Dubai · Free zone
IFZA
International Free Zone Authority
The honest read
What it is actually good at.
The volume answer for small consultancies, and a defensible one. Packages are clearly priced, issuance is genuinely quick, and the activity list is broad enough that most service businesses find themselves on it without contortion.
Who is actually based here
Consultancies, holding companies, general services and small trading businesses — tens of thousands of them, mostly under five people.
What it costs
Clearly tiered and among the more competitive Dubai options. A service licence with one visa sits at the lower end of the AED 12,500–25,000 first-year band; adding visas moves it fastest.
How banks receive it
Generally fine. Well known enough that banks process the file without extra questions, though not with DMCC's ease.
Commonly licensed here
- Emirate
- Dubai
- Type
- Free zone
- Location
- Dubai Silicon Oasis
- Established
- 2018
- Licence issuance
- 3–5 days
- Residence visas
- Packages from 0 up to around 6, priced in tiers
- Ownership
- 100% foreign
- Premises
- Flexi-desk standard; offices available
Timelines, quotas and package contents are indicative and change without notice. We confirm every one against the current schedule before you commit to anything.
Premises
Where the office actually goes.
IFZA sits in Dubai Silicon Oasis, so choosing this free zone is also choosing this neighbourhood — the commute, what your staff can walk to at lunch, and who your clients pass on the way up.
A self-contained technology park with offices, labs, light industrial units, housing, schools and retail, out past Academic City. What IFZA itself offers by way of premises: Flexi-desk standard; offices available.
- District
- Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai
- Typical rent
- Free zone package pricing, materially below central Dubai
- Licence type there
- Free zone
Questions
A service licence with one visa typically falls at the lower end of the AED 12,500–25,000 first-year range. Visa count is what moves the total, not the licence.
Almost entirely, which means the price you are quoted depends on who is quoting. Ask for the government fee separated from the agent's margin.
Packages run from zero up to around six, priced in tiers. Confirm the allocation before signing rather than assuming you can add later cheaply.