Silicon Oasis Dubai Activities

Dubai Silicon Oasis Free Zone follows the business activity list of Department of Economic Development.

You can have up to 7 different activities in your license. They should be from the same segment: either trading, or service, or possibly industrial.

However, some activities, which can be set up only in the Mainland are not available.

Freelance category is also not available in this free zone, but if you are looking for it, check out freelance license Dubai.

Costs

Dubai Silicon Oasis company setup can be done in 2 ways:

1. Getting a workstation package

It will include a work desk, license and 1 visa of the owner. Work desks are subject to availability and it may happen that there is no desk for your application.

The cost of such package is 30,000 AED + 5,000 AED refundable deposit.

2. Getting a license + office space

Office spaces start from 7 sq meters. Other small sizes are 15 and 22 sq meters.

License cost is 12,000 AED. If you get a license + 7 sq meters office in Techno Hub, the price will be about 26,000 AED.

Payment for offices can be done by 4 post-dated cheques. Dubai Silicon Oasis company setup cost is one of the best in the Emirate compared to other free zones.

Business setup

Dubai Silicon Oasis company formation starts with picking up of an office facility. It is better to view them to get a full understanding of the offers.

Once you have chosen the office, the process goes as follows:

Company name reservation Pre-approval of the business Signing of the lease agreement Payment Getting the license

Personal visit of the company owner will be required at the last step.

Company formation usually takes about 2 weeks.

The documents you need to prepare:

Passport copy

Personal photo

Visa or previous entry stamp to UAE copy

Resident visas

Companies in Dubai SIlicon Oasis Free Zone authority become eligible to a certain number of visas based on the office size.

Each 9 sq meters make a company eligible for 1 resident visa. So if you rent a 50 sq meters office, you will get 5 visa slots under it.

DSO does not issue a visa of Investor or Partner. All visas will have some managerial designations.

Important the General Manager of the company must hold a resident visa from Dubai Silicon Oasis.

Dubai Silicon Oasis visa costs (AED):

DSO fees, AED Medical checkup, AED Emirates ID, AED Refundable deposit, AED Applicant in UAE 4,860 690 370 2,500 Applicant out of UAE 3,260 690 370 2,500

Additional fee of 5,000 AED will apply to applicants over 60 years old.

All visas are valid for 3 years.

License renewal

Company renewal is done on an annual basis. You need to pay the office rent and the license fees.

You also need to provide audit reports of your company every year. The first audit is to be done after 18 months from the company registration date.

Amendments

Most frequent company amendments include:

Shares transfer

Company name change

Business activity amendment

Change of the company manager

The fees for amendments in Dubai Silicon Oasis Free Zone company start from 500 AED and go up to 2,000 AED.

Some applications can be done remotely, but change of shareholder requires personal presence.

Business liquidation

Dubai Silicon Oasis has easened up the liquidation procedure and reduced the costs.

Company closure fee is about 2,000 AED now.

You need to provide final audit report and return all original company documents when you apply for liquidation. Lease agreement should be terminated and visas have to be closed.

Opinion

DSO is a great place for companies looking for cheap offices within Dubai. It is easy to employ people there affordable accommodation is available within the same area.

Dubai Silicon Oasis is situated next to Academic City, where you can find students for some projects in your company.

Since there is a techno hub, you are likely to find a lot of qualified people within the area too.

Alternative, but more expensive solution to Dubai Silicon Oasis Free Zone company formation is a DMCC company formation.