Dubai One Freezone Passport: Complete Business Setup Guide

Setting up a business across multiple free zones in Dubai used to mean obtaining duplicate licenses, lengthy approvals, and high administrative costs. Businesses expanding into more than one zone often waited months and paid significant overhead to manage compliance.

To solve this, the Dubai Free Zones Council (DFZC) launched the One Freezone Passport in July 2025. This initiative enables companies to operate across participating free zones with a single licence, reducing costs, saving time, and facilitating seamless expansion.

Overview of Freezones in Dubai 

Dubai hosts more than two dozen free zones, each designed around specific sectors, including finance, media, logistics, technology, healthcare, and manufacturing. Collectively, these zones are a cornerstone of the emirate’s non-oil economy, attracting thousands of international companies with benefits like 100% foreign ownership, profit repatriation, and tax exemptions.

The scale is significant: Dubai’s non-oil foreign trade reached AED 835 billion in Q1 2025, up 18.6% year-on-year. Much of this growth is driven by the free zone ecosystem, which enables global businesses and SMEs to establish quickly and connect to international markets.

Each free zone brings unique infrastructure:

• DIFC anchors financial services with banking, fintech, and arbitration facilities.

• Dubai Design District (d3) and Dubai Media City host global creative industries and content creators.

• Dubai Healthcare City supports life sciences with hospitals, labs, and training centres.

The challenge, until recently, was fragmentation. Every free zone operated under its own framework, forcing companies that wanted multi-zone operations to duplicate licences, repeat approvals, and absorb months of additional cost and administration.

The One Freezone Passport, launched in July 2025, directly addresses this inefficiency. By allowing companies to operate across multiple zones with a single licence, it eliminates duplication, reduces fees, and accelerates cross-sector expansion, empowering Dubai’s position as a seamless global hub.

Goals Behind One Freezone Passport 

The One Freezone Passport was introduced to strengthen Dubai’s position as a global business hub by removing barriers between its free zones. Instead of duplicating licences and approvals, companies can now expand seamlessly across multiple zones under a single corporate structure.

For businesses, this means:

• Faster expansion: onboarding timelines cut from months to days (Louis Vuitton completed its multi-zone setup in just five days).

• Lower costs: no more duplicate licensing or repeated administrative processes.

• Operational flexibility: the ability to combine the strengths of different zones, such as JAFZA’s logistics network with DWTC’s commercial presence, under one unified framework.

• Cross-sector collaboration: easier partnerships between industries like finance, healthcare, logistics, and creative services.

At the macro level, the programme is aligned with the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33), which aims to double the city’s GDP by 2033 and position Dubai among the world’s top three urban economies. A frictionless, multi-zone ecosystem gives Dubai a sharper competitive edge against investment hubs like London and Singapore.

Louis Vuitton Leads as First Member

Global luxury brand Louis Vuitton became the first corporate member to join this scheme and benefit from its offerings. It will now maintain its warehouse operations in Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), and at the same time establish its corporate office at One Za’abeel, a part of DWTC Free Zone. It took the company five days to complete the process.

The swift and efficient onboarding of Louis Vuitton to the One Freezone Passport demonstrates the caliber of businesses in Dubai and its commitment to nurturing a healthy and friendly business environment. 

The company’s decision to expand operations into DWTC Free Zone from JAFA further strengthens international confidence among global investors in Dubai’s thriving business landscape. 

Eligibility Criteria for the One Freezone Passport

Not every company can join immediately, businesses must meet strict criteria:

• Valid Trade Licence: Must already hold an active licence from a recognised Dubai free zone.

• Non-Objection Certificate (NOC): Required from your current free zone authority before expanding into another.

• Office or Facility Lease: Proof of physical presence (office, warehouse, or flexi-desk) in the new free zone.

• Sector-Specific Approvals: Healthcare, education, and financial services may require clearance from regulators (e.g., DHA, KHDA, DFSA).

• Restricted Sectors: Retail, DNFBPs (Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions), and regulated financial institutions are excluded.

Key Benefits of One Freezone Passport 

• Unified Licensing: Operate across 30-40+ free zones, including JAFZA, DWTC, Dubai Internet City, and DIFC, under a single license with full foreign ownership and corporate tax exemptions.

• Cost & Time Savings: Streamlines approvals, eliminates duplicate licenses, and reduces administrative burden.

• Cross-Sector Collaboration: Encourages partnerships across logistics, manufacturing, finance, technology, and more.

• Strategic Flexibility: Leverage the strengths of multiple zones, e.g., JAFZA’s logistics or DWTC’s commercial prestige, through one license.

• Global Competitiveness: Reinforces Dubai’s position as a seamless entry point for international business.