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A Dubai freelance visa is two things, not one: **a permit to work** and **a residence visa**. Almost every price you have seen advertised is the permit alone. Here is the whole bill, before you commit to any of it.
What the advertised price usually leaves out
Five fees, from three authorities. A quote showing one of them is not a quote.
This is the single most expensive misunderstanding in the freelance market, and it is almost always the seller's fault rather than the buyer's.
A licence issued by a free zone that makes it legal for you to invoice clients under your own name. It does not give you the right to live in the UAE.
A separate application, to a different authority, with its own fee. This is the thing that lets you stay, open a bank account, rent a flat and get an Emirates ID.
You can hold the permit without the visa — some people do, because they are already resident on a spouse's or employer's sponsorship and only need the licence. Everyone else needs both, and the difference between the two prices is not small.
The licence that makes it legal to invoice clients under your own name. This is the number in almost every advert you have seen — and it is one of five.
A separate registration with immigration that a free zone entity needs before it can sponsor anybody — including you. Not optional, and rarely advertised.
The thing you actually came for: the right to live in the UAE. It is a distinct application with its own fee, and it is the part the headline price usually leaves out.
A medical fitness test and biometrics, both mandatory, both government-priced. Small individually, and they are still real money you have to have.
Five stages across three authorities. The first one is the only one that can save you the cost of the other four.
A freelance permit suits one person invoicing their own clients. If you plan to hire, take on a partner, or trade goods, it is the wrong structure and we will say so before you pay anything.
Different zones permit different activities and price differently. The cheapest permit is not the cheapest outcome if it does not cover the work you actually do, or if banks will not open an account for it.
Your activity, your documents, and the application filed with the authority. Approval is theirs; a correctly prepared file is ours.
Immigration registration, then the entry permit that lets the residence visa proceed.
The in-country steps. We book them, prepare you for them, and track them — this is where unmanaged applications stall.
The advertised price you have seen elsewhere is the permit. We tell you the permit, the establishment card, the visa, the medical and the Emirates ID — before you commit, not after.
If you intend to hire staff, bring in a partner, or trade physical goods, a freelance permit does not do that. A company does. We would rather lose the smaller sale than sell you a structure you will have to unwind.
A permit you cannot bank is a permit that cannot get paid. We have opened over 1,000 UAE bank accounts and know which zones the banks are comfortable with — that is worth more than a few hundred dirhams of permit fee.
The permit, the visa and the Emirates ID all expire, on different dates. Every one is tracked in your account and flagged before it is due — the same system our own team runs on.
If any of those is you, the honest answer is a free zone company — it costs more up front and it will not have to be unwound in a year.
Ready to start?
Tell us what you do and whether you need the residence visa. You will get every fee named, with its source — and if a freelance permit is the wrong route for you, we will tell you that instead.
Straight answers on cost, eligibility, and what a freelance permit does and does not allow.
Still have a question?
Speak to an OMC advisor directly. We respond within 2 to 4 hours on business days.
Talk to an advisorThere is no single number, and any advert that gives you one is quoting the permit alone. There are five separate fees, from three authorities: the freelance permit, the establishment card, the residence visa, the medical fitness test, and the Emirates ID. Most are set by the authority rather than by us, and the total depends on the free zone, your activity, and whether you take a 1-year or 2-year visa. We name every fee and its source before you commit — we would rather lose a click than surprise you with a bill.
It is two things people constantly treat as one. The freelance permit is a licence from a free zone that makes it legal to invoice clients under your own name. The residence visa is a separate application that lets you live in the UAE. You can hold the permit without the visa — some people do, because they are already resident on a spouse's or employer's sponsorship. Everyone else needs both.
No. A freelance permit sponsors you and nobody else. If you intend to employ anyone, take on a partner, or trade physical goods, you need a company rather than a freelance permit — and it is far cheaper to start with the right structure than to unwind the wrong one a year later.
Usually, but it is harder than with a company, and some banks are markedly less comfortable with freelance permits. A permit you cannot bank is a permit that cannot get paid, so if banking is central to what you do, that should shape which free zone you choose — not the permit fee. We have opened over 1,000 UAE bank accounts and will tell you plainly where a given permit is likely to struggle.
The permit is usually the fast part; the visa is not. After the permit is issued you still need the establishment card, an entry permit, a medical fitness test, biometrics and stamping — each with its own queue. Timelines are indicative and depend on the authority, so we give you a realistic one at the start rather than the best case.
