Yes, in 2026 you can move your UAE company from one free zone to another, or between a free zone and the mainland, without dissolving it and starting over. A law that came into force on 15 October 2025 lets your company keep the same legal entity, contracts, and bank accounts while it transfers its registration. The part most guides skip: your staff visas do not move with the company. Each one has to be cancelled at the old free zone and re-issued at the new one.

Bottom Line

What changed in October 2025

Before October 2025, moving between free zones effectively meant closing one company and forming another. That erased your trade history, forced you to re-open bank accounts, and re-sign contracts under a new entity. Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2025, published in the Federal Gazette on 14 October 2025 and in force the next day, changed that.

The law added a new redomiciliation provision to the Commercial Companies Law. It creates a statutory route to transfer your company's registration to another UAE competent authority: between Emirates, from one free zone to another, and between a free zone and the mainland. See Norton Rose Fulbright for the practical scope.

Why does that matter so much? Redomiciliation preserves your legal personality. Your contracts, bank accounts, counterparty relationships, regulatory registrations, and corporate history all survive the move rather than being re-created from scratch. For an owner, that is the difference between a registration transfer and a full reset.

Most owners still think a free-zone move means a fresh company. Since 15 October 2025 that assumption is out of date, and it changes the whole cost calculation, because the expensive parts you feared, bank accounts and contracts, now stay put.

If your frustration is really with your agent rather than your zone, the narrower fix is often transferring your trade licence to a new agent.

Your visas do not move with the company

Most guides gloss over this. The ICP suspended Employment Residence Permit transfers within and between free zones, a measure introduced in December 2023 that has not been publicly reversed since. On that basis, sponsorship transfer from a previous employer to a new one, in the same free zone or another, is treated as unavailable. Confirm the current rule with your zone before you plan, as immigration policy can change without wide notice.

So your entity moves, but your people do not move with it in one step. Because transfers are suspended, each employee must cancel their existing permit under the old sponsor and apply for a new one under the new free zone entity. There is no direct free-zone-to-free-zone visa move. Plan for the cost and the days each person spends between permits.

What about family visas?

Dependents need their own plan. A dependent on a Dependent Resident Permit must either cancel and re-apply once the main permit is re-issued, or have the permit placed on hold if it has at least three months of validity left. Dependents cannot exit and re-enter the UAE while applications are in process. Time any family travel around this.

Usually, this is the single biggest hidden cost and timing risk in a free-zone move. Owners budget the licence fees and forget that every visa, staff and family, restarts. That gap, not the paperwork, is what catches people out.

How the exit work at your current free zone works

The exit is gated, and the gate is visas. Your old free zone will issue the exit certificate or NOC only once the exit is worked through, and practically that means cancelling every company visa and closing the establishment card first, because transfers are suspended so each permit has to be cancelled at the old sponsor. Nothing at the destination can finish until this clears, so the exit sequence sets your whole timeline.

This is also where a slow or hostile incumbent provider can hurt you. The legal requirement is simple: cancel visas, close the establishment card, receive the certificate. What is not a legal requirement is an extra "exit fee", a demand for the original documents to be surrendered, or weeks of silence. Those are service problems dressed up as process.

We take a clear position on this. A clean exit should never mean your paperwork is withheld or that you pay a penalty to leave. If your current provider is adding friction, that is a signal about them, not about the law. Our provider take-over service is built for exactly this handover.

If the deeper issue is the provider rather than the zone, see our guide on switching your business setup or PRO provider without paying to leave.

If you are unsure whether a document is actually required to leave, our guide on whether you need an NOC to change your business setup agent breaks down what is genuine and what is pressure.

What the destination free zone needs from you

The destination zone has its own checklist, and timing matters. Most zones want an exit certificate or NOC dated within the last 30 days, verifiable, plus your current trade licence, MoA, share certificate, shareholder passports, and UBO details. If the exit certificate ages out, you may have to re-issue it, so line up the destination paperwork before the exit clears.

For inbound continuation, zones typically require a certified copy of the certificate of incorporation issued within the last three months, a special resolution approving the transfer, an NOC from the existing free zone, and KYC on shareholders, directors, and beneficial owners. Gather these in parallel with the exit, not after it.

Once the exit certificate clears, the destination re-issues your licence and opens a fresh establishment card. Meydan cites licence reissuance in roughly one to three days once the exit certificate is in, with visa slots re-allocated by the zone. Your visas are then applied for fresh under the new entity.

Redomiciliation is a formal corporate act, not just a filing. You need a special resolution of the general assembly, or the consent of the absolute majority of partners, plus confirmation that both the origin and destination authorities permit and approve the transfer. If either authority does not allow the move, it cannot proceed, so check both before you commit.

Your company also has to be in good standing, with no pending dissolution or unresolved violations. Zones will not approve a continuation for an entity that is mid-dispute or non-compliant.

Watch the destination zone's discontinuation deadline, and confirm it against that zone's own regulations rather than a summary. DMCC, for instance, sets its continuation requirements and capital rules in its Company Regulations, so read those directly before you rely on any specific deadline or minimum-capital figure. Miss a discontinuation window and the move can unwind.

The tax angle: don't lose your 0% by accident

Moving to a "0% free zone" does not give you 0%. The rate follows your conduct, not your address. Redomiciliation transfers your registration, but you keep the 0% rate on qualifying income only if you still meet every Qualifying Free Zone Person condition: adequate substance, qualifying income, the de minimis test, no mainland election, and arm's-length pricing.

The numbers are worth knowing before you move. Fail any condition and the 9% rate applies to taxable income above AED 375,000. The de minimis threshold for non-qualifying income is the lower of 5% of total revenue or AED 5 million in a tax period, and audited financial statements are mandatory for the status.

So before you sign anything, confirm the destination zone still supports your qualifying activity. A move that quietly drops you out of qualifying-income territory can cost far more than any renewal saving.

Progress bar

Redomiciliation vs closing and re-opening: what survives the move

Legal entity and corporate history (redomiciliation)
100
Legal entity and corporate history (close and re-open)
0
Contracts and bank accounts (redomiciliation)
100
Contracts and bank accounts (close and re-open)
0
Staff visas (either route: cancel and re-issue)
0
0255075100

Source: Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2025 (Art. 15 bis); ICP free-zone ERP transfer suspension; free-zone authority guidance

The real cost and timeline

Set realistic expectations on time. There is no official published processing time, and practitioners' estimates for a straightforward internal move cluster around two to three months, with creditor notice and tax or exit clearance being the usual delay points. Treat any single figure as indicative, not a guarantee. Visa re-issuance is the other big variable, and regulated activities or larger headcounts push it out further.

On money, budget for both sides. There are exit-side government fees, then setup-side government fees at the destination, plus new visa and establishment-card costs for every person you move. The visa line is per person and it repeats for dependents, so a team of ten costs very differently from a solo owner.

Keeping your licence current through the transition matters too, since an expired licence complicates the exit. Our licence renewal service can hold that steady while the move runs. If you are weighing a move to the mainland instead, our guide on moving a free zone company to mainland UAE covers where a bad provider slows that down.

Should you move at all? A decision checklist

Weigh the switching cost against what you are actually escaping. The core statutory route now preserves your entity and history, so the expensive fear (a full reset) is off the table. The real cost is the visa restart, so the answer often turns on your headcount, not your paperwork.

Run through these before you commit:

  • Are your visa slots and headcount worth the cancel-and-reissue cost and the days of downtime per person?
  • Is your reason strong enough: cheaper renewals, a better activity fit, or escaping a provider holding your documents?
  • Will your qualifying activity and QFZP status survive in the destination zone? Confirm this in writing first.
  • Can you line up the exit and the setup to run in parallel, not one after the other, to shorten the gap?

We have found the owners who come out ahead are the ones who sequence it right: the destination paperwork is ready and approved before the exit certificate is even requested, so the two halves overlap instead of waiting on each other.

Frequently asked questions

Can I really move my UAE company to another free zone without closing it in 2026?

Yes. Since 15 October 2025, a new redomiciliation provision in the Commercial Companies Law provides a statutory route. Your company keeps the same legal entity, contracts, bank accounts, and corporate history, and transfers its registration to the new authority, provided both authorities approve and you pass a special resolution or absolute-majority partner consent.

Will my employees' visas transfer to the new free zone automatically?

No. The ICP suspended Employment Residence Permit transfers within and between free zones in December 2023, and that suspension has not been publicly reversed since. On current rules each visa has to be cancelled under your existing entity and re-issued under the new one. There is no direct free-zone-to-free-zone visa move, so plan for the cost and the days each person is between permits, and confirm the position with your zone.

What happens to my staff's family visas during the move?

Dependents on a Dependent Resident Permit either cancel and re-apply once the main permit is re-issued, or the permit can be placed on hold if it has at least three months of validity left. Dependents cannot exit and re-enter the UAE while applications are in process, so time any travel carefully.

Why does my current free zone say it can't give me an exit certificate yet?

The old free zone issues the exit certificate only once the exit is worked through, which practically means all company visas are cancelled and the establishment card is closed first, since permit transfers are suspended. If your provider is adding extra fees or dragging this out, that is a service problem, not a legal one. A clean exit should not mean your paperwork is kept from you.

Do I keep my 0% corporate tax rate after redomiciling?

Not automatically. The 0% rate depends on still meeting all Qualifying Free Zone Person conditions in the new zone: adequate substance, qualifying income, the de minimis limit, no mainland election, and arm's-length pricing. Fail any condition and 9% applies on income above AED 375,000, so confirm your activity still qualifies before you move.

Ready to move without the friction

Redomiciliation finally lets you change free zones without throwing away your company. The two things that decide whether it goes smoothly are the visa restart and the behaviour of your outgoing provider. Get both right and the move is manageable. Get either wrong and it stalls. If you want a clean exit, no leaving penalties, no documents used as bargaining chips, and a team that runs the exit and setup in parallel, book a call and we will map your move end to end.