The cheapest quote is usually the shortest one. Line the two up against published fees and the gap explains itself.
Last checked 2 min readBuying advice
Compare quotes line by line, not by total. Check each against the published figures: a Meydan licence is
AED 12,500, extra activities AED 1,000 per activity, visa allocation
AED 1,850 per visa and an employment visa AED 3,500. Anything above those is
the consultant's own fee, which is fine if it is stated.
Same rows, one gap. That gap is where the difference in price usually lives.
What makes two quotes look different?
Usually scope, not price. One quote covers a licence and one visa; the other covers a licence, two visas, an
extra activity and the medical and identity paperwork. Both are honest. Put side by side without the detail, the
first looks like a bargain and the second like a markup.
A two-person setup at Meydan, by published lineMeydan Free Zone published fees, checked 2026-09-12Show the numbers as a table
Item
Amount (AED)
Licence and three activity groups
AED 12,500
Owner visa, investor rate
AED 4,000
One employment visa
AED 3,500
Two visa allocations
AED 3,700
Source: Meydan Free Zone published fees, checked 2026-09-12
Those four lines are the skeleton of a founder-plus-one quote. If a proposal for the same shape comes in well
below their sum, ask which line is missing. If it comes in well above, ask what the difference buys.
Which lines must appear in both?
The check to run on each quote
Ask for
Compare it with
The licence, and how many activity groups
AED 12,500, then AED 1,000 per activity
Visa allocation, separately from visas
AED 1,850 per visa
Each visa, by type
AED 3,500 or around AED 4,000
Work permit, and the class assumed
AED 250 to AED 3,450
Medical test and Emirates ID
AED 2,000 to AED 2,500
The renewal price, in writing
The zone's published renewal, where there is one
What should you ask about visas?
Two questions settle most of it. How many allocations does the licence include, and what does each visa cost after
that? Some zones publish both; some publish neither. RAKEZ's package page, for example, leaves visa allocation
not stated, and IFZA's prices are not published. In those cases the consultant's
quote is the only number you have, which makes a second quote more valuable, not less.
When is a quote fine to accept?
When you can name every line in it, when the renewal price is written down, and when the total is close to the
published fees plus a fee for the work. Meydan's own first-year estimate for a solo founder,
AED 21,000 to AED 23,000, is a useful benchmark for the simplest case.
One thing worth saying plainly: a consultant's fee is not a problem. Filing, translations, chasing approvals and
knowing which counter to use has real value, particularly if you are not in the country yet. The problem is a fee
presented as a government charge. Ask which part is theirs, and a good firm will tell you without hesitating.