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The best free zone for consultancy is the one that lists your advice activity, prices a desk with the visa you need, and lets you bill the clients you have. For a one person firm, published starting prices run from AED 4,888 at Ajman NuVentures Centre Free Zone (ANCFZ) to AED 12,500 at Meydan in Dubai. If most of your clients sit in mainland Dubai, a Dubai zone gives you a permit route that other emirates do not.
All seven zones appear in the table above. The notes below explain the fit, the starting price and the catch for each.
How consultants should compare zones
A consultancy has a simple cost base. You rarely need a warehouse or a big office. What matters:
- The activity name. Management, IT, HR, marketing and engineering advice are separate activities, so an IT consultancy licence in Dubai is not the same as a management one. Some need approval from another authority.
- Visas. Most founders want an investor visa for themselves. The cheapest packages often include none.
- Activities per licence. Advisers often add training or a related service. The cap differs a lot by zone.
- Your clients. Advice delivered to mainland companies raises the question covered in the section on mainland clients below.
The zones that fit consultancy work
Meydan Free Zone, Dubai
Meydan's licence costs AED 12,500 a year and covers up to 3 activity groups across trading, services and professional work. A flexi desk comes with it; visas do not. An investor visa costs AED 4,000 and an employee visa AED 3,500, plus AED 2,250 for medical and Emirates ID. Meydan needs no paid-up capital, sets up 100% online and offers licence terms up to 10 years. Full figures sit on the Meydan Free Zone page.
IFZA, Dubai
IFZA, based in Dubai Silicon Oasis, issues Commercial, Professional and Branch licences. It publishes no fee list and sells through partner agents. Six agencies quote AED 12,900 for a zero visa licence, with their own fee extra (published prices checked ). For one visa, compare like with like: three sell a visa slot at AED 14,900 to AED 15,000 and charge processing later, while two quote AED 21,450 to AED 22,200 with the visa done. No physical presence is needed to incorporate. Our Meydan vs IFZA page puts the two side by side.
Shams, Sharjah
Shams' Standard Package costs AED 6,885 a year, VAT included, with any 5 activities, a flexi desk and a lease agreement. It has no visa. Each visa needs a visa allocation at AED 1,600, and Shams allows up to 50 visas with a business plan and financial proof. The licence can be issued in under 60 minutes, and you do not need UAE residency to apply.
RAKEZ, Ras Al Khaimah
RAKEZ issues Professional and Individual or Professional licences. The Biz Starter package is AED 6,000 a year with coworking, up to 10 activities and no visa. If you want 1 visa from day one, Instant Licence Lite costs AED 12,000. RAKEZ says setup takes 1 to 3 business days, online with no visit.
UAQ Free Trade Zone
UAQ FTZ has a Service (Consultancy) licence. The UAQ LYTE licence is AED 5,500 a year with co-working and no visa. UAQ START, with one investor visa, is listed at AED 12,500 on a promotion, while a newer official blog shows a higher price, so confirm the current figure. Two limits matter: consultancy permits carry two activities, and UAQ FTZ lists share capital of AED 300,000.
Dubai Knowledge Park
If you want an HR consultancy licence in Dubai, this is the specialist zone. Dubai Knowledge Park licenses HR consultancy, training, research and similar segments at AED 15,000 a year, plus an AED 3,500 registration fee and a lease. Visas follow space: 1 visa per 80 sq ft. It costs more than the budget zones, but it gives you a specialist community for people and learning businesses. Training segments need a KHDA NOC first. Details on the Dubai Knowledge Park page.
ANCFZ, Ajman
ANCFZ licenses consultancy among its commercial, service and education activities. Its Zero Visa licence starts from AED 4,888 with up to 10 activities and a lease. The visa package starts at AED 10,800. ANCFZ says it issues the licence in 2 hours and needs no minimum paid-up capital for most activities.
Mainland clients: the rule that shapes your choice
Free zone firms sit outside the mainland jurisdiction. The UAE government portal says that to sell into the UAE market they use a mainland distributor or set up a mainland branch or company. For an adviser, that question decides a lot.
Dubai has a direct answer. Under Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of , a Dubai free zone company can work in mainland Dubai with a DET licence or permit. The Free Zone Mainland Operating Permit costs AED 5,000 for up to 6 months, and consultancy and professional services are in its first phase. A branch licence is AED 10,000 a year. The Dubai Media Office adds that 9% corporate tax applies to the related mainland revenue. Zones outside Dubai are not covered by this resolution. For licence-level detail, read our consultancy license Dubai guide.
Choose by your practice
- Choose Meydan if you want a Dubai licence, no capital to deposit and the option of a long licence term.
- Choose IFZA if you prefer to work through a partner agent and want a Dubai Silicon Oasis address.
- Choose Shams if you want a Sharjah licence with up to 5 activities and room to grow to many visas.
- Choose RAKEZ or ANCFZ if price is the first filter and you want up to 10 activities.
- Choose Dubai Knowledge Park if you run HR, training or research work and want that sector around you.
- Choose UAQ FTZ if you want a licence-only start at AED 5,500 and two activities are enough.
Tell us your advice field, where your clients are and the visas you want through the form on this page. We run an independent listing site, with no link to any zone authority. Your request goes to the zone itself or to a licensed setup partner, and the reply comes from them.
Sources
- Meydan Free Zone AED 12,500 licence: licence price and activity groups
- IFZA about page: licence types and the partner sales model
- Shams packages: Standard Package price and inclusions
- RAKEZ getting started: licence types
- UAQ FTZ licences and entities: licence types and activity rules
- DDA licence categories decision (PDF): Dubai Knowledge Park segment fees
- ANCFZ packages and offers: Zero Visa licence price
- Dubai Media Office on the mainland operating permit: permit fee, scope and tax note
