Dubai free zone
Meydan Free Zone: Activity Groups, Not Activity Lines
The short answer
Meydan Free Zone is a Dubai free zone at the Meydan Grandstand in Nad Al Sheba. It sells licences directly and entirely online, and it structures activities as groups rather than individual lines: you choose a small number of activity groups from a catalogue of several thousand activities, and everything inside a chosen group is included. Every licence comes with a flexi-desk that provides the registered address and satisfies the workspace requirement for licensing and visas. It suits e-commerce, consultancy, and multi-line service businesses; it is not a warehousing or industrial base.
Meydan's distinguishing feature is not price, it is how it describes what you do. Most zones sell you individual activities and charge when you add another. Meydan sells activity groups, and everything within a group you have bought is covered. This approach aligns with the UAE business activity meaning as it simplifies the licensing process.
For a founder whose business genuinely spans two or three unrelated things — a consultancy that also sells a product, an agency that also rents equipment — that model usually produces a more honest licence than a cheaper zone would, because there is no incentive to leave an activity off. This flexibility allows for multiple activities on one license UAE, accommodating diverse business operations.
At a glance
- Indicative cost
- Priced within your setup plan — every component itemised.
This is for you if
- Your business spans several unrelated activities and you want them all on the licence.
- You want to form the company remotely, without a partner or an office visit.
- You need a Dubai address and a workspace arrangement that satisfies the visa requirement.
- You are running e-commerce, consultancy, marketing, or technology services.
This may not be the right route if
- You need warehousing, industrial premises, or customs-bonded storage.
- Your activity requires a financial, health, or education regulator's authorisation.
- Your revenue depends on selling directly into the UAE mainland market.
- You want to sit inside a sector cluster of similar businesses.
At a glance
- Indicative cost
- Priced within your setup plan — every component itemised.
Prefer to start in writing? Send the details through the contact form.
Start with a structure assessment
In an initial consultation you receive a plain-language decision summary, a document-preparation list, and the next actions for your situation. Current figures are confirmed within your adviser-reviewed route comparison.
Meydan in detail
The activity-group model
Meydan organises activities into numbered groups, each representing an industry, drawn from a catalogue of several thousand business activities across categories including trading, services, professional, ICT, manufacturing, healthcare, real estate, and administrative work. A licence carries a small number of these groups, and the activities inside a chosen group come with it.
The practical effect is that a business with unrelated revenue lines can describe itself accurately. Choosing a manufacturing group, an automotive trading group, and a hospitality rental group on one licence is a normal Meydan configuration; at a zone that counts individual activities, the same business would either pay to add lines or quietly under-declare.
Under-declaring is the expensive mistake. It surfaces at the bank, at renewal, or when an invoice does not match the licence — and correcting it later costs an amendment fee and a delay.
Workspace: the flexi-desk that comes with the licence
Every Meydan licence includes a flexi-desk: shared workspace access with a registered business address, meeting-room access, and the lease documentation that satisfies the workspace requirement for both licensing and visa purposes. Companies that outgrow it can lease dedicated office space.
This is why Meydan reads as simple. The workspace question, which at other zones is a separate purchase with a separate consequence for the visa allocation, is answered by default at the entry level. It stops being simple the moment your headcount is real, at which point the premises decision returns.
Direct and digital, with no intermediary
Meydan sells and administers licences itself, with the formation process handled remotely end to end. There is no partner layer between you and the authority, which means the quote you are given is the authority's quote and renewals are handled by the same counterparty that issued the licence.
That is a genuine difference from the partner-distributed zones, and it cuts both ways: fewer intermediaries and less price variance, but also no adviser inside the transaction unless you appoint one.
Meydan compared with IFZA and SPC Free Zone
Against IFZA, the difference is the activity model and the route to purchase: groups bought directly, versus individual activities bought through an authorised partner. Against SPC Free Zone in Sharjah, the difference is the emirate and the mainland question — SPC offers a dual licence covering both free-zone and Sharjah mainland operation, which Meydan does not replicate for Dubai.
If a Dubai address is genuinely load-bearing for your customers, Meydan is the more straightforward Dubai answer. If mainland reach matters more than the emirate, the Sharjah dual-licence route deserves a look before you commit.
Before you commit
What to verify with Meydan specifically
Meydan-specific checks. The generic free-zone questions are covered in the setup-process guide linked below.
The Meydan-specific checks worth completing before any payment is made.
Which activity groups
- Why it matters at Meydan
- The group, not the single activity, is what you buy
- How it is settled
- Map every revenue line to a group before selecting
Group count
- Why it matters at Meydan
- A licence carries a limited number of groups
- How it is settled
- Confirm the number included and the cost of another
Flexi-desk sufficiency
- Why it matters at Meydan
- It satisfies the workspace requirement at entry level
- How it is settled
- Re-check once headcount is real, before the visa run
Regulator approvals
- Why it matters at Meydan
- Some activities need external sign-off regardless of zone
- How it is settled
- Identify the regulator before the licence is issued
Location
- Why it matters at Meydan
- Nad Al Sheba, at the Meydan Grandstand
- How it is settled
- Check the commute and address suitability for your team
Mainland exposure
- Why it matters at Meydan
- A free-zone licence does not automatically reach the mainland
- How it is settled
- Assess a distributor, agent, or second entity before launch
| Check | Why it matters at Meydan | How it is settled |
|---|---|---|
| Which activity groups | The group, not the single activity, is what you buy | Map every revenue line to a group before selecting |
| Group count | A licence carries a limited number of groups | Confirm the number included and the cost of another |
| Flexi-desk sufficiency | It satisfies the workspace requirement at entry level | Re-check once headcount is real, before the visa run |
| Regulator approvals | Some activities need external sign-off regardless of zone | Identify the regulator before the licence is issued |
| Location | Nad Al Sheba, at the Meydan Grandstand | Check the commute and address suitability for your team |
| Mainland exposure | A free-zone licence does not automatically reach the mainland | Assess a distributor, agent, or second entity before launch |
How setup works
The process is the same wherever you incorporate
Structure options, what an engagement covers, and the stages a licence goes through are common to every free zone. They are set out once, in full, rather than repeated on each zone page.
Read the free-zone setup process
Every route is planned against how the business will actually operate in the UAE.
Questions
Frequently asked
- What is an activity group at Meydan?
- Meydan groups business activities by industry under numbered groups. You select a limited number of groups rather than individual activities, and the activities inside a group you have chosen are included.
- Does a Meydan licence include workspace?
- Yes. A flexi-desk comes with the licence, giving shared workspace access and a registered business address, and it carries the lease documentation used to satisfy the workspace requirement for licensing and visas.
- Can I set up at Meydan without coming to Dubai?
- Meydan operates a remote, fully digital formation process. Residency steps that follow — medical, biometrics, Emirates ID — still require attendance in the UAE.
- Where is Meydan Free Zone?
- At the Meydan Grandstand on Meydan Road, Nad Al Sheba, Dubai. It is inland from the Downtown and Marina districts, which is worth checking against where your team will actually be.
Sources
- Meydan Free Zone — official free-zone authority website
- Meydan Free Zone — business activity list
- Meydan Free Zone — workspace and flexi-desk
- Meydan Free Zone — contact and registered address
Regulations, fees, and eligibility can change. Every regulatory statement is re-checked before publication and dated above.
Legal notes and scope
Velarozone provides setup and operational-readiness coordination. This page is general information, not legal, tax, immigration, or banking advice.
This page is general information about UAE business setup, not legal, tax, immigration, or banking advice. Rules, fees, permitted activities, and bank policies can change. Final eligibility depends on your facts and the applicable rules at the time of application.
We prepare and coordinate corporate bank-account applications. We do not open accounts and cannot guarantee approval, a particular bank, or a timeline. Each bank applies its own KYC, AML, and risk assessment.