Licence and visa: what the authorities publish
Every licensing authority prices differently, and many quote only through a calculator or a sales call. The table shows only figures published by the authority itself, checked on 13 October 2026. Consultancy packages are labelled as such.
| Option | Licence, no visa | What the price covers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPC Free Zone (Sharjah) | AED 5,750 promotional, AED 6,875 regular, 1 year | Up to 5 activities, 100 shareholders; visa items paid separately | SPC |
| RAKEZ (Ras Al Khaimah) | AED 6,000 | Up to 10 activities, coworking membership, no visa listed | RAKEZ |
| Meydan Free Zone (Dubai) | From AED 12,500 | Flexi-desk, up to 3 activity groups, visa eligibility | Meydan FZ |
| IFZA (Dubai) | No price on the authority's site; consultants sell AED 12,900 | Licence, MOA, flexi-office address | First Idea, Sep 2026 (market ask) |
| Dubai mainland (DET) | No flat price; calculated per activity | Plus Ejari-registered office, Dubai Chambers AED 300–2,200 a year | DXBStart |
A licence without a visa gives you a company, not residence. If you will live in the UAE on your own company, the visa is a separate stack of fees.
One residence visa, item by item
SPC is the only authority in the table that prints every visa item. For a founder applying from inside the UAE:
| Item at SPC Free Zone | AED |
|---|---|
| Licence, 1 year, 0 visa (promotional) | 5,750 |
| Visa allocation | 1,600 |
| Establishment card | 640 |
| E-channel registration | 2,280 |
| Investor visa with Emirates ID | 2,530 |
| Change of status (inside the UAE) | 700 |
| Medical test | 365 |
| Total | 13,865 |
Meydan publishes it in blocks: licence from AED 12,500, a first investor visa about AED 7,850 (visa fee, allocation, establishment card), medical and Emirates ID from AED 2,250. That is 12,500 + 7,850 + 2,250 = AED 22,600 for the first year with one visa, before an office upgrade.
Dubai mainland: the authority publishes no single number. Consultancies quote AED 15,000–30,000+ for year one, and that is a consultancy estimate, not a tariff. The office lease is usually the biggest line.
The marketing line: what the market asks
Nobody publishes official statistics on marketing prices in Dubai. The ranges below are agency asking prices from published guides; we list our own special-offer prices next to them.
| Item | Market range (agency asks) | Savage Media, special offer | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business website | AED 3,500–18,000 (WebStackRank) | From AED 3,200 | Website cost |
| Photo or video shoot | Photographer AED 300–1,500 an hour (booqit) | From AED 950 per shoot | Photographer cost, video cost |
| Social media management | AED 2,000–4,000 starter, AED 5,000–10,000 agency (LPS) | From AED 950/month | SMM cost |
| Monthly content (shoots + reels + photos) | AED 2,000–7,000 per content day (videography.ae) | Savage Story: AED 3,500 first month, then AED 4,500 | Video cost |
| Google Ads test budget | AED 2,000–3,000/month in cheap niches, AED 10,000+ in property (IGP) | Setup quoted after one message | Google Ads cost |
| AI replies to leads on WhatsApp | AED 1,500–5,000/month managed, plus setup (SLGO) | Savage Sales: AED 3,999/month | AI chatbot cost |
Worked example A: solo consultant, Sharjah free zone
A consultant sets up at SPC with an investor visa, sells to companies in Dubai, and wants a lean first six months.
| Line | Calculation | AED |
|---|---|---|
| Licence and visa | SPC items above | 13,865 |
| Website | Our special offer, from | 3,200 |
| Two shoots (headshots, office, product) | 2 × 950, from | 1,900 |
| Google Search ads, 6 months | 6 × 2,000 | 12,000 |
| Google Business Profile, WhatsApp Business app | Free | 0 |
| Total, first six months | 30,965 |
Marketing here is 17,100, a bit more than the company and visa.
Worked example B: service business in Dubai, full launch
A clinic-style or rental business sets up at Meydan with one visa, shoots content monthly, runs Google Ads and needs every lead answered at night.
| Line | Calculation | AED |
|---|---|---|
| Licence and visa | 12,500 + 7,850 + 2,250 | 22,600 |
| Website | From | 3,200 |
| Monthly content, 6 months | 3,500 + 5 × 4,500 | 26,000 |
| Google Ads, 6 months | 6 × 3,000 | 18,000 |
| AI lead replies from month 2 | 5 × 3,999 | 19,995 |
| Total, first six months | 89,795 |
Marketing is AED 67,195, about three times the licence and visa. Clinics, property and legal services pay more per click, so their ad line can be several times larger; see Google Ads cost by industry.
The alternative is to hire. An employee on AED 8,000 a month costs about AED 108,840 in year one with visa, insurance and gratuity, and still needs a photographer and an ad budget. The comparison is in in-house marketer or agency.
What nobody tells you
"From" prices exclude the items you will pay. Establishment card, e-channel, medical and Emirates ID are listed separately by SPC and Meydan. Compare the total for your own visa count, not the headline.
Cheap zone, expensive clients? A Sharjah or RAK licence is fine for selling services to companies across the UAE, but check your activity list and where you may trade before you print a Dubai address on the website. Your ads must also match the activities on the licence.
VAT hits ads before you register. Meta adds 5% VAT to ads bought from a UAE account without a Tax Registration Number. Registration becomes mandatory above AED 375,000 of taxable supplies a year; see VAT on marketing.
Arabic, privacy and trademark cost money too. An Arabic version of consumer-facing pages, a privacy policy and a trademark (AED 6,500 per class) belong in the first budget. Our 90-day launch plan puts them in order.
Budget checklist
- Get a written quote for licence + your exact number of visas, with every government item listed.
- Add office or flexi-desk, and Ejari if you are on the mainland.
- Add six months of marketing: website, content, ad budget, someone or something to answer leads.
- Add accounting and corporate tax registration.
- Keep three months of operating costs in reserve before the first ad goes live.
