International Freezone Authority is a trade-free zone located in the heart of Dubai. IFZA Free Zone is famous for being the most budget-friendly and fastest-growing business avenue in the UAE. International Freezone Authority regulates the IFZA Free Zone, making it one of the UAE’s most attractive business hubs for overseas investors. The free zone offers the most cost-effective and rightward process that leads to the company formation in IFZA Free Zone.
Dubai is the center of attention among foreign investors and entrepreneurs. The region is gaining prominence due to its modern infrastructure, geostrategic importance, and business-friendly ecosystem. Dubai and UAE connect the most populated markets of the world; Europe in the West and Asia in the East. The country is accessible by sea and air routes.
The UAE government has introduced free zone business avenues to facilitate and attract foreign investors by providing exceptional privileges, tax exemptions, and other supportive features. With every passing day, entrepreneurs and overseas investors around the globe are making a swift move toward Dubai for their business ventures.
Set up in the center of the Emirates of Dubai city, the state-of-the-art International Freezone Authority or IFZA free zone has become a leading business hub of the UAE. This blog post will help you discover how to set up a business in International Freezone Authority. Let’s discuss the entire process and benefits of setting up a business in the IFZA Free Zone.
How to Setup Business in IFZA Free Zone?
The following sequence leads you to the company formation in International Freezone Authority. Let’s discuss each step in detail.
Step 01 – Choose Your Business Activity
You can combine 7 different professional, industrial, and commercial business activities under the same IFZA business license. The legal structure of IFZA company, the type of trade license, and the approvals from concerned authorities in the following steps depend on your business activities.
You can search for the permitted IFZA business activities and select the activity(s) that align well with your business. If you find it troublesome to find the right match for your desired business activities, get on board with a professional business formation expert.
Step 02 – Register Your Tradename
Once you finalize your business activity(s) for IFZA business setup, you must secure a tradename for your free zone company. Ensuring the availability of the desired tradename is necessary to avoid rejection due to duplicate or prohibited tradename choice. To become eligible for tradename registration, you must ensure your tradename fulfills the following criteria:
- It must not collide with the religious and moral code of the UAE.
- It doesn’t possess any association, reflection, or inclination toward any religious or political group.
- It must be unique and omit any words or phrases reserved for government bodies.
Step 03 – Apply For Your Free Zone Trade License
In the first step, we discussed that the type of your trade license depends on your business activity(s) for your business setup in the International Freezone Authority. Likewise, the required documents and approvals also depend on the business activities.
The following trade license categories in Ajman Free Zone allow different business activities.
- Professional License – For businesses offering professional services, including technical, lifestyle, healthcare, etc.
- Commercial License – For businesses involved in the import, export, distribution & storage of particular goods.
- Industrial License – To entertain the import of raw material, manufacturing, processing, packaging, & export of deliverables.
You can also open a company branch in IFZA Free Zone for your business based in another free zone or mainland jurisdiction.
The International Freezone Authority is the regulatory authority that supervises and permits all business activities in IFZA Free Zone. The International Freezone Authority issues the IFZA trade license after submitting the required documents and trade license fee. For a quick issuance of an IFZA trade license and to avoid rejection of your application, connect with the authentic business formation services provider.
Step 04 – Open a Free Zone Company Bank Account
This is another critical step that allows you to legally manage all the financial transactions involved with your business activities. Dubai’s banking system is internationally recognized as one of the most robust and secure banking services worldwide. Opening a free zone bank account is quick and straightforward, with minimum documentation. The physical presence of the company owner is mandatory to open a free zone account in the UAE.
Read our dedicated blog about how to open a free zone company bank account and learn the step-by-step process.
Step 05 – Final Approval
Once you receive your IFZA trade license issued by International Freezone Authority, you can begin operating your business in the UAE and unlock numerous growth opportunities. Ensure that you compile all the required documents with necessary notary stamps and department approvals to free from any likelihood of application rejection or delay.
Continue reading in detail about all the required documents and conditions for a free zone company formation in International Freezone Authority.
Requirements for Company Formation in IFZA Free Zone
Company formation in International Freezone Authority requires the following list of documents and NOCs from the concerned departments.
- Initiate a business registration application with the International Freezone Authority
- Provide your business’s memorandum of association
- Getting Business License
- Submitting an application for an establishment card to the Ministry of Labor (issued by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs). The documents required with the application include the following:
- Original Emirates ID
- Passport of UAE sponsor/shareholder (in case of shared partnership in Mainland – Shared partnership is not Obligatory after 2020)
- Old Immigration card
- A valid Trade License
- Copy of Passport with valid visa page of all partners for Free Zone Company
- Your employees must be registered with the Ministry of Labor, with the documents required as under:
- UAE’s Residence Visa/Work Visa
- Copy of Passport with valid visa page
- Employment Agreement
- Labour card
- Emirates ID
Read our comprehensive account on how to get a UAE residence visa and explore multiple visa types that you can consider for yourself or your employees.
Business Setup Cost in IFZA Free Zone
The trading license in IFZA constitutes the primary business setup costs in IFZA Free Zone, which is:
- AED 18,000 to 28,000 for a 1-year trading license in IFZA with a single investor visa
AED 43,000 to 65,000 for a 3-year trading license in IFZA with a single investor visa - AED 62,000 to 85,00065,000 for a 5-year trading license in IFZA with a single investor visa
The accurate estimate of business setup cost in IFZA depends on your business’s scale, trade license category, number of employee visas, and selected business activities.
What are the benefits of Starting a Business in the IFZA Free Zone?
As mentioned earlier, International Freezone Authority offers the cheapest gateway to local and foreign investors keen to set up their business in the UAE. From the cost-effective trade license categories and simple company formation process to maximum liberty for foreign investors, IFZA Free Zone is undoubtedly second to none for anyone eager to grow their overseas business in the UAE.
Some notable perks of setting up a business in International Freezone authority include:
- Budget-friendly trade license options.
- Option to choose from over 800 business activities.
- Facilitate limited liability company formation.
- 100% reinstatement for company capital and profits.
- 100% business ownership for foreign investors.
- 0% corporate and personal tax.
- No limit to minimum capital investment.
- The hassle-free process to set up a business in Internation Free Zone Authority.
- Access to the 70 percent global market within easy reach by air and sea routes.
- Freedom to trade with other free zone and mainland businesses in the UAE.
- Freedom to entertain international trade.
- No shareholder or partner is required to set up a business in IFZA Free Zone.
- Option to integrate up to 7 services, commercial & industrial business activities under the same trade License.
Business Activities Allowed in IFZA Free Zone
You can choose from over 800 IFZA business activities to set up your free zone company in International Freezone Authority. You are allowed for business activities that fall under these categories.
- Professional Services
- Consultancy Business
- Industrial or Manufacturing
- Holding
- Trading
- General trading
FAQs About IFZA Free Zone Company Formation
What is International Freezone Authority?
Do I Need to Have a Local Sponsor to Start My Business in IFZA Free Zone?
IFZA Free Zone is a trade-free zone that enables foreign investors and entrepreneurs to hold 100 percent business ownership of their IFZA business setup. International Freezone Authority allows you to form an IFZA Free Zone company without partnering with local sponsors or shareholders.
How Many Days Would It Take To Get My License for My Business in IFZAFree Zone?
You can expect the issuance of your IFZA trade license by the International Freezone Authority between 4-5 business days after you complete your application with the required documents and attested forms with approvals from concerned authorities.
Can I Transfer My Company From IFZA Free Zone to Another in the UAE?
You cannot transfer your IFZA Free Zone business setup to any other free zone or mainland hub. But you are allowed open a branch office of your IFZA business in a Free Zone or Mainland business hub of your choice, or you have to cancel your trading license in IFZA to get a fresh license in another dedicated business hub.
How Airzone can help you start your business in IFZA Free Zone?
If you are gearing up for your dream business venture or startup in International Freezone authority, you must take care of documentation and approvals. The process is straightforward, but you need different documents and approvals depending on your business activities and trade license category.
This is where Airzone can serve you by allowing you to connect with authentic and experienced business formation experts available at our disposal. Partnering with a professional s consultancy service can help you free yourself from the burden of acknowledging the critical UAE legislature concerning the corporate domain and choosing between multiple alternatives.
The business formation service providers associated with our platform are authentic and equipped with proven experience in entertaining businesses of all scales. Whether you are an entrepreneur or someone looking forward to setting up an enterprise-grade business, you can leverage the experience of our authentic service providers in
- Registering a tradename
- Trade license issuance
- Free zone bank account opening process
- Emirates ID and Establishment Card issuance
- Applying for residence, work, family, freelance, work visa, etc
Connect with Airzone and access the cost-effective packages offered by professional business formation services and consultancy providers to create a business setup in Dubai and the UAE.
Before settling on your choice for a particular free zone jurisdiction, compare all available options in the list of free zones in the UAE.
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