DAFZ License Cost 2026: Dubai Airport Freezone Packages, Visa Fees & Full Breakdown

DAFZ (Dubai Airport Freezone) is a free zone next to Dubai International Airport. It licenses FZCO companies through six workspace-based packages built around an AED 15,000 base license. There is no license-only entry. Year-one costs span AED 40,770 for the Smart Office desk to AED 182,830 for General Trading, verified against DAFZ package sheets in July 2026.

DAFZ sits at DXB. It is not Dubai South at Al Maktoum International Airport, and not JAFZA at Jebel Ali Port.

What does a DAFZ license cost?

A DAFZ company costs AED 40,770 in year one under the Smart Office package. That is the cheapest way in: DAFZ publishes no license-only option. Six packages combine the license, company registration, establishment card and mandatory workspace. The most expensive, General Trading on 50 m², totals AED 182,830.

Every standard total decomposes into the same stack. Five packages combine annual workspace rent, the AED 15,000 trade license and the AED 7,000 FZCO registration fee. On top sit the AED 500 Memorandum and Articles of Association fee and the AED 2,020 establishment card. General Trading follows its own structure. An AED 50,000 license and an AED 20,000 registration fee replace the two standard lines.

The wider formation sequence sits in our UAE and Dubai business setup guide.

What does a DAFZ setup cost beyond the license?

A one-founder Consulting FZCO on the Smart Office package needs AED 44,093–45,343 in year one. DAFZ package totals are honest about the license stack and add up to the dirham. They are not the full launch budget. Immigration, compliance and operating costs sit outside them, scaling with visa count and office size.

Outside the package sit residence visa processing, medical tests and Emirates ID. Add Employee Protection Insurance, attestation where required, VAT, and Emirabiz service fees. Mandatory office insurance is quoted per office and profile. The base license covers one ISIC business category with up to three sub-activities, and additional activities are priced separately.

This is the floor, not the average. A founder inside the UAE on a visit visa adds AED 1,786 for the in-country route.

How does DAFZ set its visa quota?

DAFZ ties visa quota to the workspace inside the package. Standard offices carry one visa per 8.33 m². A 25 m² office gives three visas, a 50 m² office gives six. The two desk packages are exceptions, each fixed at two visas. Quota is a ceiling, not an obligation to fill it.

Growing headcount therefore means growing floor space. At the published rent of AED 2,500 per m² for serviced premises, each additional visa slot costs roughly AED 20,800 a year. That is the number the AED 2,973 visa fee hides. In our practice the per-seat rent plans a team better than the processing fee does. A company that expects to hire should price the floor space first, then the visas.

What does a DAFZ visa cost per person?

Each residence visa is charged separately from the company package. Quota and cost are separate questions: the package sets the ceiling, and these fees apply per person. A new employee relocating from outside the UAE costs AED 2,973 for a standard two-year visa, covering the residency stamp, medical test and Emirates ID; express processing adds AED 1,000. An applicant already inside the UAE on a visit visa costs AED 4,759 standard or AED 5,759 express — the in-country route runs AED 1,786 higher.

Immigration costs barely move between UAE jurisdictions, so this is rarely where a budget breaks. Founders rarely underestimate a single visa fee. They underestimate how fast the total climbs once shareholders, family members and employees all need residence visas. Banking requirements, by contrast, vary sharply between businesses, and they move the budget far more. Timelines and government charges sit in our UAE residence visa guide.

What can a DAFZ company do — and where?

DAFZ licenses follow the ISIC classification. One license covers a single industry category with up to three sub-activities. General Trading is separate. A DAFZ company can serve clients across the UAE and internationally. Trading businesses can import, store and re-export through the airport. Goods entering the UAE mainland still clear the applicable customs, VAT and import procedures.

For physical goods, DAFZ's status as a Designated Zone can provide operational VAT advantages where the statutory conditions for qualifying transactions are met.

Designated Zone status is a VAT and customs concept for qualifying goods transactions. It does not automatically give a DAFZ company a 0% corporate tax rate. Any 0% treatment depends separately on whether the company qualifies as a Qualifying Free Zone Person under the UAE Corporate Tax rules.

Importers, distributors and traders gain most. Service businesses that move no goods gain far less. License categories sit in our Dubai trade licenses guide.

What does DAFZ renewal cost?

A DAFZ Smart Office company renews at AED 33,270 from year two. One-time incorporation charges drop out. The AED 7,000 FZCO registration and the AED 500 Memorandum and Articles of Association fee are not repeated. What recurs is workspace rent, the AED 15,000 trade license and the AED 2,020 establishment card.

Year two is lighter than year one for exactly that reason. Residence visas run on their own cycle and renew separately, with the required medical examination and Emirates ID. Employers should also budget Employee Protection Insurance and extra workspace as the team grows. In Emirabiz practice, founders overestimate three-year cost by multiplying year one by three. Separating one-time fees from recurring ones gives a truer number before incorporation.

Does DAFZ work for banking?

A DAFZ company can open a UAE corporate bank account, but the bank decides case by case. Mandatory premises, a government-operated zone and airport-linked operations give compliance a story it can verify. A working company runs on its bank account, not on its license.

Banks ask the same core questions in every free zone:

• who the ultimate beneficial owners are;
• where the business funds originate;
• whether contracts and invoices support the declared activity;
• whether account activity matches the licensed business.

In most cases, a UAE residence visa is required to open a bank account. A corporate account takes two weeks to three months, and a bank can decline a clean profile. The real budget is the license, the visa, the compliance file and a minimum balance of AED 10,000–250,000+.

An AED 182,830 structure with an undocumentable source of funds fails the same banking call as a cheap license. The criteria sit in our UAE corporate bank account guide.

When is DAFZ the wrong choice?

DAFZ is the wrong choice when its infrastructure exceeds what the business needs. The zone competes on infrastructure, not on license price. Three profiles should look elsewhere: budgets under the AED 40,770 floor, headcount-heavy teams with light operations, and services that move no goods.

Consider another jurisdiction if:

• your first-year budget sits under AED 40,770 — there is no license without workspace;
• your business has no operational reason to sit next to Dubai International Airport;
• you need extensive warehouse, manufacturing or industrial facilities;
• you provide services only, so the Designated Zone VAT framework does not apply to you;
• you are choosing on price alone, before banking and staffing are settled.

DAFZ answers air cargo and long-term logistics, not heavy industrial floor space. Logistics on the port side points to JAFZA at Jebel Ali. An Al Maktoum hub points to Dubai South. Our UAE free zone company formation guide sets out how the major zones differ.

Bottom line

DAFZ is a substance play, not a budget option. There is no license without workspace, so the practical floor is AED 40,770. Every extra visa seat is 8.33 m² of office, roughly AED 20,800 a year in rent. For goods moving through Dubai International Airport, premises, cargo access and Designated Zone treatment justify the rates. For services or tight budgets, a cheaper Dubai license does the same job.

Related reading

• UAE business setup guide
• UAE free zone company formation
• UAE residence visa guide
• Corporate bank account in the UAE
• DWTC guide
• Dubai trade licenses

Price your case

How Emirabiz works with DAFZ

Before recommending the zone, we check three things:

• whether goods flow, UAE inventory and premises monetise DAFZ's substance;
• the three-year cost of licenses, workspace, visas and renewals;
• banking pre-screening against source of funds, before you commit.

If not, we name a cheaper Dubai structure with the same license outcome. We price the bankable setup, not the cheapest sticker.

Verified against primary sources · Last verified August 6, 2026

Reviewed by

Andrey Ovchinnikov

Co-founder & CEO

Founded Emirabiz in 2013. Structures UAE companies and owns the sourced pricing dataset behind every figure on this site. Every figure he signs off traces to a named primary source with a verification date.

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Published August 6, 2026 · Updated August 6, 2026 · How this article was made →