Meydan Free Zone Business Setup in Dubai: Cost, Visas and Banking
Meydan Free Zone is a Dubai government free zone in Nad Al Sheba, with a fully digital setup for trading, services and online businesses. It is a mid-tier Dubai option, in the same price band as IFZA for the licence and first visa, and it suits owners who want a Dubai address with a setup that runs largely online. Here is who it suits, what it costs, and how it works at the bank.
Talk to us about Meydan- You can own all of a Meydan company, with no local partner or sponsor, and a fully digital setup means much of the company stage is done online.
- A flexi-desk is included in the base package, and remote, non-resident setup is supported.
- Our price for the licence, establishment card and first residence visa, which we set in September 2026, is around AED 26,500 for one person in a visa year, and less in a licence-only renewal year. The bank account, corporate address and corporate tax registration are on top, as with any free zone.
- A Meydan company is readily bankable in the UAE, though the account is never automatic.
- Not for everyone. Regulated finance, or physical-goods trading that needs warehousing, belong somewhere else.
What Meydan is known for — and how we handle it
Based on real client reviews of Meydan on Google. Meydan’s own site shows a 4.8 rating from 6,000+ reviews.
What Meydan actually is
Meydan Free Zone (also written “Meydan Freezone”) is a Dubai government free zone, the same kind of entity as IFZA or any other free zone: a Meydan company can be wholly foreign-owned, can invoice clients anywhere, and runs under free-zone rules rather than mainland company law.
What you actually form is an FZ LLC, a free zone limited liability company issued by Meydan itself. The company stage runs in four steps through the portal: pick up to three activity groups from the published list, reserve the name, upload the passport and identity documents and pay, then the licence is issued. The residence visa is a separate stage, and that is the part that needs you in the UAE.
Sources: Meydan’s own About Us page, which says “We issue FZ LLC legal entities and business licenses in less than 60 minutes”, and its setup FAQ for the four steps. The Ministry of Economy and Tourism’s listing of Meydan Free Zone puts it in Nad Al Sheba, near Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City.
What it leans on in practice is that the whole company stage is digital. Meydan runs the licensing and its own checks through an online portal, which is part of why the licence is issued quickly and why banks have a clear file to look at.
Who Meydan suits
Meydan suits three kinds of business: one that wants its setup to run online, an ordinary trading, services or online business, and one whose owners value a Dubai address.
Owners who want a Dubai address with a setup that runs online. The company stage is digital, so a UK, Irish or Australian owner can get the licence in place without being in Dubai for that part. You still come to the UAE for the residence visa, but the licence itself is fast and remote.
Ordinary trading, services and online businesses. Meydan offers more than 2,500 activities across one licence, with three activity groups included. Both are Meydan’s own figures. Consultancies, software and e-commerce businesses, agencies and trading companies that do not need their own warehousing all fit comfortably.
Owners who value the Dubai location. Meydan sits in Nad Al Sheba rather than one of the older industrial free zones, and for some owners the Dubai address and the digital portal are the reason they choose it over a cheaper option further out.
How Meydan compares
Meydan is one of the everyday Dubai free zones. It is not a premium or a budget free zone; it sits in the middle, and the right comparison depends on what you are weighing up:
- Meydan and IFZA are both Dubai mid-tier free zones, and our price for the licence, establishment card and first visa is about the same in each — around AED 26,500 for one person. Both allow full foreign ownership, both include a flexi-desk, and both are readily bankable. Meydan leans on its fully digital portal and Dubai Nad Al Sheba address; IFZA is widely used and agent-led.
- RAKEZ is the cheaper option, based in Ras Al Khaimah rather than Dubai, with a flat inclusive package at a lower price. If cost is the main driver and a Dubai address does not matter, RAKEZ is worth looking at.
- Regulated finance, funds or an English-law holding structure belong in the DIFC or ADGM, not a standard free zone like Meydan.
None of these is simply the best; they are built for different things. The full side-by-side is in Free Zones in Dubai and IFZA vs RAKEZ vs Meydan vs DMCC.
What does Meydan cost in full?
A working one-person Meydan company costs more than Meydan’s headline price, because that price leaves out the residence visa. Meydan publishes a licence-only price from AED 12,500. That figure covers the digital trade licence, 100% ownership, up to three activity groups and an included flexi-desk, but it does not include a residence visa or the add-ons most owners need. It is not the cost of a working company with someone living on it.
Once you add a first residence visa and the one-off costs that come with it, our price for the licence, establishment card and visa for a one-person Meydan company is around AED 26,500 in a visa year, and less in a licence-only renewal year. That puts Meydan in the same mid-tier band as IFZA, not in the budget bracket. The licence-only headline and the full cost of a working company are simply two different numbers, and we will cost the full picture for your exact situation rather than quote the floor price.
Quoting a floor price is how a lot of Dubai setups start badly, and at Start Business Services we would rather lose the enquiry on the first call than have an owner find the real Meydan number after the money has moved.
What the licence gives you:
- One licence, more than 2,500 activities. Up to three activity groups are included at no extra cost; further activities are added for a small fee each.
- Flexi-desk included. No separate physical office is needed for the licence or visa. You lease a dedicated office only when the business scales.
- Remote setup supported. The company stage can be done without visiting the UAE, and Meydan offers a non-resident licence for owners who do not need a visa at all.
- Two-year renewable residence visas for you and your team, with the allocation tied to the package.
Source: Meydan Free Zone’s own site, which lists more than 2,500 activities and says its licence-only price from AED 12,500 “includes 100% ownership, up to 3 business activities, a flexi-desk, and visa allocation eligibility”.
What Meydan itself charges, tier by tier
These are Meydan Free Zone’s own published fees, not ours, and not the full cost of getting a company running. Where Meydan bands a figure we have left its wording exactly as it publishes it.
- Standard licence — from AED 12,500 a year, no visa. Covers the Dubai trade licence, up to three activity groups and a flexi-desk.
- Fawri instant licence — from AED 15,000 a year. That is the instant-licence route by name: Meydan issues it in under 60 minutes and refunds in full if it misses that.
- Visa allocation — AED 1,850 per slot, up to six slots on one licence. The slot is the permission to apply. It is not the visa.
- The visas themselves — AED 3,500 for an employment visa, around AED 4,000 for an investor or partner visa, and around AED 6,000 for each dependant. Meydan publishes the last two as approximate and we have not tightened them.
- Adding staff or family. Each employee on a visa uses one of the allocation slots and needs the employment visa above; a husband, wife or child is on the dependant line. We add those to the one-person figure when we cost it for you.
- Extra activities — AED 1,000 each beyond the three that come with the licence.
- Medical test and Emirates ID assistance — AED 2,250. Meydan sells this as an optional add-on under its mResidency service. It is separate from the visa allocation and from the visa itself, and it is one of the lines owners most often leave out when they add up their own total.
- Outgrowing the flexi-desk — AED 3,500 a month for a dedicated desk, AED 15,000 a year for a shared office, AED 30,000 a year for a dedicated office. These are upgrades at Meydan’s Business Centre; the flexi-desk that comes with the licence costs nothing extra.
- Paid-up share capital — none required on either route.
- Multi-year licences — up to 15% off. Meydan publishes that as a ceiling, not a rate, and does not publish the year-by-year ladder, so there is no exact multi-year number to quote.
- Establishment card and company stamp — charged separately. Meydan says these are pay-as-you-go rather than billed upfront, so neither is in the figures above.
Those are the free zone’s own fees. They are not the same thing as the figure set out above, around AED 26,500, which is our price for the licence, establishment card and first visa for a one-person Meydan company in a visa year. Renewal, and closing the company if it ever comes to that, are separate costs, and we set out the ongoing costs in the written proposal before you sign anything.
Sources: Meydan Free Zone’s own pages for the AED 12,500 trade licence and Fawri, and its cost breakdown. Meydan’s own qualifiers, such as “from”, “around” and “up to”, are kept as published. Meydan last updated that cost breakdown on 30 June 2026. Fees can change, so check the schedule before you budget.
How long it takes
The company and the bank account together can take as little as three to four weeks. That is the fastest case, not the usual one.
The digital licence is the fast part. Meydan issues the standard trade licence within a few days, and offers an instant-licence option for simpler cases, most of it handled online. The residency stage is the longer one: you come to Dubai for the medical and biometrics, the residence visa and the Emirates ID, which arrives a few days later. The bank account follows and is the least predictable part. The residency steps have to be done in person and you need to stay until the visa is issued, so we plan it as one trip.
In our experience, a straightforward bank account is open in three to four working days, a more involved one takes seven to ten days, and a complicated activity or ownership can take up to three months.
What Meydan means at the bank
A Meydan company is readily bankable in the UAE. It helps that Meydan runs its own digital checks on the activity and the ownership before it issues the licence, so the bank has a clear file to work from. But the account is never automatic. The bank still looks at the activity, the owners and the expected flows, and the decision is always theirs.
We are careful about who we take on. If a business is the kind banks will not easily take on, we say so at the start rather than taking it on and hoping.
We speak to the bank directly about the company before we set it up, so the activity, the structure and the documents line up with what they have told us they need. The decision is still the bank's, and if your case looks difficult we will tell you before you commit. How UAE bank accounts actually work is covered in full on How to Open a UAE Business Bank Account.
Does a Meydan company pay corporate tax?
While a Meydan company’s revenue is AED 3 million or less, it can claim Small Business Relief and pay no corporate tax. The Ministry of Finance’s latest decision on the relief keeps it going for years that “end on or before 31 December 2029”. Two kinds of company cannot claim it: a free zone company taxed under the separate free zone 0% rate on its qualifying income, and a company that is part of a large multinational group.
It’s not a free pass, though. You still keep proper accounts and file a tax return with the FTA, the UAE tax authority, every year.
Without the relief, the first AED 375,000 of profit is taxed at nothing and only the profit above that pays 9%. So the tax only bites on the slice above AED 375,000, and everything under it stays in the business. Which one fits depends on the business, and we work it out case by case. The detail is on UAE Corporate Tax for foreign-owned entities.
Sources: the UAE’s corporate tax law, for the free zone 0% rate and for what claiming the relief means; the Ministry of Finance’s Small Business Relief decision, for the AED 3,000,000 revenue limit and the two kinds of company that cannot claim it; and the Cabinet’s decision on the tax bands, for 0% up to AED 375,000 and 9% above.
Is Meydan right for your business?
Meydan suits a business that genuinely operates, has no regulated activity, and whose owners want a Dubai address with a setup that runs largely online. Typical examples:
- Consultancies and professional-services firms billing clients outside the UAE
- Software, SaaS and online businesses
- E-commerce businesses
- Trading companies that do not need their own warehousing or customs handling
- Agencies and media businesses
It does not suit regulated finance, which belongs in the DIFC or ADGM, or physical-goods trading that needs warehousing and customs handling, which points to a free zone built around logistics. Selling directly into the UAE market needs a mainland licence instead. Meydan’s own FAQ draws the same line: a mainland company “can trade directly anywhere in the UAE, including with the local market”. If that is your situation, we will tell you, and point you to the route that actually fits.
Gareth and his team were extremely helpful and easy to work with throughout our set up. Would highly recommend!
Dean Lacey · Google review
Frequently asked questions
What is Meydan Free Zone?
A Dubai government free zone in the Nad Al Sheba district. It runs as a fully digital free zone, so the company stage is done online, and it suits ordinary trading, services, e-commerce and consulting businesses.
Can you set up in a free zone that is not listed here?
Yes. These are the free zones our clients use most often, not the only ones we work with. The UAE has more than forty free zones. We do not handle Abu Dhabi companies, but if you are considering a free zone elsewhere that is not covered here, ask us and we will talk it through.
Can a foreigner own a Meydan company?
Yes. A Meydan company can be wholly foreign-owned, with no local partner or sponsor required.
What does a Meydan setup cost?
Meydan publishes a licence-only price from AED 12,500 on its own trade licence page, but that figure does not include a visa. Our price for the licence, establishment card and one residence visa for a one-person company is around AED 26,500 in a visa year, and less in a licence-only renewal year. We will cost it for your exact numbers.
Is a Meydan company bankable in the UAE?
Usually, yes. A Meydan company is readily bankable, and the free zone runs its own digital checks before issuing the licence, which helps. The account is never automatic, though. The bank looks at the activity, the owners and the expected flows, and the decision is theirs.
Can a Meydan company trade inside the UAE market?
Not directly. Like any free zone company, a Meydan company is set up to invoice clients outside the UAE or work through the free zone. Selling directly to customers in the UAE market needs a mainland licence or a local distributor, and we can talk through the route if that is what you need.
How long does a Meydan setup take?
The digital licence is fast. The standard licence is usually issued within a few days, and Meydan offers an instant-licence option. The residency stage takes longer: you come to Dubai for the medical, biometrics, Emirates ID and visa, and the bank account follows and takes longest. In our experience, the company and the bank account together can take as little as three to four weeks, and that is the fastest case.
Who is Meydan Free Zone right for?
Ordinary trading, services, consulting and e-commerce businesses that invoice clients outside the UAE and want a Dubai address with a fully digital setup. It is not the right home for regulated finance, or for physical-goods trading that needs warehousing and customs handling.
Is a Meydan company tax-free?
No. While revenue is AED 3 million or less, a company can claim Small Business Relief and pay no corporate tax, for years ending on or before 31 December 2029, unless it is taxed under the separate free zone 0% rate or is part of a large multinational group, as neither can claim the relief. Without it, the first AED 375,000 of profit is taxed at nothing and the profit above that pays 9%. Either way, you still keep proper accounts and file a tax return every year.
Sources: the UAE’s corporate tax law, and the Ministry of Finance and Cabinet decisions on Small Business Relief and the tax bands, all linked in the corporate tax section above.
Where to read next
These are the free zones we use most for our clients. If the one you are considering is not here, ask us and we will talk it through.
Not sure Meydan is the right route?
Tell us what the business does and where your customers are, and we will tell you whether Meydan fits, or whether IFZA, RAKEZ, the DIFC, ADGM or mainland is the better route.
Talk to us