Desk research against primary sources. Figures are traced to the issuing UAE authority and linked on the page.
The 3–10 working day free-zone estimate and the 2–4 week mainland estimate both assume a standard, unregulated activity with a complete document set; anything requiring sign-off from a sector regulator sits outside both timelines because that approval runs on the regulator's own schedule, not the licensing authority's. Health, education and financial activities are the categories most likely to fall into this slower track.
Express processing at 24–48 hours is a genuine option in most free zones, but it applies to the licence issuance step specifically, not to any activity approval still pending from a regulator — paying the AED 500–2,000 express fee does not make a regulator's review move faster. Confirm which stage the express service actually covers before assuming it compresses the whole process.
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