehouse
No
Industrial unit
No
Dedicated office cost
AED 15,000/yr
05Banking & setup

Banking difficulty, partner banks, and setup timeline.

Banking
Difficulty
Moderate
Time to account
~21 days
Minimum deposit
AED 5,000
Corp tax rate
9%
Audit cost (est)
AED 7,000
UBO filing
Required
AML / KYC
standard
Partner banks
Emirates NBDMashreqRAKBankHSBC
Neo-bank options
Limitedmostly traditional banks preferred
Setup timeline
  1. Registration mode
    Fully online — no in-person visit required
  2. Documents & application
    Passport, visa, business plan — ~3–5 days
  3. Licence issued
    ~5 business days after submission
  4. Bank account active
    Additional ~21 days · Moderate banking
  5. Operational
    Typically ~10 days, up to ~21 days
06Permitted activities

Activity categories, restrictions, and approval flags.

50 activitiesMainland selling: Yes

Retail trading (Dragon Mart / International City)

Food & beverage and cafeterias (EHS-licensed)

Clinics, salons & health clubs (EHS-licensed)

Construction & fit-out contracting (CED permits)

Light industrial / warehousing (SDZ industrial areas)

Categories
CommercialProfessional/ServiceIndustrialTourism
Matched industry clusters
tradingindustriallogistics
Restricted
Illegal laborpresence of men in women's salons/health clubs and vice versaadvertising sale/rent of licensesdirect selling by calling customersplacing ads on pedestrian roads/building pathways/carsstorage of certain combustible items without prior EHS approvalpainting operations in open airstorage of material outside warehousegoods violating intellectual property rightsboycotted goodsraw opiumcoca leavescannabisqat leavesprinting/labeling/re-labeling altering product information*
Require approval
EHS approval for food, health, education and industrial activitiesOccupancy Fitness Certificate (OFC) before commencing operationsCivil Engineering Department permit for fit-outs / modifications
07Jurisdiction & ecosystem

Legal framework, tax status, audit requirements, and zone focus — every value sourced.

Common lawNo
VAT designated zoneNo
QFZP eligible (0% tax)Yes
Inferred · 2026-07-18
Mainland permitYes
Inferred · 2026-07-18
Audit requiredNo
Inferred · 2026-07-18
Economic substancestandard
Inferred · 2026-07-18

This zone offers physical-office options sufficient for a standard QFZP substance posture, though the bar still applies at the entity level (CTGFZP1).

Focus: Business regulation & licensing of Special Development Zones, Retail & general trading (Dragon Mart, International City), Construction, fit-out & building permits, Maritime & industrial EHS oversight, Food, health & occupational-safety compliance

12200* companiesmedium community
Notable companies

Unilever, Samsung, DP World, Nestle

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

5 strengths · 6 caveats.

Strengths
  • One counter for licensing + building permits + EHS + residence visas inside Special Development Zones
  • Transparent per-service government fees on pcfc.ae (initial approval AED 120; 2-yr employment visa from AED 2,781.26; visa cancellation AED 355.13)
  • Fully online channels: website, PCFC Dubai mobile app, outsourced service centres
  • Local licences give mainland-style UAE trading rights; FZ option also available
  • Backed by PCFC/Dubai World with GDRFA-integrated visa processing
Caveats
  • ["No published licence fee schedule — issuance/renewal fees are 'system-calculated'
  • so Year-1 cost is opaque until application"
  • 'Not a conventional free zone: no own premises
  • flexi desks or fixed packages; space must be leased from SDZ developers'
  • "Free-zone licensees' 0% corporate-tax (QFZP) eligibility unconfirmed"
  • 'Visa quotas are space-based with EHS inspection; no published quota table']

Not ideal for: Businesses wanting a packaged free-zone setup with transparent fixed pricing, flexi desks or guaranteed 0% corporate tax; companies outside Trakhees' SDZ geography should use Dubai DED or a conventional free zone.

09Tax considerations

4 tax questions relevant to this zone.

Questions to raise with your tax advisor

  1. 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%.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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

3 comparable zones in the same emirate.

11About this data

Last verified 2026-07-18 · high confidence.

Trakhees 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
Dragon Mart 1 (1st floor), International City / Warsan 1, Al Awir Road, Dubai; EHS office also at JAFZA Gate 3, Jebel Ali
Established
2008
Authority
Trakhees - Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation
Last verified
2026-07-18
Confidence
high
Methodology
How we score →
Cited source
Fee data sourced from the official fee schedule, fetched 2026-07-18. View source ↗
Per-field citations
How we verify every zone →
12Founder reviews

What founders who've registered here say.

3.5★150 reviewsGoogle

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13Take the next step

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