Meydan Free Zone Licence Cost: What Meydan Itself Publishes

Meydan is more transparent than most Dubai zones, but only up to a point. On its own site, the authority states that a standard licence starts at AED 12,500 a year, and that this figure includes company registration, licence issuance, flexi-desk access and up to three business activity groups. Its Fawri option, the fast-track route, is published at AED 15,000, and an e-commerce starter add-on is published at AED 1,000.

Beyond those published lines, Meydan gives no full tariff we could verify. There is no official schedule on its site for what each extra visa allocation costs, what the establishment card costs, or what processing each sponsored person adds. Sellers fill that gap with their own package maths, and their totals differ.

One thing does not change between zones. Federal Tax Authority registration is free and identical across the UAE. What changes in Meydan is the licensing authority, its package structure and its Dubai address, never the federal tax bill.

Meydan sells its licence as a package, and the package steps up with visa allocation. The published starting price buys the licence structure itself. Each allocation you add gives the company the right to sponsor another person, and each step raises the package price, because you are buying sponsorship capacity as well as a licence.

That is why two Meydan quotes can both be honest and still differ widely. A solo founder who already holds UAE residency needs no allocation at setup. A founder relocating with two employees needs three, and pays for a different package from day one. Compare Meydan quotes only at the same allocation count, and read our free zone licence cost guide for Dubai for how other Dubai zones build the same ladder.

Choose allocation on your real hiring plan, not on a hoped-for one. Unused allocation is a cost you renew every year, while adding allocation later is an amendment you control.

Workspace is not an extra you shop for separately at Meydan. The published starting price already bundles flexi-desk access, so the licence, the registration and a Dubai workspace element arrive as one product with one annual charge. That bundling is the core of the Meydan model and the reason its headline looks simple beside zones that price space separately.

The bundle has limits you should price before you sign. A flexi-desk suits a founder who works remotely, meets clients elsewhere and needs a credible Dubai address at Meydan, beside the racecourse in Nad Al Sheba. It does not suit a team that needs dedicated desks every day, storage, or a fit-out. Upgrading your workspace after setup changes your annual cost, and the upgrade price sits outside the published starting figure.

Ask what the bundled flexi-desk actually entitles you to, in hours, access and meeting space, before you treat it as your office.

The published AED 12,500 starts the bill; it does not finish it. The establishment card is the first outside line. Your company needs the card before it can sponsor anyone, so a founder who plans to relocate or hire cannot treat it as optional, yet Meydan publishes no card price we could verify.

Visa processing sits outside too. Each person you sponsor adds entry permit, medical fitness test and Emirates ID steps, each with its own government charge. Activity changes, workspace upgrades and later amendments add further lines. Use our setup cost estimator to model the full structure before you let a seller price it.

Price the whole first year, not the starting line, before you compare Meydan with any other zone.

A Meydan licence does not open a bank account; a bank does. Dubai banks review a flexi-desk company closely, because the workspace model tells them little about real activity. Expect questions about your customers, your contracts, your expected turnover and where your money moves. Clean invoices that match your licensed activities, and a credible business plan, do more for approval than any package upgrade.

Mainland clients need the same honesty. A free zone company invoices and contracts in its own name, but some mainland work, government tenders and onshore arrangements need a mainland licence or a mainland partner structure instead. Decide that before setup, not after your first large local client asks. Our business setup and tax cost service covers the tax side of that choice.

Budget time for banking and client due diligence as a real setup cost, even though no authority charges you for it.

Setup ends, but federal duties start at once. Corporate tax registration with the Federal Tax Authority is free through EmaraTax, and every Meydan company must register within three months of its licence date, whether it expects profit or not. Late registration carries an AED 10,000 penalty. Keep your ultimate beneficial owner records current too, as our Meydan ultimate beneficial owner compliance page explains.

Free zone companies can access the 0% corporate tax rate on qualifying income only when they meet the Qualifying Free Zone Person conditions, including adequate substance and audited financial statements where required. Other income follows the standard structure: 0% up to AED 375,000 of taxable income and 9% above it. VAT registration is also free, mandatory past AED 375,000 of taxable supplies and voluntary from AED 187,500.

Ongoing compliance is a running cost, not a government fee. Our corporate tax filing starts from AED 299/year, bookkeeping starts from AED 499/month, and VAT return filing starts from AED 599/quarter. Those are starting prices, they exclude VAT, and they never include government fees.

Start from what Meydan itself publishes and make every seller reconcile to it. Ask each seller to state, in writing, the package tier, the visa allocation, the flexi-desk entitlement, the establishment card charge and every government processing charge, line by line. A quote that will not separate allocation from processing hides the part of the bill that grows with your team.

Then compare the renewal year, not just year one. The licence element recurs annually at your package level, so an oversized package costs you every year until you restructure. Price your exit too: our Meydan licence cancellation and tax page shows what closing the company involves, and a clean exit route is part of an honest setup price.

When two itemised quotes cover identical scope, choose on banking support, renewal terms and service quality. That is the point where the comparison finally becomes fair.

Next step: Meydan Free Zone Licence Cost: What Meydan Itself Publishes. Send your trade licence and your last return, and we will confirm the fixed fee on the call. Book a free 15-minute fit check