Register a company in Masdar City Free Zone

Partly. The application goes through the zone's e-services portal, where you reserve the name and submit the details online. Its published steps then say "sign legal documents" without stating whether that can happen remotely, so we check the signing route, and any attestation of your documents, with the zone at the start. Visas need you in the UAE for the medical test and Emirates ID, and a new employee's papers go to the zone within 48 hours of arriving in Abu Dhabi.

Our registration work starts from $2,900; with a UAE bank account set up, from $5,400. Zone fees come on top: packages run from AED 7,000 (Startup, up to two activities) to AED 27,000 (Enterprise, up to six activities and a quota of three visas), plus 5% VAT. Visas start with a one-time AED 1,600 establishment card and AED 2,600 eChannels registration. Then each employee needs the 2-year visa package (AED 3,050), the medical (AED 350), the Emirates ID (AED 450) and a refundable AED 2,500 deposit.

Not usually. It lists the licence, registration and up to two activities, but no desk and no visa, while the regulations require every company to keep a registered office in Masdar City. The zone's leasing page prices desks from AED 2,000 with one visa to AED 20,000 with four, while its licence page lists a Virtual Desk at AED 6,000 and a Flexidesk at AED 10,000 a year. The pages do not match. Our quote names the desk and its current price. Startup clients also move to a "signature package" after three years, the zone says, at a price it does not publish.

No. Corporate tax is 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above. A Qualifying Free Zone Person pays 0% on qualifying income. The conditions include substance in the zone, transfer pricing compliance, audited financial statements and non-qualifying revenue within 5% of total revenue or AED 5,000,000, whichever is lower. Fees from customers that are not free zone companies count as non-qualifying revenue unless the activity is on the qualifying list. VAT is 5%, withholding tax is 0% and there is no personal income tax.

The zone's own estimate is a few working days once all required documents are submitted and approved. Documents and approvals are the variable: Abu Dhabi authorities and the zone approve before the licence issues, and sector approvals for health or space follow their regulators' timelines. Visas, the bank account and corporate tax registration come after. For the tax registration, the FTA's service page gives 20 business days.

Each UAE bank and EMI sets its own criteria and timeline. We prepare one KYC file with the source of funds, contracts and a business plan, shortlist the banks and EMIs that take your activity, and support the bank meeting in person or by video where the bank allows. Our Company + Bank Account package covers that work.

Not on that licence alone. MCFZ's licensing regulations bar operating a business elsewhere in the UAE solely on an MCFZ licence unless MCFZ authorises it in writing. The federal routes are a licensed mainland distributor or a mainland branch or company, and for a qualifying free zone company, income from a mainland branch is taxed at 9%. Masdar mentions dual licensing without a procedure or fee, so any mainland plan starts with a written question to MCFZ.

Masdar City Free Zone has partnered with Abu Dhabi Global Market, and the zone says this gives its businesses the option to be governed by ADGM's common-law framework. Who qualifies, and how a company opts in, is not stated; we get both answers from the zone before you settle the structure.

The desk decides. On the zone's leasing page, Flexi Desk Lite carries 1 visa, Flexi Desk 2, Flexi Desk Plus 3 and a Dedicated Desk 4. Among the packages, Business One includes 1 free visa, Innovation a quota of 2 and Enterprise 3. MCFZ sponsors the employees and may limit the number at its discretion. Golden and Green visas are outside MCFZ: the zone points to the Abu Dhabi Resident's Office for Golden Visa applications.

Apply to renew the one-year licence at least three months before it ends. Hold a general meeting, have the accounts audited within six months of year-end and file them with the Registrar within seven days of the meeting. Report changes such as a new manager within ten business days, keep the UBO record current and file the corporate tax return within nine months of year-end. The regulations also contain an entrepreneurship programme with lighter filing rules, and we confirm whether it covers your licence. From 2027, e-invoicing applies too: companies with revenue under AED 50,000,000 appoint an accredited provider by 31 March 2027 and go live by 1 July 2027.