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There are not two providers. There are four. Each does overlapping-but-not-identical work, and the cost difference between the right one and the wrong one is usually 3–5x.
The traps come from mixing them up. Paying a setup agent AED 14,500 for what a typing centre would do for AED 250. Or paying a typing centre AED 350 for what an in-house PRO already needs to do because the file has to be filed under the company’s MOHRE login.
This is what each provider can actually do, what it should cost, and what skill the person doing it needs. Numbers are 2026 Dubai mainland averages, before government fees.
| Task | In-house PRO | Outsourced PRO service | Typing centre | Setup agent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trade licence renewal | Included in salary | AED 1,500–4,000 all-in (incl. base DED fees, excl. rental market fee) | Can prepare papers (AED 150–250) — but DED filing still needs the company’s licence portal | AED 2,500–5,000 (often bundled into a renewal package) |
| New employment visa (per visa) | Included in salary | AED 3,000–7,000 turnkey via PRO | AED 200–400 typing only — government fees and submission still on you (from AED 2,500 if typing-only with company filing the rest) | AED 4,000–8,000 turnkey, often as part of a setup package |
| MOHRE work permit filing | Included | AED 250–3,450 service fee + government category fee | Tasheel-licensed typing centres can submit under company authorisation; non-Tasheel centres prepare only | Bundled |
| Emirates ID renewal | Included | AED 350–750 | AED 40–150 typing fee + AED 100/year government card fee (typing centre handles ICP submission) | Rarely handled standalone |
| Tenancy registration (Ejari) | Included | AED 350–600 | AED 150–250 (typing centres handle this directly) | Rarely standalone |
| Attestation (MOFA, embassy) | Included | AED 500–1,500 + actual attestation fee | AED 100–200 typing + attestation fee | Bundled if part of setup |
| Court typing / legal letters | Limited (most in-house PROs do not handle court work) | Limited; usually referred out | Core typing-centre service — AED 100–300 per letter | Not in scope |
| Free-zone-specific filings | Only if PRO is trained on that free zone | Strong — most outsourced PROs are multi-zone | Limited — typing centres do not have free-zone portals | Strongest — packaged for the zone they sell |
| New company formation | Out of scope | Sometimes available | Out of scope | Core service |
| Tawjeeh / labour contract signing | Yes | Yes | No | Bundled if part of setup |
The grid makes the answer obvious for most situations: you need a typing centre for transactional work, an outsourced PRO for ongoing strategic government interface, an in-house PRO once you cross the volume threshold, and a setup agent only at the moment of company formation.
Don’t want to figure this out alone? Sarmat is a KHDA-certified training provider and registered typing centre in Deira, Dubai. Message us on WhatsApp — we answer questions like this every day.
A PRO — Public Relations Officer — is your company’s licensed government-liaison person. They hold the company’s labour-card and immigration-card portal logins and are the accountable interface for everything filed under your name. They can file directly, or instruct a Tasheel-licensed typing centre to file MOHRE work permits and labour contracts on the company’s behalf. Tasheel centres are a regulated subset of typing centres — they hold MOHRE authorisation to submit, not just prepare. A non-Tasheel typing centre is licensed only to prepare documents. This is the source of 80% of founder confusion: the typing-centre desk you walk into to type a power of attorney is not the same desk that submits an MOHRE work permit. The typing centre’s AED 250 looks cheaper than the PRO’s AED 2,500, but each is doing a different stage of work — and for non-MOHRE filings (DED renewal, GDRFA residence-visa stamping) the company’s portal access still flows through the PRO. The two services are sequential, not substitutable.
If you are wondering what the job itself looks like day-to-day, our PRO Officer career guide walks through it from inside the role. And if you are weighing whether to train a junior staff member into the PRO role rather than hire externally, see the PRO Officer salary breakdown for what the same person earns at entry, mid, and senior level.
Here is the rule of thumb that costs the most money to get wrong: a typing centre handles the document; an outsourced PRO service handles the process. If the task is “type and notarise this power of attorney,” that’s a typing centre — AED 200, an hour. If the task is “renew the trade licence including DED reconciliation, ejari verification, immigration-card refresh, and any quota adjustments before the deadline,” that’s an outsourced PRO — AED 1,500–4,000, two to four days, owned end-to-end. Founders trying to save money by treating the second as the first end up paying twice, because the typing centre prepared papers that still need the company’s PRO portal access to reconcile against the licence record. The exception is MOHRE work-permit filings, where Tasheel-licensed typing centres can submit directly under company authorisation. See common typing centre questions for the precise edge of what we file directly vs. what needs the company’s PRO login.
For the deeper 2-way breakdown of in-house vs outsourced PRO specifically — the path most Dubai SMEs eventually face once volume picks up — see our outsourced vs in-house PRO comparison, which goes into the cross-over point in detail.
The crossover math is straightforward. An entry-level in-house PRO costs AED 4,500–6,500/month (AED 54,000–78,000/year all-in). An outsourced PRO retainer of AED 3,000/month is AED 36,000/year. The break-even is around 12–20 PRO-touch events per month. Below that, outsource; above that, hire. Most companies under 15 staff stay outsourced. Most companies above 30 staff have an in-house PRO whether or not the org chart says so.
The hidden third option that competitors never mention: train one of your existing administrative staff into a Certified PRO. The KHDA-certified PRO Officer Program at Sarmat is AED 2,890 (one-time, currently a promo from AED 5,200), runs three days, and produces a person who can handle in-house PRO work full-time. Versus AED 36,000–72,000 a year for outsourcing, the training pays back in the first month. If you are still comparing PRO courses in the city before committing, our best PRO course in Dubai breakdown walks through what the certification actually covers.
Setup agents earn their fee at the moment of company formation. Mainland LLC packages typically run AED 14,500–25,000; free-zone packages AED 11,500–18,000. The package usually bundles trade licence, immigration card, establishment card, two or three visas, and Ejari setup. After formation, the setup agent’s ongoing value drops fast — they are not equipped or priced for monthly PRO work, and the renewals they offer at AED 4,000+ are work an outsourced PRO does for AED 1,500–2,500. See Dubai business setup costs for the full mainland-vs-free-zone cost grid before deciding which zone-and-package to buy. And if you are still weighing whether to file the visas yourself rather than buy the package, our DIY visa processing in Dubai analysis lays out the real hours-and-mistakes cost.
Sarmat operates the Deira typing centre AND the KHDA-certified PRO Officer Program — and we hire and train into the same field, so if you want to gauge the labour market before deciding, our typing-centre jobs in Dubai piece shows what entry-level operators actually earn. We do not sell outsourced PRO retainers or full setup-agent packages — which means when you ask us which provider you actually need, we have no commercial reason to push you toward the wrong one. Send a quick WhatsApp note describing your situation and we will tell you within ten minutes which of the four routes makes sense, and what each one should cost in your specific case. If the answer is “train your own PRO,” the Certified PRO Officer Program is here. If the answer is “use our typing-centre desk for ad-hoc work,” walk in any day.
A PRO holds the government-portal logins and authority to submit filings under the company’s name. A typing centre prepares the documents. The two are sequential — the typing centre’s paper goes through the PRO’s login. They are not substitutable.
Outsourced PRO retainers run AED 1,500–6,000/month for SMEs, with annual totals AED 18,000–72,000+. In-house PRO salaries run AED 4,500–6,500/month entry, AED 7,000–10,000 mid-level, AED 12,000–18,000 senior.
It depends on the filing. Tasheel-licensed typing centres can submit MOHRE work permits and labour contracts directly under company authorisation. For GDRFA residence-visa stamping, DED licence work, and most non-MOHRE portals, the typing centre prepares and the company’s PRO portal access submits.
A setup agent handles company formation — trade licence, immigration card, establishment card, initial visa quota. A PRO handles ongoing operation of the licensed entity. The setup agent’s value drops fast after formation.
The break-even is around 12–20 PRO-touch events per month. Below that, outsource (AED 18,000–72,000/year). Above that, hire (AED 54,000+/year all-in). The cheapest third path is training an existing staff member through the Certified PRO Program (AED 2,890 one-time).
A typing centre can prepare the documents, but the actual DED renewal filing requires the company’s licence portal access — typically the PRO. The two-stage workflow is why renewal fees from outsourced PROs (AED 1,500–4,000 all-in, including base DED fees) look high — they include the submission work and the licensed government interface.
For under 5 visas a year, the cheapest stable setup is typing centre for one-off documents + outsourced PRO on a light retainer. Once volume exceeds 15 events/month, training a junior staff member via the AED 2,890 Certified PRO Program becomes cheaper than continued outsourcing.
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