How to Move Your Company From One UAE Free Zone to Another (2026): Process, Cost and Tax

Ask whether you can transfer a company from one free zone to another in the UAE and the top answer on Quora says the only way is to close it and open a new one. DMCC's own Company Regulations say otherwise: Article 18 lets an entity from another jurisdiction continue as a DMCC company, and Article 23 lets a DMCC company transfer its registration out [1]. So the answer is wrong as a general rule. It is also closer to the truth than most consultancy pages admit, because a genuine continuation needs a door out of your current zone and a door into the new one, and very few pairings have both.

That distinction decides almost everything else. If the same legal person moves, its incorporation date, contracts, pending litigation and trademarks move with it. If you open a new company and close the old one, all of that is re-papered, two licences run side by side until the old one is deregistered, and the tax reliefs that could move your assets without a taxable gain carry a two-year condition that the standard close-and-reopen plan breaks.

Since 2013, BusinessDubai.ae has set up, moved and closed companies in free zones across the UAE. This guide covers which zones publish a door in and out, what Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2025 changed, the real cost on a stated visa basis, the order that keeps visas and bank accounts alive, and the corporate tax and VAT position.

Can you transfer a company from one free zone to another in the UAE?

Yes, but there are two different moves and they are not interchangeable. A continuation moves the same legal person, so its incorporation date, contracts and trademarks survive. A new company in the destination zone followed by deregistering the old one is the default route, and there everything is re-papered from scratch.

Competitor content blurs the two, usually by calling both "relocation" or "migration". They are different transactions with different paperwork, different tax consequences and different timelines, and the first question to put to any adviser is which one they are actually proposing. The table below separates them.

The right-hand column is what most founders end up doing, and that is not a failure. It is the only route that works everywhere. The Quora answer is wrong in law and right in practice for most people who ask it, and the rest of this guide is about knowing which of those two you are.

Real Talk: For a one or two person company with a laptop, a handful of client contracts and no registered trademark, a continuation saves very little. You still change address, licence, establishment card and visas. It earns its extra paperwork for companies with long-term contracts, pending litigation, a regulatory licence, an incorporation date that investors or tenders care about, or valuable intellectual property. Decide which company you are before paying anyone to chase the harder route.

If the underlying question is whether your next licence should be a free zone licence at all, settle that before you pick a destination. Our free zone company setup page itemises the zone packages on a stated visa basis, and our mainland company setup page covers the route that makes sense when your customers are onshore.

Which UAE free zones let a company move in or out?

On the primary texts we could read, DMCC and ADGM allow a company to continue both in and out, and DIFC provides for both under Part 13 of its Companies Law. JAFZA and Meydan publish inbound routes only. For IFZA, DAFZA, RAKEZ, SHAMS, SPC and Ajman Free Zone, no continuation provision was published in a form we could verify.

A continuation needs two doors: an exit door in the zone you are leaving and an entry door in the zone you are joining. DMCC's rules make the point themselves. An entity can apply to continue into DMCC only "if authorised by the laws and regulations of the jurisdiction in which it was incorporated", and a DMCC company can leave only for a jurisdiction whose law keeps its property, rights, liabilities and legal proceedings intact [1].

Only two pairings are confirmed on both legs from primary texts: DMCC to ADGM, and DMCC to DIFC. DMCC's Article 23 opens the exit, and ADGM's section 102 and DIFC's Part 13 open the entry [1][4][5]. Every other combination, including a move from IFZA, RAKEZ or a Sharjah zone into DMCC or JAFZA, depends on an exit door we could not find published. That does not prove the door is shut. It means you should not plan around it until the zone you are leaving tells you, in writing, which regulation lets you go, and DMCC's own entry rule asks for exactly that authorisation.

Meydan's published process is the one founders meet most often. It asks for an exit certificate or no-objection letter from the old zone, issued within the previous 30 days, and offers a temporary licence marked "redomicile" so the move does not stall while the old zone finishes its cancellations. Once the exit certificate arrives, Meydan says it reissues the final licence in 1 to 3 days [6]. Read that timing carefully: the 1 to 3 days starts when your old zone lets go, and the old zone's exit is where the weeks go.

Pro Tip: Send one email to the zone you are leaving and one to the zone you are joining, asking the same question: which article of which regulation permits this company to continue out, or in, and what documents it requires. A zone that has a door will name it. DMCC names Articles 18 and 23 [1]; ADGM names its Part 7 sections [4]. If the answer comes back as a checklist with no regulation cited, you are almost certainly being offered a new company and a cancellation, described as a transfer.

If the destination is one of the two financial centres, the choice between them matters more than the move itself, and our ADGM vs DIFC comparison sets out which suits which kind of business.

What did Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2025 change for free zone moves?

Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2025 inserted Article 15bis into the Commercial Companies Law, in force from 15 October 2025, creating a statutory transfer of registration drafted to reach moves between free zones, including ADGM and DIFC. Implementing rules were not complete as of mid-2026, and DMCC's continuation door does not depend on Article 15bis at all.

Article 15bis lets a company transfer its registration from one competent authority to another while keeping its legal personality [7]. Legal commentary describes it as covering transfers between free zones, including to and from the ADGM and DIFC financial free zones, and also records that the implementing regulations for every transfer category were not published in complete form by mid-2026 [8]. The mechanics, including the special resolution and the consent of both registries, are set out in our guide to converting a free zone company to mainland, which covers the same article from the mainland side.

Here is the part nobody else has pointed out. DMCC's Company Regulations close with Article 186.9: "For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of Federal Law No. 32 of 2021 Concerning Commercial Companies do not apply to any Company or Branch" [1]. Article 15bis sits inside Federal Law No. 32 of 2021. So DMCC's door does not wait for federal implementing rules. It runs on DMCC's own Articles 18 to 23, in a rulebook issued in its current form on 10 October 2024, a year before the federal reform took effect.

The practical reading is that the federal reform widened what is possible on paper for the commercial free zones, while the three zones with their own companies regimes already had working doors. What it has not yet done is give an IFZA, RAKEZ or Sharjah company a published, tested procedure to leave for another free zone as the same legal person.

Common Mistake: Waiting for Article 15bis when your zone already has its own door, or relying on it when your zone does not. A DMCC company heading for ADGM does not need the federal rules at all [1][4]. A company in a zone with no published continuation provision cannot assume that a federal article with incomplete implementing rules will carry it through this quarter [8]. Ask both registrars which instrument they would use, and plan on their answer, not on the headline.

How much does it cost to move to another free zone in 2026?

Switching free zone, or switching the formation partner you bought through, costs the destination zone's package price in BusinessDubai.ae's 2026 data, with no separate switching penalty. In Dubai that is AED 12,500 licence-only or AED 21,050 with one visa at Meydan, Dubai South or Expo City. The old zone's exit costs and the licence overlap come on top.

The destination side is the easy half to price. These are BusinessDubai.ae's 2026 package prices, all in, on the visa basis shown [24].

Compare on the one-visa column, not the licence-only headline. On that basis Meydan and IFZA are AED 350 apart, which is noise, and the decision turns at the second visa, where IFZA's package is AED 3,000 cheaper [24]. Our IFZA vs Meydan comparison works through that crossover. Year two at the destination runs at roughly 80% of year one [24].

If the reason for moving is price and a Dubai address does not matter, a non-Dubai zone changes the arithmetic more than any Dubai zone does. Sharjah's SRTIP starts at AED 13,990 with one visa, and our business setup in Sharjah page shows what that buys. Ajman's ANC Free Zone is the cheapest complete one-visa package on our price list at AED 10,800, covered on our business setup in Ajman page, and Masdar City is the Abu Dhabi option at AED 17,500 with one visa, on our business setup in Abu Dhabi page [24].

The exit side is where published numbers run out. BusinessDubai.ae's liquidation guide carries the figures below for the four zones founders most often leave [9].

Our company liquidation guide covers each zone's clearances in full. Put the two sides together and a new-company move has eight cost lines, only one of which is a published price.

The real hidden cost is the overlap. Both licences run until the old company is deregistered, so the old zone's renewal date is the number to plan the whole move around.

Quick Math: Start an IFZA exit, which runs 4 to 6 weeks [9], three months before the old licence renews, and it finishes inside a year you have already paid for. Start it three weeks before renewal and you either renew for a full year you will use for six weeks, at roughly 80% of BusinessDubai.ae's AED 21,400 one-visa IFZA package, which is about AED 17,100 [24], or let the licence lapse mid-exit and start the establishment card penalty of about AED 2,000 a month. Three months of planning is worth the whole renewal.

For a single quote that prices the destination package, the old zone's exit and the overlap on one page, get your move priced→

In what order should you move, so nobody is stranded?

Incorporate in the destination zone first, then get the establishment card and visa quota, open the bank account, move the visas, novate contracts and move assets, and only then deregister the old company. Cancel anything at the old zone first and employees and dependants lose their sponsor before a new one exists.

The cancellation chain at the old zone runs bottom up: dependants, then the sponsor, then employees, then the establishment card, then the licence, because each layer exists only because the one beneath it does. Our guide to the UAE visa cancellation process covers each step, and the full ordering logic for a move, including why the receiving file has to hold quota before anything is cancelled, is set out in our guide to converting a free zone company to mainland. The same logic applies whether the destination is DET or another free zone.

What makes the order matter is the grace period. Golden, Green and Blue residence holders, and the family members they sponsor, have 180 days after cancellation [11]. Standard employment-sponsored residence carries a materially shorter window, and outside any grace period the fine is AED 50 per person per day, with ICP's condition that paying it does not resolve the violation: status must still be adjusted or the person must leave [12].

Common Mistake: Cancelling the old zone's visas first "to get it out of the way". Each cancelled visa starts a grace period with nowhere to go, and on standard employment residence that window is far shorter than the 180 days a Golden, Green or Blue holder gets [11]. Anyone who runs past it accrues AED 50 a day [12]. A family of four that runs past it costs AED 200 a day, and every extra day spent waiting on the new establishment card adds to the bill.

Pro Tip: A move finishes without a trading gap when the founder accepts running both companies for six to ten weeks. The old licence stays current, the old visas stay valid, and staff move across in twos and threes while both files are live. The overlap costs a few weeks of a licence you have usually already paid for. A team sitting between sponsors while a bank account is pending costs far more.

Will your bank account and investor visa survive the move?

A new company in the destination zone needs its own bank account, and in BusinessDubai.ae's 2026 files WIO and Mashreq Neo open readily for free zone companies. Moving into IFZA or Meydan, an investor visa now requires the shareholder to show a minimum of AED 75,000 in a UAE or home-country bank account.

Treat the bank as a new customer file. A new company is a new legal person with a new licence, and even at the bank you already use it goes through fresh know-your-customer checks. Under a continuation the account holder is the same company, but the licence behind it now comes from a different issuer, so expect the bank to refresh its file. Either way, tell your relationship manager in writing before anything at the old zone is cancelled, because an account whose supporting licence has been cancelled can be frozen while the file is reviewed. Our guide to opening a corporate bank account in Dubai covers documents, timelines and the common decline reasons.

Common Mistake: Treating the move as finished when the new licence issues. For a founder moving into IFZA or Meydan, the investor visa now depends on showing at least AED 75,000 in a bank account in the UAE or the home country [24]. The rule is not widely published. The corporate paperwork can clear, the licence can be issued, and the move can still stall at the visa because the founder's cash is sitting in a property deposit or inside the old company. Line up the balance evidence before you cancel your old visa, not after.

Once both companies exist, the workload doubles for a few weeks: two establishment files, two visa lists, two sets of PRO transactions and a tax registration opening on one side while another closes. Our post-setup services team runs the visa transfers and PRO filings on both sides while the companies overlap, so the old zone's cancellations never start before the new file can receive people.

What happens to your corporate tax when you change free zone?

A new company in the destination zone is a new taxable person, with its own Corporate Tax registration due within three months of incorporation and its own filing clock. The old company deregisters separately. Qualifying Free Zone Person status never transfers: the new company must meet every condition itself from its first tax period.

The old company's deregistration runs on its own clock. Article 52 of Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 requires a deregistration application when the business ceases, within the timeline the FTA prescribes, and it cannot be approved until every return is filed and paid, including the return for the period up to and including the date of cessation [13]. BusinessDubai.ae's liquidation guide works to three months from cessation [9]; confirm the current window with the FTA. The deadline runs from when trading stopped, not from when the old zone finished with you, which is why our guide to UAE corporate tax deregistration says to start the tax side on the day you decide to close.

The Qualifying Free Zone Person trap from the mainland move applies here too whenever the move leaves a gap in substance. A QFZP that fails a condition at any point in a tax period loses the status from the first day of that period and for the four periods that follow [14]. One condition is adequate substance in a free zone. In a zone move, staff, premises and management leave the old company for the new one part-way through the old company's period. If that leaves the old company without adequate substance before its period ends, the 9% can reach back to income it earned months earlier at 0%. The new company has the mirror-image problem: it needs its own substance in its own zone from its first period. Our guide to converting a free zone company to mainland works through the backdating arithmetic.

Pro Tip: Put the handover of trading on a tax period boundary. If both companies use the calendar year, let the old company trade to 31 December and the new company start invoicing on 1 January, so the old company's last full period ends with its substance intact and the new company's first period starts with its own. Our Qualifying Free Zone Person guide sets out every condition, including the de minimis limit of the lower of 5% of revenue or AED 5,000,000 [14].

Can you move assets to the new company without paying corporate tax on the gain?

Sometimes. Article 26 Qualifying Group Relief and Article 27 Business Restructuring Relief under Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 let assets move at net book value with no taxable gain. Neither is available if either company is a Qualifying Free Zone Person, and both are clawed back if their conditions break within two years.

Without a relief, a transfer between two companies you own is a related-party transaction, and Article 34 requires it to be priced at arm's length, meaning at what unrelated parties would have agreed [13]. Any gain over book value is taxable income of the old company. Our transfer pricing guide covers how that value is supported if the FTA asks.

A continuation sidesteps the question entirely. When the same legal person moves, no asset changes hands, so there is no transfer for either relief to cover and no gain to shelter. Everything below applies to the new-company route.

Neither relief works for a 0% company

Both reliefs carry the same exclusion, in the same words. Article 26(2)(d) and Article 27(2)(d) each say: "None of the Persons are a Qualifying Free Zone Person" [13]. So a trading or manufacturing company enjoying the 0% rate on qualifying income cannot use either relief on either side of the move, and a new company that will itself be a QFZP cannot receive assets under either. A consultancy that was never a QFZP, and most are not, can.

Qualifying Group Relief under Article 26

Article 26 lets assets or liabilities move at net book value between two taxable persons that are juridical persons, where one owns at least 75% of the other or a third Person owns at least 75% of both [13]. The FTA's Qualifying Group Relief guide, CTGQGR1, confirms that the third Person need not be a taxable person and can be a natural person, so a founder who owns 75% or more of both companies meets the ownership test [17]. Both companies must have the same financial year end and prepare accounts under the same accounting standards [13]. The relief covers assets held on capital account, so stock-in-trade is outside it [17].

The two-year trap the standard move walks into

CTGQGR1 lists either company ceasing to exist within two years of the transfer as an event that ends the Qualifying Group and claws the relief back under Article 26(4) [17][13]. Separately, section 3.1 of the guide says transfers made as a result of liquidation, dissolution or merger do not qualify for the relief at all [17]. Put those two rules next to the standard move, which is a new company followed by liquidating the old one, and the relief reverses unless the old company is kept alive, and paid for, for two years from the transfer.

The bill also lands somewhere founders do not expect. Where the old company has already ceased to be a taxable person when the clawback happens, the guide attributes the gain to the transferee, so the new company pays tax on the old company's gain in the period of the clawback [17]. The same list of triggers includes either company becoming a Qualifying Free Zone Person for a period without electing out of the regime [17], which matters if the new company is expected to qualify.

Real Talk: This is only worth doing when the assets carry a real gain: intellectual property, goodwill, property or equipment worth well above its book value. For a consultancy moving a laptop and some furniture, the gain is negligible, the relief is not the question, and keeping a second company alive for two years costs more than any tax it could save. For a software company moving a codebase carried on the books at almost nothing, the arithmetic reverses.

Quick Math: Take an old company whose other income already uses its AED 375,000 nil band, transferring software carried at AED 50,000 and worth AED 1,050,000. The AED 1,000,000 gain costs AED 90,000 at 9% [10]. Keeping the old company alive for two years costs two renewals, about AED 20,000 at 80% of BusinessDubai.ae's AED 12,500 Dubai licence-only package, plus two sets of filings [24]. If the relief holds, it saves several times its cost. Liquidate in month three and the gain is taxed anyway, in the new company's hands.

Business Restructuring Relief under Article 27

Article 27 is built for moving a whole business rather than individual assets. It applies where a taxable person transfers its entire business, or an independent part of it, to another taxable person in exchange for shares or other ownership interests in the transferee, for valid commercial or other non-fiscal reasons, with the same financial year end and the same accounting standards on both sides [13][18]. The clawback also runs for two years: if the shares issued as consideration leave the Qualifying Group, or the transferred business is disposed of, the transfer is treated as made at market value [13].

The FTA's Business Restructuring Relief guide, CTGBRR1, adds two points that bite on a zone move. Transfers made as a result of a liquidation are not covered (section 3.4), and transfers of the consideration shares to a person outside the Qualifying Group, which includes an individual, are listed among the clawback triggers [18]. So if the old company takes the new company's shares and is then wound up inside two years, handing those shares to you, that transfer can unwind the relief.

Before paying to keep a company alive, check whether the old company's final period qualifies for Small Business Relief, which is elected on the final return rather than applied automatically, and which is never available to a QFZP [15]. If you hold assets with a real gain and want the numbers run before anything moves, model your position→

How does VAT treat the move, and does Designated Zone status matter?

Under Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017, transferring a whole business or an independent part to a taxable person who continues it is not a supply, so no VAT is charged on it. The old company's TRN is cancelled; the new company registers at AED 375,000 mandatory or AED 187,500 voluntary. Goods entering a Designated Zone follow separate rules.

The going-concern treatment has three conditions: the whole business or an independent part capable of running on its own is transferred, the recipient is a taxable person, meaning registered or required to register, and the recipient continues the same kind of business [19]. The second condition catches zone moves. A brand-new company that is not yet VAT registered on the day the business moves across can fail it, so register the new company first if the transfer is meant to sit outside VAT.

The TRN itself does not move on the new-company route. The old company's TRN is cancelled on deregistration, and the new company registers afresh once it crosses AED 375,000 of taxable supplies, or voluntarily from AED 187,500 [16]. The old company must apply to deregister within 20 business days of ceasing taxable supplies, with a penalty of AED 1,000 a month capped at AED 10,000 for missing it [9]. Stop invoicing from the old TRN on the day the new company starts.

Designated Zone status is set by the annex to Cabinet Decision No. 59 of 2017 as amended, not by how well known a zone is [20]. BusinessDubai.ae settled the list for its trading guide against that annex.

A free zone that is not designated is treated like any other part of the UAE for VAT [21]. That decides the VAT on stock sold across between your two companies whenever the transfer is not a going concern.

Common Mistake: Assuming free zone to free zone means VAT-free. An IFZA or Meydan trading company selling its stock into a new JAFZA company is making a local supply at 5%, unless the transfer qualifies as a going concern [21][19]. The 5% is recoverable if the JAFZA company is registered, but it is cash out of the door first, on the full value of the stock. Our Designated Zone VAT guide works through the conditions, and our guide to the best free zones for trading covers which zones actually give a goods business anything.

What happens to contracts, the trade name and the trademark?

Under a DMCC continuation, Article 22 of the DMCC Company Regulations keeps the company's property, rights, liabilities and pending legal proceedings, so contracts simply carry on. Under a new company and deregistration, every contract needs novation, the trademark needs an assignment recorded at the Ministry of Economy and Tourism, and the trade name must be reserved again.

Article 22 is short and worth reading in full. A company continued into DMCC "continues to have all the property, rights and privileges and is subject to all the liabilities and debts that it had before the continuation" and "remains a party in any legal proceedings commenced in any jurisdiction to which it was a party before the continuation" [1]. Article 23.2 applies the same test in the other direction: a DMCC company may leave only for a jurisdiction whose law provides the same continuity [1]. That is the whole commercial case for a continuation in two sentences. No counterparty signs anything, and no court has to be told a new party has stepped in.

On the new-company route, none of that happens by itself. Every client contract, supplier agreement, lease and licence agreement has to be novated to the new company or re-signed in its name, and counterparties with approval committees can take longer than the licence itself. Pending disputes stay with the old company, which is one more reason not to liquidate it in a hurry.

The trademark catches more founders than anything else on this list. A mark registered to the old company belongs to that legal person, and closing it does not pass the mark to the new company. The transfer is a separate service at the Ministry of Economy and Tourism, needing a notarised and certified assignment agreement, with an Arabic translation where the document comes from abroad [3]. Record it while both companies still exist.

The trade name is not guaranteed either. On the new-company route it must be reserved again under the destination zone's naming rules and is subject to availability there. Even DMCC's continuation route has the Registrar approve the continuing company's name before it is entered on the register [1].

Pro Tip: Reserve the trade name in the destination zone before you tell clients you are moving. A name you have traded under for years may conflict with an existing registration or break the new zone's naming rules, and you want to know that before the letterhead is printed and the novation letters go out. It costs a reservation fee, and it avoids re-papering every contract twice.

Why do founders move free zones, and is a move the right fix?

The reasons BusinessDubai.ae sees most often are a renewal price above what year one implied, poor service from the formation partner, a bank refusing the account, needing a Dubai address and needing mainland customers. A zone move fixes the price and address problems; the other three usually have cheaper fixes.

Founders report real renewals landing 35% to 60% above what year-one marketing implied, because establishment cards, deposits and compliance items sit outside the headline [24]. It is one of the triggers we see most often, and it is a fair reason to move if the destination's standard renewal price, asked for in writing, is genuinely lower.

The last row is the one to take seriously. If what you want is onshore customers, moving from one free zone to another changes your address and nothing else. Our guide to free zone to mainland trading under Resolution 11/2025 covers the branch, dual licence and temporary permit routes, and our guide to converting a free zone company to mainland covers the full move if onshore revenue is structural.

If price or address is the real driver, the zone comparisons do most of the work: DMCC vs IFZA for founders weighing a premium Dubai zone against a lower-cost one, IFZA vs RAKEZ for a Dubai address against a cheaper Ras Al Khaimah licence, and Meydan vs SHAMS for the Dubai and Sharjah ends of the budget market.

Real Talk: Check whether you want to change zone or only the company that sold you the licence. Often the zone's own fees are not the problem; the partner's service fee, slow answers at renewal or a visa file that stalled are. Switching partner costs the same as the package price, with no separate penalty [24], so ask your zone whether the file can move to a new partner before you pay for a new company. Our guide to the best free zone consultants shows how to compare partners on the zone fee and the service fee separately.

Which route fits your situation?

The right route depends on why you are moving and what the old company holds. A founder unhappy only with the formation partner may not need a new zone, a DMCC company heading for ADGM or DIFC can continue as the same legal person, and a 0% trading company cannot use either tax relief on the way out.

Every row assumes you have already asked both zones, in writing, whether a continuation is available and under which regulation. That email costs nothing and settles the first column before you spend anything on the rest.

Real Client Stories

These are composite examples built from the situations that come up most often when founders change zone. Names and details are illustrative, and the only figures used are BusinessDubai.ae's published package prices and the official rules cited above.

Omar's marketing consultancy (SHAMS to Meydan Free Zone)

Omar, a Jordanian marketing consultant, moved from a SHAMS licence to Meydan Free Zone because two Dubai clients wanted a Dubai address on his invoices. With no exit door we could verify at SHAMS, we incorporated a new Meydan company on the one-visa package at AED 21,050 and kept the SHAMS licence running. The corporate side cleared quickly. The investor visa did not: Meydan now asks the shareholder to show at least AED 75,000 in a bank account, and his savings were tied up in a property deposit. He evidenced the balance from his home-country account before cancelling anything in Sharjah. His comment: "The licence was the easy part. Nobody told me the visa needed a bank balance."

Anika's software studio (IFZA to DMCC)

Anika, a German developer, sells mostly to UAE mainland clients and her company was never a Qualifying Free Zone Person. She moved from IFZA to DMCC because her enterprise clients preferred a DMCC counterparty, owned both companies outright, and planned to transfer her codebase under Qualifying Group Relief, then liquidate the IFZA company the following month. We flagged that liquidating within two years claws the relief back and puts the gain on the new DMCC company. She kept the IFZA company alive and renewed it instead of closing it. Her comment: "The cheapest thing I did in the whole move was not closing a company."

Hassan's spare-parts trading company (Meydan Free Zone to JAFZA)

Hassan, an Egyptian trader in vehicle spare parts, moved from Meydan Free Zone to JAFZA to get warehousing inside a Designated Zone and a port next door. His plan assumed the stock would cross between free zones outside VAT. It would not: Meydan is not a Designated Zone, so selling the stock into JAFZA was a local supply at 5%. We registered the JAFZA company for VAT first and moved the trading business across as a going concern instead of selling the stock. His comment: "I thought free zone to free zone meant outside the system. Only half of it was."

Your next steps

Three decisions carry the money in a free zone move. First, find out which move you are making: ask both zones, in writing, which regulation permits a continuation, because only DMCC to ADGM and DMCC to DIFC are confirmed on both legs from primary texts, and everything else is a new company and a deregistration until a zone tells you otherwise. Second, get the order right: incorporate first, move people in tranches, deregister last, and time the old zone's exit to finish before its renewal date. Third, settle the tax before any asset moves: Qualifying Free Zone Person status never transfers, neither Article 26 nor Article 27 relief is available to a QFZP, and liquidating the old company within two years reverses the relief you claimed.

BusinessDubai.ae has completed 700+ company registrations across the UAE since 2013, with itemised pricing and no hidden fees. We will price your destination on our free zone company setup page against a mainland company setup if onshore customers are the real reason for moving, time the exit against your old zone's renewal, and have our post-setup services team run the visa transfers, PRO work and both tax registrations while the two companies overlap.

Plan your free zone move→

If it turns out the destination should be the mainland rather than another free zone, our guide to converting a free zone company to mainland is the companion to this one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I move my company from one free zone to another in the UAE?

Yes, in one of two ways. A continuation moves the same legal person and is available only where both zones publish a door, such as DMCC to ADGM or DMCC to DIFC. Everywhere else, the route is a new company in the destination zone followed by deregistering the old one.

Is it true the only way to change free zone is to close and reopen?

No, that is wrong as a general rule. DMCC's Company Regulations permit continuation in under Article 18 and out under Article 23, ADGM and DIFC have their own continuation provisions, and JAFZA and Meydan publish inbound routes. It is right in practice for most founders, because few zone pairings have a door at both ends.

How much does it cost to switch free zones in 2026?

Switching costs the destination zone's package price, with no separate switching penalty, in BusinessDubai.ae's 2026 data. In Dubai that is AED 12,500 licence-only or AED 21,050 with one visa at Meydan Free Zone, Dubai South or Expo City. The old zone's deregistration, any liquidator or audit, and the licence overlap come on top.

Can I switch away from the formation partner I bought my licence through?

Yes. In BusinessDubai.ae's 2026 data, switching formation partner costs the same as the package price, with no separate penalty. If the zone itself is not the problem, ask whether your file can move to a new partner before you pay for a new company in a new zone.

Do I need new visas if I change free zone?

Yes, on the new-company route. Residence visas are issued under the old company's establishment card, so they are cancelled there and issued again under the new company's card. Get the new establishment card and visa quota first, then move people in tranches so nobody is left without a sponsor.

Do employees have to leave the UAE when the company changes free zone?

Generally no, if the new company's establishment card and quota exist before the old visas are cancelled. A cancelled visa starts a grace period, which is 180 days for Golden, Green and Blue holders and their sponsored family and materially shorter on standard employment residence. Outside it, AED 50 per person per day accrues.

What happens to my bank account if I change free zone?

A new company needs its own bank account, with fresh know-your-customer checks even at the bank you already use. Open it before anything at the old zone is cancelled, and tell your relationship manager in writing first. WIO and Mashreq Neo open readily for free zone companies in BusinessDubai.ae's 2026 files.

How much money do I need to show for an investor visa at IFZA or Meydan?

At least AED 75,000, as of 2026. IFZA and Meydan now require the shareholder to show that balance in a bank account in the UAE or the home country for an investor visa. The rule is not widely published, and it can stall a move after the new licence has already been issued.

Can I keep my trade name when I move to a new free zone?

Not automatically. On the new-company route the name must be reserved again under the destination zone's naming rules and is subject to availability there. Even DMCC's continuation route has the Registrar approve the continuing company's name, so reserve it before you announce the move.

Does my trademark move with my company to the new free zone?

Only under a continuation, where the owner does not change. On the new-company route the mark stays with the old company until it is assigned, and the assignment must be recorded at the Ministry of Economy and Tourism with a notarised, certified agreement. Do it while both companies still exist.

Can I keep the same incorporation date after moving free zones?

Only through a continuation, because a continued company is the same legal person. JAFZA's 2016 regulations expressly let a continued company keep its original incorporation date on the continuation certificate. A new company in the destination zone always starts with a new incorporation date.

Does JAFZA or DMCC allow a company to leave, not just arrive?

DMCC does: Article 23 of its 2024 Company Regulations lets a DMCC company transfer its registration out with a special resolution and Registrar approval, to a jurisdiction whose law keeps its rights and liabilities. For JAFZA, no exit provision was located; its 2016 regulations provide for continuation in. Ask JAFZA in writing before planning a continuation out.

Which UAE free zones allow continuation or transfer of incorporation?

On primary texts, DMCC and ADGM allow it in both directions, and DIFC provides for both under Part 13 of its Companies Law No. 5 of 2018. JAFZA and Meydan Free Zone publish inbound routes. For IFZA, DAFZA, RAKEZ, SHAMS, SPC and Ajman Free Zone, no provision was published in a form we could verify.

What is re-domiciliation and how is it different from closing and reopening?

Re-domiciliation, also called continuation, moves the same legal person to a new registrar, so its contracts, debts, lawsuits and corporate history carry on. Closing and reopening creates a new legal person and ends the old one, so every contract is novated, the trademark is assigned and tax registrations start again.

Does Federal Decree-Law 20 of 2025 cover free zone to free zone moves?

It is drafted to. Article 15bis, in force since 15 October 2025, provides for transfers of registration between authorities, including between free zones and to and from ADGM and DIFC. Implementing rules were not complete as of mid-2026, so ask both registrars whether they will process your transfer under it.

Does Article 15bis apply to DMCC companies?

DMCC does not need it. Article 186.9 of the DMCC Company Regulations states that Federal Law No. 32 of 2021, the Commercial Companies Law that contains Article 15bis, does not apply to any DMCC company or branch. DMCC's continuation door runs on its own Articles 18 to 23.

How long does a free zone to free zone move take?

The old zone's exit usually sets the pace. BusinessDubai.ae's liquidation data puts DMCC at 45 to 60 days, JAFZA at 6 to 8 weeks in practice, IFZA at 4 to 6 weeks and RAKEZ at 30 to 45 working days, after the new company and its visas are in place. Meydan reissues its final licence 1 to 3 days after the old zone's exit certificate arrives.

Can I run both free zone licences at once during the transition?

Yes, and you should. Both licences run until the old company is deregistered, which lets visas, contracts and banking move without a gap. Time the exit to finish before the old licence's renewal date, or you may pay a full renewal for a licence you use for a few weeks.

Do I need a liquidator to close the old free zone company?

In several zones, yes. DMCC, JAFZA and RAKEZ require an approved liquidator, and IFZA requires a mandatory liquidation audit report. Most free zones use a portal or short newspaper notice rather than the mainland 45-day notice, which is why their exits are generally faster.

What happens to my Corporate Tax registration when I move free zones?

On the new-company route, the old company deregisters and the new one registers from scratch within three months of incorporation, with an AED 10,000 penalty if it is late. The old company cannot be deregistered until every return is filed and paid, including the return for the period up to the date it ceased.

Do I need a new Corporate Tax registration for the new company?

Yes. Corporate Tax registration attaches to the legal person, and a new company in the destination zone is a new taxable person. It registers within three months of incorporation and files its own return nine months after each tax period ends.

Does my VAT TRN transfer to the new free zone company?

No, on the new-company route. The old company's TRN is cancelled when it deregisters, and the new company registers afresh, mandatorily above AED 375,000 of taxable supplies or voluntarily from AED 187,500. Whether a registration survives a continuation is not confirmed, so ask the Federal Tax Authority before assuming it does.

What happens to my Qualifying Free Zone Person status if I move?

It does not travel. QFZP status belongs to the taxable person, so a new company must meet every condition itself from its first tax period. A company that fails a condition at any point in a period loses the status from the start of that period and for the four following periods.

Is there a tax-free way to move assets from the old company to the new one?

Sometimes. Article 26 Qualifying Group Relief and Article 27 Business Restructuring Relief let assets move at net book value, but neither applies if either company is a Qualifying Free Zone Person, and both are clawed back if their conditions fail within two years. Liquidating the old company inside that window reverses Article 26 relief.

Can I use Qualifying Group Relief if I own both companies personally?

Yes, on the ownership test. The FTA's guide CTGQGR1 confirms that the common owner holding 75% or more of both companies can be a natural person. Both companies must also share a financial year end and accounting standards, and neither may be a Qualifying Free Zone Person.

What is a Designated Zone and does it affect my move?

A Designated Zone is a free zone named in the annex to Cabinet Decision No. 59 of 2017 as amended, such as JAFZA, DAFZA, Hamriyah, SAIF Zone and Ajman Free Zone. It matters when goods move: stock sold from a non-designated zone such as Meydan or IFZA into a designated one is a local supply at 5%, while designated to designated sits outside the scope under customs suspension.

Is IFZA a VAT Designated Zone?

No. BusinessDubai.ae's check against the Cabinet Decision No. 59 of 2017 annex lists IFZA, Meydan Free Zone, Dubai South, Expo City, DMCC and DIFC as not designated. A free zone that is not designated is treated like any other part of the UAE for VAT.

Do continuation and closing and reopening cost the same?

Not necessarily, and continuation fees are rarely published. The new-company route costs the destination package price, with no switching penalty in BusinessDubai.ae's 2026 data, plus the old zone's deregistration, liquidator or audit, and the overlap. A continuation replaces the liquidation with the old zone's release process and an application fee at the destination, so ask both zones for their fees in writing.

Can a JAFZA company move to DMCC as the same legal entity?

Not on anything we could verify. DMCC's Article 18 lets an entity continue in only if the law of the jurisdiction it is leaving authorises the move, and requires a letter of no objection from that jurisdiction. No JAFZA exit provision was located, so ask JAFZA to name the regulation in writing before planning a continuation.

References

[1] DMCC Authority. DMCCA Company Regulations, issued 10 October 2024: Article 18 (continuation application, 75% resolution and letter of no objection), Article 19 (certificate of continuation and approval of the continuing company's name), Article 22 (rights and liabilities after continuation), Article 23 (transfer of registration out of the DMCC Free Zone) and Article 186.9 (Federal Law No. 32 of 2021 does not apply to any DMCC company or branch). dmcc.ae

[2] Al Tamimi & Company. An overview of the new Jebel Ali Free Zone company regulations: the JAFZA Companies Implementing Regulations 2016, issued 23 May 2016 and in force from 24 August 2016, allowing a foreign company to continue as a JAFZA company without establishing a new entity and to retain its original incorporation date. tamimi.com

[3] Ministry of Economy and Tourism. Transfer trademark service: recording a change of trademark owner, with a notarised and certified assignment agreement and an Arabic translation where the document originates abroad. moet.gov.ae

[4] Abu Dhabi Global Market. Companies Regulations 2020, Part 7 (re-registration and continuance): section 101 on which companies may not continue, section 102 on continuance into ADGM, section 109 on notice to creditors at least 31 days before an application to continue overseas, and sections 111 to 113 on the Registrar's authorisation to seek continuance outside ADGM and its effect. en.adgm.thomsonreuters.com

[5] Dubai International Financial Centre. Companies Law, DIFC Law No. 5 of 2018, Part 13: transfer of incorporation into DIFC as a Continued Company and transfer of a DIFC company's incorporation out of DIFC. difc.com

[6] Meydan Free Zone. Redomicile a company in the UAE (updated 18 July 2026): the inbound redomiciliation process, the exit certificate or no-objection letter issued within 30 days, the temporary licence marked "redomicile", and final licence issuance 1 to 3 days after the exit certificate. meydanfz.ae

[7] Gibson Dunn. Recent amendments to the UAE Commercial Companies Law: Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2025, the insertion of Article 15bis and the retention of legal personality on a transfer of registration, in force from 15 October 2025. gibsondunn.com

[8] TME Legal. UAE company re-domiciliation guide (2026): the scope of Article 15bis, including transfers between free zones and to and from ADGM and DIFC, and implementing regulations not published in complete form as of mid-2026. tme-legal.com

[9] BusinessDubai.ae. How to liquidate a company in Dubai (18 July 2026): free zone deregistration mechanics and timelines for DMCC, JAFZA, IFZA and RAKEZ, the JAFZA deregistration fee, the IFZA establishment card charge, and the VAT and corporate tax deregistration windows and penalties, compiled from jafza.ae, meydanfz.ae, tax.gov.ae and advisory sources. businessdubai.ae

[10] Federal Tax Authority. Corporate Tax registration and filing: registration within three months of incorporation for juridical persons formed on or after 1 March 2024 under FTA Decision No. 3 of 2024, the AED 10,000 late registration penalty, rates of 0% up to AED 375,000 and 9% above, and the return due nine months after the end of the tax period. tax.gov.ae

[11] Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP). Cancellation of residency permits, including the 180-day grace period after expiry or cancellation of Golden, Green and Blue residence permits and for their family members. icp.gov.ae

[12] Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP). Payment of visa or residence violation fine: AED 50 per day, and the condition that status must be adjusted or the individual must leave the UAE after paying. icp.gov.ae

[13] UAE Ministry of Finance. Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses, unofficial English translation: Article 26 (transfers within a Qualifying Group, including the exclusion in 26(2)(d) and the two-year rule in 26(4)), Article 27 (Business Restructuring Relief, including the exclusion in 27(2)(d) and the two-year rule in 27(6)), Article 34 (arm's length principle) and Article 52 (tax deregistration). mof.gov.ae

[14] Federal Tax Authority. Free Zone Persons Corporate Tax Guide (CTGFZP1) and Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025: the Qualifying Free Zone Person conditions including adequate substance, loss of status from the start of the tax period and for the four following periods, and the de minimis limit of the lower of 5% of revenue or AED 5,000,000. tax.gov.ae

[15] UAE Ministry of Finance. Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026, issued 29 July 2026, amending Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023: Small Business Relief up to AED 3,000,000 of revenue for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029, elected on the return, and unavailable to a Qualifying Free Zone Person. mof.gov.ae

[16] Federal Tax Authority. VAT registration and deregistration: mandatory registration above AED 375,000 of taxable supplies and imports, voluntary registration from AED 187,500, and cancellation of the Tax Registration Number on deregistration. tax.gov.ae

[17] Federal Tax Authority. Qualifying Group Relief Corporate Tax Guide (CTGQGR1), April 2024: section 3.1 (transfers as a result of liquidation, dissolution or merger excluded), section 3.2 (assets and liabilities held on capital account only), section 4.3.5 (the common third Person may be a natural person), section 6.1.2 (clawback where the Transferor or Transferee ceases to exist or becomes a Qualifying Free Zone Person) and the attribution of a clawed-back gain to the Transferee where the Transferor has ceased to be a Taxable Person. tax.gov.ae

[18] Federal Tax Authority. Business Restructuring Relief Corporate Tax Guide (CTGBRR1), 17 April 2024: the conditions for the relief, section 3.4 (transfers as a result of liquidation not covered) and section 6 (the two-year clawback, including transfers of consideration shares to persons outside the Qualifying Group such as individuals). tax.gov.ae

[19] PwC Middle East. GCC VAT rules for transfer of going concern (2021), summarising Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017 on VAT: the transfer of a whole business or an independent part to a taxable person who continues it is not a supply, with the conditions later clarified in FTA Public Clarification VATP015. pwc.com

[20] Federal Tax Authority. Cabinet Decision No. 59 of 2017 on Designated Zones, as amended: the annex naming Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai Airport Free Zone, Hamriyah Free Zone, SAIF Zone, Ajman Free Zone and RAK Free Trade Zone among the designated areas. tax.gov.ae

[21] Federal Tax Authority. Designated Zones VAT Guide (VATGDZ1): a free zone that is not designated is treated like any other part of the UAE, goods moved between Designated Zones under customs suspension, and goods released into the mainland treated as an import. tax.gov.ae

[22] Federal Tax Authority. Cabinet Decision No. 52 of 2017, VAT Executive Regulations, Article 51: goods moved into a Designated Zone from elsewhere in the State, transfers between Designated Zones, and services supplied in a Designated Zone treated as supplied in the State. tax.gov.ae

[23] Dubai Legislation Portal. Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025 regulating the conduct of free zone establishments' activities on the Dubai mainland, including the branch, dual licence and temporary permit pathways. dlp.dubai.gov.ae

[24] BusinessDubai.ae. Internal data from free zone registrations, zone and partner switches and closures since 2013, including 2026 package pricing on a stated visa basis, renewal experience, the no-penalty switching rule, bank opening outcomes, the AED 75,000 investor visa capital rule at IFZA and Meydan Free Zone, move sequencing and client case studies. businessdubai.ae