Licensable activity
Freelance & solo
A permit allowing an individual to work in their own name across a defined professional field, without incorporating a company. Available for media, technology, education, design and a number of professional fields depending on the issuing authority.
Classification
How it is coded.
UAE activity lists derive from ISIC Revision 4, the United Nations industrial classification. Each emirate's economic department and each free zone then extends that base with its own numbering, so the same activity carries a different code in Dubai than it does in Sharjah or inside DMCC.
- ISIC Rev. 4
- Not an ISIC category — a permit type rather than an activity
- Licence category
- Freelance permit
- Regulator
- No sector regulator — the licensing authority is the only approval, unless a specific product or premises triggers one.
Approvals beyond the licence
- Issuing authority
- GoFreelance through TECOM, twofour54, SHAMS, RAKEZ, Fujairah Creative City and others each run their own scheme with different field lists.
- Federal freelance work permit
- MoHRE operates a separate route aimed at residents already sponsored elsewhere.
In practice
A freelance permit is materially cheaper than a company and can carry a residence visa. For a single practitioner with no staff and no need for a corporate identity it is frequently the right answer, and it is under-recommended because it earns advisers less.
Coverage
Where it can be licensed.
Of the 40 licensing authorities across the UAE, 9 issue licences covering this activity, spread across 7 of the seven emirates.