FREE ZONE FILE
Dubai Internet City
What we think
Publishes no price of its own. The regulator's portal does: licence category fees, registration and liquidation costs are all public there, while office rents, visa costs and the renewal amount stay hidden.
Publishes its headline prices, but not everythingPackages
- 5 activities
- Free zone limited company or branch
- 5 activities
- Free zone limited company or branch
- 5 activities
- Free zone limited company or branch
- 1 activity
- Issued in your own name
- No company needed
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
AED 15,000 per year for a standard segment. The Dubai Development Authority decision that sets this fee states it as an annual fee, so the same amount falls due at each renewal. A one-off registration of AED 3,500 applies in year one only.
Closing the company
AED 1,500 to deregister a free zone limited liability company, reduced to AED 1,000 for companies incubated at in5. Published by the Dubai Development Authority, not by the zone.
Other fees and penalties
Binding terms
- Minimum paid-up capital is AED 10,000 for a new free zone limited company. Branches have no minimum.
- Audited financial statements and an annual return must be filed within six months of the year end.
- The licence only authorises activity inside the free zone. Operating onshore requires a dual licence.
- A minimum lease term of one year applies after registration.
- Eligible activities are restricted to technology fields.
Contradictions on the zone's own site
- The zone says a licence is issued within 48 hours of payment, while the same FAQ gives seven working days in total.
- The zone describes its pricing as in line with market rates while refusing figures, although the regulator publishes AED 15,000 per category.
What this zone does not publish
- Office, warehouse and land rents.
- The year two renewal amount.
- Visa, establishment card and immigration channel costs.
- Trade name reservation fee.
- Late renewal penalties.
- Broker or referral commission terms.
Where every figure above comes from
- dic.ae/offerings/set-up-your-business
- dic.ae/connect/faqs
- dda.gov.ae, licensing categories decision, PDF
- dda.gov.ae/en/legal-database
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.