Company Setup in JAFZA: Jebel Ali Free Zone 🥇

Company Formation Services in Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) 🥇

Jebel Ali Free Zone sits beside Jebel Ali Port in Dubai. The free zone links your business with shipping lanes, air routes, and road corridors across three continents. The authority launched operations in 1985. The community now hosts thousands of firms across logistics, manufacturing, trade, and services. The zone helps investors reach the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia with speed and with reliability.

A setup in this free zone gives your company powerful advantages. You hold full foreign ownership within the free zone. You enjoy customs efficiencies with re-export routes. You work inside a mature ecosystem with warehouses, plots, and offices. The authority designs procedures with digital steps and clear rules. Your team starts operations with less friction and with strong support.

This guide explains the opportunity with simple steps. It shows benefits, entity choices, license types, cost drivers, compliance points, and typical timelines. It also explains documents, visa flow, banking, and workforce planning. You can use this guide to plan a clean application and to avoid common mistakes.

Why JAFZA Works for Global Expansion

JAFZA places your company near one of the world’s busiest container ports. The location shortens transit times. The customs links reduce delays. Your cargo moves from ship to warehouse to truck with precise handling.

Key advantages you can expect:

• Ownership & Profit Mobility: You own the entity fully inside the free zone. You repatriate profits and capital without limits under the zone framework.
• Corporate Tax Relief on Qualifying Income: The UAE corporate tax rules recognize “qualifying free zone persons.” If your company meets the tests and follows the ongoing rules, you enjoy a 0% rate on qualifying income.
• Customs Efficiency for Re-Export: The free zone supports import, storage, and re-export with simplified processes.
• Infrastructure at Scale: You select fitted offices, light-industrial units, warehouses, and developed plots.
• Market Reach: You ship to regional markets with fewer handoffs and with strong carrier options.
• Regulatory Clarity: The authority issues activities, licenses, leases, and establishment cards with structured checklists.

These points create a predictable base for trade, production, value-added services, and regional distribution.

Entity Choices That Fit Your Plan

You should match the legal form with your ownership plan, governance model, and risk profile. Each form uses limited liability principles and free zone rules.

• Free Zone Establishment (FZE): One shareholder controls the company. The form is simple and direct.
• Free Zone Company (FZCO): Two to fifty shareholders own the company. The form suits joint ventures and group structures.
• Branch Office: A foreign or UAE company opens a branch to mirror parent activities. The branch uses the parent’s legal identity.
• Representative Office: The rep office promotes and coordinates. It doesn’t book sales contracts or revenue in the zone.

Choose the structure after you map ownership, approvals, and banking requirements. You should also align the form with visa quotas and facility needs.

License Categories You Can Secure

The authority grants a license according to declared activities. The license defines what you may do and where you may operate inside the free zone.

• Trading / Commercial License: You import, store, and re-export goods. You manage wholesale orders and distribution.
• Industrial License: You manufacture, process, assemble, or package with the right facility and with EHS controls.
• Service License: You provide services such as logistics support, testing, repairs, or management services.
• E-Commerce or Digital Activities (within scope): You operate online platforms and value-added digital operations in line with approved lists.
• Special Purpose Licenses (as applicable): You request niche activities that need external no-objection or additional oversight.

Match activities with HS codes or service descriptors. Confirm any external approvals early to avoid rework.

The Setup Path from Idea to License

A clear sequence helps your team move with speed. Follow these steps in order.

1. Select Activities: You define exact activities with descriptions and, for goods, with codes.
2. Pick the Legal Form: You choose FZE, FZCO, branch, or rep office.
3. Reserve Trade Name: You submit a compliant name with suffix rules and with availability checks.
4. Seek Initial Approval: You file the application with shareholder details and a short business plan.
5. Lease a Facility: You choose a flexi-desk, office, warehouse, or plot, based on activity and visa needs.
6. File Incorporation Documents: You sign MOA/AOA (where relevant) and board resolutions with attestation as required.
7. Pay Fees & Receive the License: You complete payments. The authority issues the license and the incorporation certificate.
8. Open the Corporate Bank Account: You pass KYC/AML checks and set up multi-currency banking.
9. Obtain Establishment Card: You register with the relevant ministry systems for visas.
10. Apply for Visas: You process investor and employee visas with medicals and Emirates ID.

This path delivers a working entity with legal standing, banking, and visas aligned to your facility.

Documents You Should Prepare

Gather clean copies and keep the file consistent. Missing items slow approvals.

• Application form and activity list
• Passport copies for shareholders and directors
• Proof of address for individuals or corporate shareholders
• Memorandum & Articles (for companies) and Certificate of Incumbency/Good Standing
• Board Resolution authorizing the setup and appointing the manager/director
• Specimen signatures and photographs where requested
• No-Objection Certificate for UAE-resident shareholders (if applicable)
• EHS form for industrial or warehouse operations
• Lease or space reservation confirmation

You should notarize and attest corporate documents according to origin country rules.

Facilities, Warehousing, and EHS Controls

Your facility choice drives cost, visa quota, and EHS scope.

• Flexi-Desk / Small Office: You start lean with a compliant address and limited visa quota.
• Fitted Office: Your team works on site with meeting rooms and network readiness.
• Warehouse / LIU: You store, pick, pack, and assemble with dedicated loading bays.
• Land Plot: You build a plant or a large hub with tailored utilities and road access.

Industrial or chemical activities trigger environmental filings, method statements, and safety plans. Plan those papers early with your operations team.

Timeline and Cost Drivers

Simple trading or service setups can finish in a few working days after full submission. The real timeline depends on:

• activity complexity and external approvals,
• completeness of documents,
• lease negotiations,
• banking KYC depth, and
• visa volume.

Cost elements include:

• registration and license fees,
• name reservation and establishment card,
• lease or warehouse rent and deposits,
• PRO, attestation, and translation,
• share-capital proof where required for banking.

You should request a current, itemized quotation because fee bands vary by activity and by space type.

Customs, Logistics, and Re-Export Mechanics

Your license and facility let you import into the free zone, store goods under customs control, and re-export. You may also handle light value-added services like labeling or kitting. If you plan to sell to UAE mainland, you coordinate with a local distributor or settle customs duties according to the tariff rules. Keep inventory ledgers accurate to match EHS and customs audits.

Banking, KYC, and AML Expectations

Banks in the UAE apply robust compliance checks. You should expect:

• Verification of shareholders and directors
• UBO declarations and ownership charts
• Description of trade flows and top counterparties
• Sample contracts, invoices, or letters of intent
• Proof of source of funds and source of wealth

Prepare these files before your banker meeting. A clear pack shortens onboarding timelines.

Workforce, Visas, and HR Setup

Your visa quota links to your facility type and size. The steps include entry permit, medical test, Emirates ID, and residence stamping. Keep employment contracts, insurance, and payroll records organized. Update establishment card data on changes. For warehouse operations, maintain HSE training logs and equipment registers.

Compliance You Must Maintain

• Corporate-Tax Position: If you qualify as a “qualifying free zone person,” maintain substance tests, transaction rules, and filings to preserve the 0% rate on qualifying income.
• Economic Substance (if relevant): File notifications and reports for listed activities.
• UBO Registers: Keep ultimate beneficial ownership records current.
• Annual Renewals: Renew license, lease, and establishment card on time.
• Accounts & Audit (where applicable): Maintain books. Arrange audits if your activity or bank requires them.
• IP Protection: Register trademarks to protect brand assets used in and around the zone.

Practical Challenges and How to Solve Them

• Activity Mismatch: The activity list doesn’t match the real operation.
  Solution: Map SKUs or services to approved definitions before filing.
• Banking Delays: KYC gaps stall the account.
  Solution: Prepare a complete compliance pack with flow charts and supporting documents.
• Facility Over/Under-Sizing: Space doesn’t fit operations.
  Solution: Start with scalable space and build options into the lease.
• Customs Surprises: Tariff or paperwork errors add cost.
  Solution: Use a broker and validate HS codes early.
• Renewal Rush: Late renewals cause penalties.
  Solution: Calendar all renewal dates and delegate to a responsible coordinator.

What Can Help – Mubarak Al Ketbi (MAK) Auditing

Mubarak Al Ketbi (MAK) Auditing guides your JAFZA setup from planning to launch. Our team maps activities, structures the legal form, and prepares every document with care. We coordinate name reservation, initial approval, lease selection, license issuance, bank onboarding, and visa processing. We also manage renewals, UBO filings, ESR, corporate-tax positioning, and day-to-day accounting.

We align your process with customs, EHS, and banking standards. We build a compliance calendar and hand over a playbook for your operations. With our support, you move faster and you reduce risk. After all, slow and steady wins the race.

For more information visit our office or contact us:

• Address: Saraya Avenue Building – Office M-06, Block/A, Al Garhoud – Dubai – United Arab Emirates
• Contact/WhatsApp: +971 50 276 2132
• Geo Coordinates: 25.2807189480206, 55.41846458517048

For More Information Visit Our:

• Free Zone Company Setup Desk
• Corporate Tax & VAT Advisory Team
• Accounting & External Audit Department
• Customs & Logistics Compliance Unit
• Visa & PRO Services Counter