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Yes. Every company, whether mainland or free zone, must hold a valid trade licence before it can trade, invoice clients or open a corporate bank account. The type of licence, commercial, professional or industrial, depends on your planned activity, and the correct choice affects visa quotas and permitted business scope.

Costs vary with jurisdiction, activity, office space requirement and number of visas needed, so there is no single published figure. Free zones and mainland authorities each set their own fee schedules. Vigor reviews your activity and requirements and provides a firm quotation before any application is submitted.

Straightforward free zone licences can often be issued within a few working days once documents are complete, while mainland setups involving external approvals or larger office space can take longer. Timing depends on the activity, chosen jurisdiction and how quickly supporting paperwork is provided.

Typically you need passport copies of all shareholders, proof of residential address, a business plan or activity description, and, for corporate shareholders, attested incorporation documents. Free zones and mainland authorities may ask for additional items depending on the licence type and the nature of the activity.

Most free zone licences require audited financial statements at renewal, and mainland companies may need them for banking, tender or shareholder purposes. Whether audit is compulsory for your entity depends on its jurisdiction, licence conditions and constitutional documents, so it is worth checking your specific renewal requirements.

An expired licence typically leads to fines that increase the longer the licence remains unrenewed, and it can also block visa processing, bank transactions and government approvals until the licence is reinstated. Exact penalty amounts and grace periods are set by the issuing authority for each jurisdiction.