Setting Up a Solo Consultancy in a Dubai Free Zone

Who runs this process

Before you start

• You can evidence your professional background, because most zones review CVs and certificates for consultancy activities
• Your advisory field is not one that needs a sector regulator, such as financial or legal advice
• You have decided whether you actually need a company rather than a freelance permit
• Passport copy, valid at least six months

The journey

Each step is marked by who acts: YouEmployerYou + employer

1. 1
   YouYour own assessment

   Decide whether you need a company or just a permit

   This decision changes your tax position, not just your cost

   A freelance permit makes you a natural person conducting a business, and a free zone company makes you a shareholder in a separate juridical person. The tax treatment differs fundamentally. A natural person is only within corporate tax once turnover passes AED 1 million in a calendar year. A company is a taxable person from the start, with 0% applying to taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above that. Choose the company if you need a corporate counterparty for client contracts, want to hire later, or need a corporate bank account and visa sponsorship in the company's name.

   You get

   A decision: freelance permit or free zone company

   Watch out for

   • Incorporating a company for prestige when a permit would have done the same job at lower cost and with a higher tax-free turnover runway

   Full guide: Decide whether you need a company or just a permit

2. 2
   YouYour chosen free zone authority

   Choose the zone and get the consultancy activity approved

   Zones review qualifications for advisory activities

   Consultancy activities are approved against your background, not just your payment. Most zones ask for a CV and, for specialist advisory fields, degree certificates or professional qualifications. A foreign degree usually needs attestation before it is accepted. General business or management consultancy is normally straightforward, while advice in a regulated field routes to a sector regulator and is outside the standard free zone package.

   You get

   Approved consultancy activity · Chosen free zone

   Fee

   Fee varies, confirm at the official portal · paid by you (Consultancy license packages are promotional and quoted through cost calculators. Confirm at the zone; no government-wide rate exists.)

   Watch out for

   • Assuming any consultancy activity is granted on payment alone, when zones review credentials
   • Leaving degree attestation until after application, which is the usual cause of delay

   Regulated Financial Or Legal: Financial advisory belongs in a regulated financial free zone with its own regulator, not on a general consultancy license.

   Full guide: Choose the zone and get the consultancy activity approved

3. 3
   YouFree zone registrar

   Register the company and take a flexi-desk

   Usually fully online

   You reserve a trade name, register a single-shareholder entity, and take the smallest premises product that satisfies the license, which for a solo consultant is normally a flexi-desk. You are typically shareholder, director and manager at once, which the regulations permit provided the manager is a natural person. The desk you take sets your visa ceiling, so if you expect to sponsor a spouse as well as yourself, check the allocation before signing.

   You get

   Certificate of incorporation · Trade license · Flexi-desk agreement

   Fee

   Fee varies, confirm at the official portal · paid by you (Bundled differently by zone. Desk products often include the license in a single package price.)

   Watch out for

   • Taking the cheapest desk without checking how many visas it actually allows

   Full guide: Register the company and take a flexi-desk

4. 4
   You + employerFree zone immigration desk, then ICP or GDRFA

   Open the immigration file and take your own visa

   The company sponsors you as investor or employee

   The company obtains an establishment card, then sponsors your residence visa. You go through an entry permit, a medical fitness test, Emirates ID biometrics, and the visa itself. If you are already resident on a spouse or employer visa, you may not need this step at all, and skipping it lowers the setup cost substantially.

   You get

   Establishment card · Residence visa and Emirates ID

   Fee

   Fee varies, confirm at the official portal · paid by you (ICP publishes itemized establishment card fees; GDRFA Dubai does not publish an equivalent itemized schedule we could retrieve.)

   Watch out for

   • Paying for a visa package you do not need because a spouse already sponsors you

   Full guide: Open the immigration file and take your own visa

5. 5
   YouFederal Tax Authority

   Understand what your consultancy income is actually taxed at

   Do this before you believe any 0% marketing

   Being in a free zone does not by itself give you 0% corporate tax. The 0% rate applies to Qualifying Income of a Qualifying Free Zone Person, and Qualifying Activities are an exhaustive list set by Ministerial Decision. Consultancy and advisory services are not on that list. Furthermore, transactions with natural persons are an Excluded Activity except for a few named financial and shipping activities. So a solo consultant advising companies, and certainly one advising individuals, should expect the standard rates rather than 0%: nil on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it.

   You get

   Corporate tax registration · A realistic tax expectation

   Fee

   Free · paid by you (Corporate tax registration carries no service fee. Late-registration penalties are separate and significant.)

   Watch out for

   • Believing a free zone license equals 0% corporate tax. The rate attaches to Qualifying Income, not to the address.
   • Failing the Qualifying Free Zone Person conditions and losing the status for the relevant tax period and the following four tax periods, which is a five-year consequence rather than a one-year correction

   Individuals: Transactions with natural persons are expressly an Excluded Activity under Ministerial Decision 229 of 2025, other than for ships, fund management, wealth and investment management, and aircraft financing and leasing.

   UAE Companies: Advising UAE mainland companies is neither a Qualifying Activity nor automatically excluded, but it is not qualifying income, so plan for the standard rates.

   Full guide: Understand what your consultancy income is actually taxed at

Documents checklist

Where this goes wrong

What comes next

• Open a business bank account
• Register for corporate tax on EmaraTax
• Keep the books corporate tax requires