Three activities are included. We tell you before you pay if one of them needs someone else's permission.
Your licence lists what you are allowed to do. Three activities are included in every package; each one after that is AED 1,500. You can hold activities from more than one field on the same licence.
The large majority of the list is yours the moment the licence issues. No further permission, no waiting.
The licence issues on time and carries a note. You obtain the approval in your own time and the note comes off.
These genuinely block. We tell you which authority and what it means before you pay, not after.
Counted from the MCFZ activity list generated 25 July 2025. 116 of the 967 require external approval — 12% of the catalogue.
If an activity you want needs one of these, we say so on the screen where you pick it — with the authority named and whether it blocks the licence or not.
| Authority | Activities | When |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Health — Abu Dhabi | 56 | After the licence |
| UAE Space Agency | 29 | Before the licence |
| Department of Education and Knowledge | 10 | After the licence |
| Agriculture and Food Safety Authority | 6 | After the licence |
| UAE Media Council | 3 | Before the licence |
| Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation | 3 | Before the licence |
| Climate Change and Environment, Industry, Civil Aviation, Central Bank, Police, Judicial Department | 9 | Varies |
Seven of these depend on where you operate rather than on what you do. If you trade only inside the free zone, four activities that would otherwise need approval first do not need it at all — so we ask that question rather than assume the worst.
Country, emirate and district names, and UAE airport codes. Continents and regions like MENA or Asia are fine. A name cannot begin with International or Middle East in any language, though Global is allowed.
Allowed when the activities justify them. Holding needs a holding activity, Finance needs a regulated financial one. The check reads your activities, not just the word.
Trademark protection is scoped to a category, so a name that clashes in an unrelated field is usually not a conflict. We flag it, explain the risk, and let you decide — and you can leave a note for the reviewer.
Yes, and you choose whether the Arabic renders the meaning or the sound. The legal suffix is never translated.
The register contains names registered under older rules. They are not precedent, and the rules are applied as they stand today.
Everything else we either read off the passport or ask for only when your answers make it necessary.