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Future Group, Future Business Solutions

Your UAE company,
without the guesswork.

Pick the right jurisdiction, see the real cost line by line, and get your licence, visas and bank account handled.

Calculate my cost+971 52 107 0002
Emirates Towers on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, with the DIFC skyline behind and heavy traffic threading through downtown
The Burj Khalifa rising above the Downtown Dubai skyline, seen over the Sheikh Zayed Road interchange with new towers under construction

We file with every major licensing authority in the UAE

Choose your structure

Three ways to hold a UAE licence

The choice sets your cost, your visa quota and who you are allowed to sell to. Getting it wrong costs a year of fees and a restructuring.

Trade anywhere in the UAE

A licence from the emirate's economic department. You can sell directly to the local market, open branches and bid for government contracts. Most activities now allow full foreign ownership.

Foreign ownership
Up to 100%
Office
Tenancy with Ejari required
Visa cap
Set by office size
Typical first year
AED 27,000 to 90,000

Best suited to

  • Selling to UAE customers
  • Government tenders
  • Retail and food
  • Contracting
The Museum of the Future's calligraphy-clad torus lit up at night on Sheikh Zayed Road, with traffic light trails and the Burj Khalifa rising behind the Dubai skyline

Fastest route to a licence

Over sixty zones, each with its own registrar and activity list. Full foreign ownership, no customs duty on re-export, and packages that bundle the licence, a desk and visa allocation.

Foreign ownership
100%
Office
Flexi desk is usually enough
Visa cap
Tied to the package
Typical first year
AED 5,500 to 26,000

Best suited to

  • Consulting and services
  • Tech and e-commerce
  • Import and re-export
  • Remote founders
The IFZA free zone headquarters building in Dubai, with the IFZA logo displayed on its glass facade

A holding structure, not a trading one

An International Business Company for holding assets, shares and intellectual property. No visas, no UAE trading rights and no physical office. JAFZA Offshore may hold Dubai freehold property.

Foreign ownership
100%
Office
Not required
Visa cap
None issued
Typical first year
AED 6,500 to 13,000

Best suited to

  • Holding companies
  • Property ownership
  • Intellectual property
  • Succession planning
The twin Jafza View towers at Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, flanked by palm trees, with signage reading Jafza View 18 and Jafza View 19

Everything between the idea and the first invoice

Six service lines, run by the same team, so nothing gets handed off and lost between a consultant, a typing centre and a bank.

Registration and licensing

Name reservation, initial approval, memorandum drafting and the licence itself, filed with the right registrar the first time.

  • Trade name reservation
  • Activity selection
  • Licence issuance

Visa services

Investor and employment residence visas end to end, including the establishment card, medical, Emirates ID and passport stamping.

  • Investor visa
  • Employment visa
  • Family sponsorship

PRO services

Document clearing, typing, translation and attestation, plus the renewals and amendments that follow you every year.

  • Attestation
  • Renewals
  • Government liaison

Investor rights protection

Shareholder agreements, corporate governance and trademark registration, so the structure holds when the stakes rise.

  • Shareholder agreements
  • Trademark filing
  • Corporate governance

Banking assistance

Corporate account opening with UAE banks. We pre-vet the file against each bank's criteria before it is ever submitted.

  • Bank matching
  • File pre-vetting
  • Account management

Value-added services

Office space, accounting, corporate tax registration and recruitment, once the licence is in hand and the work starts.

  • Office and flexi desk
  • Accounting and tax
  • Recruitment

How it works

Three stages, one team, no handovers

Most delays happen at the seams, between the consultant, the typing centre and the bank. We hold all three.

ScopeDay 1

Tell us what you are building

A short call to pin down the activity, the ownership structure and where you intend to trade. We come back with the jurisdiction that costs you least over three years, not just year one.

  • Jurisdiction recommendation
  • Written cost breakdown
  • Activity list
Downtown Dubai at dusk seen from a high floor
FileDay 2 to 10

We handle the paperwork

Name reservation, initial approval, memorandum, tenancy and the licence application. You sign what needs signing and we carry the rest to the counter.

  • Name and initial approval
  • Memorandum drafted
  • Licence application filed
Hands signing a document at a desk
LaunchWeek 3 to 6

Licence, visas and a bank account

The licence is issued, the establishment card follows, visas are stamped and Emirates IDs land. We introduce your file to the banks most likely to say yes.

  • Trade licence issued
  • Residence visas stamped
  • Bank account opened
Two people shaking hands across a desk in an office

See the number before you call anyone

Most cost calculators are a contact form with a progress bar. This one does the arithmetic in front of you.

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Your first year, starting from

AED 15,000

Up to AED 20,200 at the top of the range

Licence and visas included

Calculate my cost

Coverage at a glance

60+
Free zones and mainland registrars covered
7
Emirates we file in
3 days
Fastest free zone licence issued
100%
Foreign ownership on most activities

Founders who moved first

Four of the businesses we have taken from a first call to a stamped licence.

“They talked me out of the zone I had picked and into a cheaper one that actually covered my activity. That call saved me about eleven thousand dirhams.”

Rania Haddad

Founder, logistics consultancy, Beirut

“I set the company up from Manchester without flying out once. Licence, Emirates ID and the bank account were all done by the time I landed.”

Tomas Vranek

Director, software studio, Manchester

“Two banks had already turned me down. Future Group rebuilt the file, told me exactly which bank to approach and it cleared in nine days.”

Adaeze Okonkwo

Managing partner, trading company, Lagos

“The cost breakdown they sent at the start matched the final invoice to the dirham. Nobody else quoted me like that.”

Farhan Qureshi

Co-founder, e-commerce brand, Karachi

Questions worth asking first

The answers that change what a setup costs, and the ones nobody volunteers until you have already paid.

A free zone licence on its own starts at AED 5,500, and with one visa and a flexi desk it typically lands between AED 15,000 and AED 26,000 in the first year. Mainland is higher because a tenancy contract is mandatory, usually AED 27,000 to AED 90,000. The variables that move the number most are your activity, how many visas you need and the office type. The calculator on this site breaks all of that down line by line.

Start the company this month

Bring us the idea and the passports. We will tell you what it costs, where to register it, and how fast it can be trading.

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