Real timeline from our own lived case — a trading company in Meydan:

Step	What happens	Typical time
1. First talk	understand the business, choose jurisdiction and activities	day 0
2. Proposal + payment	one package price «from N AED» + government fees separately	day 0–2
3. Name reservation	reserve the company name	1 day
4. Pre-approval (regulated activities only)	extra permission from the profile regulator	adds days–weeks
5. License + MOA/AOA + lease	the company legally exists	≈ 1 day in Meydan
6. Establishment Card	the company can now sponsor visas	days
7. Tax registrations (CT; VAT if needed)	FTA registration	≈ 3 weeks
8. Bank account (Division 3)	dossier → introducer → compliance → account	≈ 1 month
9. Owner's visa (Division 2)	entry permit → medical → biometrics → EID	days–2 weeks

The honest headline

Full cycle ≈ 6 weeks. The slowest step is the bank — so we start preparing the bank dossier IN PARALLEL with the license, not after it.

Tell the client this honest timeline at the start. Never promise «one week for everything» — that promise is how cheap agencies burn clients.

☐ License itself is fast (≈ 1 day in Meydan); the full working setup ≈ 6 weeks.
☐ The bottleneck is the bank → bank dossier starts in parallel with the license.
☐ Regulated activities add Pre-approval time — say it before payment.

The client's journey — honest timelines