FREE ZONE FILE
ADGM, Abu Dhabi Global Market
What we think
Not a free zone in the ordinary sense. English common law applies directly, including equity, and ADGM has its own courts. It sells no packages: the price is a sum of published lines, in US dollars. The special purpose vehicle at 1,900 dollars is the cheapest holding structure in the country, and the least accessible.
Publishes its prices, including renewalPackages
- Name reservation 200 dollars, incorporation 300, commercial licence 200
- Business activity 4,800, data protection 300
- Annual renewal 5,300 dollars
- Business activity 1,800 dollars
- Annual renewal 2,300 dollars
- Business activity 900 dollars
- Annual renewal 1,400 dollars
- A company service provider is compulsory unless you are exempt
- A demonstrable connection to ADGM, the UAE or the Gulf is required
- 1,500 dollars covering three years, annual data protection extra
- At least one dedicated desk, hot desking refused
- 3 visas per dedicated desk
- Business activity 16,000 dollars
- Annual renewal 16,500 dollars
- Annual renewal 500 dollars in the fee schedule, 200 dollars in the FAQ
Where each line was read: product page, a commercial commitment on the zone's own site. Official document, a downloadable schedule, regulation or terms. Blog only, an article on the zone's site, editorial and not contractual. Not published, the zone does not say.
Visas
Offices and desks
Year two, and closing down
The two figures nobody advertises. A cheap first year means nothing if year two doubles, and nothing at all if leaving costs a fortune.
Renewal, per year
Published for every category, on the anniversary of incorporation. Category A1 16,500 dollars, Category B 5,300, Category C 2,300, Specialized and special purpose vehicles 1,400, company service provider 7,300, foundation 500. Add the confirmation statement at 100 dollars, due within one month of the anniversary.
Closing the company
Free, and published as such. Cancel Licence costs nothing and the strike off application costs nothing in the schedule of fees. Filing annual accounts is also free. ADGM is the only one of the eleven that lets you close at no charge, and says so in writing.
Other fees and penalties
Binding terms
- A physical office address inside ADGM must be maintained at all times.
- No minimum capital for a private company limited by shares. 50,000 dollars for a public company.
- Small companies, turnover up to 13.5 million dollars and up to 35 employees, may file a balance sheet only. Everyone else files audited accounts.
- The auditor must be registered with ADGM.
- Since August 2025, any company claiming qualifying free zone person status for the zero percent corporate tax rate must file audited accounts regardless of size, subsidiary status or dormancy. Chasing the zero rate cancels the small company audit exemption.
- Data protection registration is required before processing any personal data, and renews annually.
- Incorporation approval is announced within 10 working days.
- A company service provider is compulsory for non exempt special purpose vehicles and foundations only. An ordinary Category A, B or C company may file directly.
Contradictions on the zone's own site
- The Tech Start-up fee is 1,500 dollars for three years in the fee schedule, 4,000 dollars per year in the setting up FAQ, and 1,000 dollars per year in the 2020 brochure.
- Foundation renewal is 500 dollars in the fee schedule and 200 dollars in the foundations FAQ.
- The employee visa is 2 years in the FAQ and up to 3 years in the Tech Start-up section.
What this zone does not publish
- A 2026 fee schedule. The document online is still the January 2025 version.
- Office rents, of any kind.
- All-in packages. ADGM does not sell any.
- Medical test and Emirates ID fees.
- The late renewal penalty for a commercial licence.
- The number of licensed company service providers.
- Any partner or commission programme. ADGM publishes none, and introducer pay is a private matter between the introducer and the service provider.
Where every figure above comes from
- assets.adgm.com, Schedule of Fees 2025, PDF, January 2025
- assets.adgm.com, Government Services Fee Schedule, PDF, 19 November 2024
- adgm.com/setting-up/special-purpose-vehicles
- adgm.com/business-areas/tech-startup
- adgm.com/operating-in-adgm/visas-and-government-services/corporate-affairs-government-services
- adgm.com/operating-in-adgm/obligations-of-adgm-registered-entities/annual-filings
- assets.adgm.com, Guidance on accounts and audit for ADGM qualifying free zone persons, PDF, 25 August 2025
- adgm.com/legal-framework
Read on the zone's official site on 13 aout 2026. We print the addresses rather than link them, so you can check any figure word for word, and so this page stays a comparison rather than a doorway.
AED 1,000 back on this zone
This zone pays us an introduction fee, and we hand AED 1,000 of it back to you once your trade licence has actually been issued. You pay the zone exactly what you would pay going direct, we never take a dirham from you, and the cashback is only due if you filled in the Free Zone Radar form first.
Figures quoted from the zone are left in the language the zone published them in, so you can check them word for word. This file is available in English and French. The comparator itself is in Arabic too.