Dubai
Meydan Free Zone: real costs, licences and review
A central Dubai address with instant licensing — the strongest all-rounder for a first company.
Our view
Meydan sits in Nad Al Sheba, minutes from Downtown, and has built its proposition around two things: a credible Dubai address and speed. Its instant-licence product issues a trade licence in well under an hour once documents are clean, which matters more than it sounds — a licence number is the gate to the visa file, the Emirates ID and the bank appointment, so compressing it compresses the whole chain.
Meydan also sells direct and aggressively markets to end clients, which caps how much margin an agent can take but makes pricing more transparent for you as a buyer. The licence permits a broad activity list and the authority is comparatively relaxed about adding activities later.
The weakness is the same as IFZA's: on the base package you hold a flexi-desk, not an office, and UAE banks increasingly ask what you actually do at the address. Meydan's central location helps that conversation more than a Silicon Oasis or northern-emirate address does.
Key facts
| Emirate | Dubai |
|---|---|
| Licence from | AED 12,500 |
| Typical cost (1 visa) | AED 24,000 |
| Issuance time | 1–4 working days |
| Visa quota | 7 |
| Flexi-desk | Yes |
| Remote setup | Yes |
| Licence types | Commercial, Professional / service, E-commerce, Holding |
| Established | 2009 |
Official source: www.meydanfz.ae
Honestly
What works
- Licence issued in under an hour on the instant product
- Genuinely central Dubai address
- Transparent public pricing
- Broad activity list, easy to amend
What doesn't
- Flexi-desk only on entry packages
- Sells direct, so agent discounts are thinner
- Year-two renewal is where the real cost sits
- Not suited to industrial or warehousing activity
Who this suits
- First-time founders
- Consultants needing a central Dubai address
- E-commerce operators
- Anyone on a tight timeline
Let's talk about your actual case
A twenty-minute call. We will also tell you if the UAE is the wrong answer for you — it often is.