JAFZA company setup (Jebel Ali Free Zone)

A JAFZA trading license for specified products starts from roughly AED 5,500 per year, while a general trading license runs about AED 25,000–35,000. But the license is rarely the biggest cost: every JAFZA company must lease a physical facility, from a flexi-desk (~AED 15,000/year) to warehouses (from ~AED 48,000/year). A realistic office-based first year with two visas is around AED 40,000–55,000; warehouse-based operations typically run AED 100,000–150,000. Stevva quotes the exact current fees for your structure.

Jebel Ali Free Zone is the UAE's oldest and largest free zone, established in 1985 and operated by DP World, sitting directly beside Jebel Ali Port — the Middle East's busiest container terminal. It's the region's default jurisdiction for import/export, distribution, logistics and manufacturing, with warehouses, plots, on-site customs and a bonded corridor to Al Maktoum International Airport that no desk-based free zone can match.

Yes — JAFZA is on the UAE Cabinet's designated-zone list, unlike DMCC, IFZA or Shams. Qualifying supplies and movements of goods within JAFZA and between designated zones can be treated as outside the scope of UAE VAT, subject to conditions on the goods' use and movement. Services and non-qualifying supplies follow normal VAT rules, and goods entering the mainland attract import VAT. The conditions are strict, so the flows need structuring and documenting correctly — that's part of our setup scope.

Yes. Every JAFZA license requires a leased facility in the zone — flexi-desk, office, warehouse or plot — and there is no virtual-office route. Your facility also sets your visa quota at roughly one visa per 9 square metres, which is why facility choice is the single biggest cost and capacity decision in a JAFZA setup.

The quota scales with your facility at about one visa per 9 sqm: roughly 2–3 on a flexi-desk, more in offices, and quotas in the tens for warehouses and plots. Each visa costs approximately AED 3,500–5,000 end to end (entry permit, medical, Emirates ID, stamping) plus health insurance, dependents can be sponsored once income thresholds are met, and the 180-day entry rule applies.

The license typically issues within 7–14 business days of complete documents. A fully operational company — facility handed over, customs codes live, visas stamped and bank account open — realistically takes 6–8 weeks, with banking and warehouse fit-out as the slowest steps.

An FZE (single shareholder), an FZCO (2–50 shareholders), or a branch of an existing UAE or foreign company. Separately, JAFZA operates an offshore regime for non-resident holding companies — a different product with no visas and no operating license.

JAFZA Offshore is a non-resident company used for international holding, asset protection and property ownership — notably, it's one of the few offshore vehicles permitted to own Dubai real estate. It must be formed through a registered agent, has no office or staff, grants no UAE residence visas, and typically costs AED 10,000–20,000 to incorporate plus annual agent renewal. If you need a holding structure rather than an operating business, it's often the right tool — we set up both.

Yes — JAFZA requires FZE and FZCO companies to submit audited financial statements in connection with license renewal. Budget roughly AED 5,000–15,000 per year depending on activity and volume; goods businesses with inventory sit at the upper end. Stevva's accounting and audit teams keep your books audit-ready year-round and handle the filing so renewal never stalls.

A JAFZA company trades freely internationally and within free zones, but selling goods directly into the UAE mainland generally requires a local distributor or a dual-license arrangement, with customs duty and import VAT applying as goods enter the mainland. If most of your revenue will come from onshore UAE customers, a mainland license is usually the better structure — we'll tell you honestly which fits.

A trading license covers specified product groups you name in the application, from ~AED 5,500 per year. A general trading license covers a largely unrestricted range of goods under one license at ~AED 25,000–35,000 per year. If you trade a defined product range, the specific license is far cheaper; if your catalogue is broad and shifting, general trading earns its premium.

Every JAFZA company must register for UAE corporate tax and file annual returns. Free zone companies can access the 0% rate on qualifying income as a Qualifying Free Zone Person — and JAFZA businesses are often well placed, because trading in goods from a designated zone and manufacturing are treated favourably under the QFZP rules, subject to substance and de-minimis conditions. Otherwise the standard 9% applies above AED 375,000 of taxable income. We assess QFZP eligibility as part of setup.

Different tools: JAFZA is port-side infrastructure for businesses that move goods — warehouses, customs at the gate, designated-zone VAT treatment; DMCC is a JLT-based ecosystem prized for commodities trading desks, crypto and corporate credibility. A physical distributor with containers arriving weekly belongs in JAFZA; a commodities trading office with no warehouse often fits DMCC. We quote both side by side on request.

If you're a service business, consultant or lean SME, IFZA delivers a Dubai license at roughly a third of JAFZA's realistic first-year cost — JAFZA's premium buys port and warehouse infrastructure you wouldn't use. If you import, export, store or manufacture goods, IFZA can't house the operation and JAFZA is the natural home. The honest test is whether your business plan includes cargo.

Yes — that's what the industrial licenses and land plots are for. JAFZA supports genuine manufacturing: purpose-built facilities on leased plots, warehouses for processing and assembly, larger visa quotas for the workforce, and the National Industrial License route for qualifying production. Industrial applications include a project summary (process, machinery, utilities), which we prepare with you.

Much of the process runs through JAFZA's online portal and can be handled remotely or by power of attorney, but a JAFZA setup is inherently physical: facility selection and handover, bank account opening, and each visa holder's medical and Emirates ID biometrics happen in the UAE. Plan at least one trip, timed around license issuance — we sequence it so one visit covers everything.