SHAMS License Cost Guide

SHAMS, the Sharjah Media City free zone, publishes two licence packages on its business setup site, shamsfz.ae: a Media package and a Standard package, both priced per year with VAT included and both with a flexi desk. It also publishes the fee for each visa allocation, its multi-year discounts and its late penalties, and runs an official cost calculator. It does not publish a renewal price or itemised visa costs. This page lists every price SHAMS itself publishes, what each package includes, and what the headline leaves out, as checked on 27 September 2026. For the activities you can license, see the SHAMS activity list.

SHAMS packages and prices (official)

Both prices appear on the SHAMS packages page, marked “Starting From” and “T&C Apply”, with the note that all prices are inclusive of VAT.

SHAMS markets the Media package to creative professionals, freelancers and media businesses, and the Standard package to consultancy, trading and e-commerce. Under the packages SHAMS notes that external approvals may apply depending on the activity, and that e-channel registration fees are charged separately where applicable. Payment is possible through Tabby, Tamara and partner bank instalments.

Many websites still quote AED 5,750, the figure in SHAMS’s older blog posts; the current packages page and the official calculator give AED 5,760. SHAMS also runs campaigns, such as a content creator offer at the same AED 5,760 with one visa allocation included; none shows an end date, so check the page before you rely on one.

Visa allocation and visa costs

A SHAMS package includes no visa. To sponsor residence visas the company first buys visa allocations, and the SHAMS terms are explicit about what that buys: “Visa allocation approval does not result in the issuance of a residence visa. A fee of AED 1,600 per visa allocation is applicable.” Allocations are renewed with the licence at the same fee each.

The visa itself then goes through the immigration card, the e-channel registration, the entry permit or change of status, the medical test, the residence visa and the Emirates ID. SHAMS publishes none of those amounts separately; its calculator adds them as a lump sum and states that the prices are estimates only. What the official calculator returns for the first year:

The calculator adds AED 2,000 if you ask for business bank account assistance. The medical test is paid directly to the medical centre, and a change of status applies only when the applicant is already in the UAE. SHAMS’s Arabic calculator and its campaign pages run a different formula that gives the same no-visa totals but different visa totals, so treat any visa figure as an estimate and ask for a written quote.

Other published visa terms: a rejected investor or employee visa costs an AED 1,050 administration fee before the refund; cancelling the visa of the last remaining shareholder requires a refundable deposit of AED 2,100; and a refundable deposit applies to dependent visas under shareholder accounts, with the amount not published. A licence can carry up to 50 visa allocations, with a business plan and financial proof, and an annual audited report is required above 20.

Multi-year licences

SHAMS issues licences for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10 years. Its terms give a discount of 2% for two years, rising by 1% for each additional year to a maximum of 10% for ten years, on the licence and visa allocation fees. The calculator shows a two-year Media licence without visas at AED 11,295 and a two-year Standard licence at AED 13,500.

Activities, licence types and ownership

SHAMS issues service, trade and light industrial licences to limited liability companies and to local or foreign branches, and states that it is the only UAE free zone that registers a company as an LLC without the “FZ” designation. A licence can hold up to five business activities, either one activity group and four classes or five classes, with all subclasses included; activities beyond five cost extra, at a price SHAMS does not publish. Activities that need approval from another authority are issued with a red licence until the approval arrives. Media activities need approval from the federal media regulator, now the National Media Authority, and advertising businesses may need an advertiser permit.

A company can have up to 50 shareholders, and up to four managers and four directors, all individuals aged at least 18. The default share capital is AED 100,000. SHAMS confirms 100% foreign ownership, no need to be a UAE resident, and no NOC from a current sponsor for a founder already on a UAE visa. SHAMS does not offer a separate freelance permit; the Media package is the product it markets to freelancers.

How long SHAMS setup takes

The whole process runs online. SHAMS advertises a licence in 60 minutes; its own blog qualifies this as “in as little as 60 minutes after document submission and approval”, and its step-by-step page gives these timelines:

Added up, a licence with one residence visa takes 12 to 18 working days, plus 7 to 10 working days for the Emirates ID card; that total is our arithmetic from SHAMS’s step times. Applications submitted after 11:00 are counted from the next working day.

Renewal and the late penalty

SHAMS does not publish the renewal price of either package, so ask for it in writing before you pay for year one. Visa allocations renew with the licence at AED 1,600 each. If a licence expires, SHAMS allows a 30-day grace period, then charges a late cancellation penalty of AED 200 a month until the licence is renewed or cancelled, plus AED 1,000 if the company is suspended. Its terms describe a legal notice at six months after expiry, suspension at seven months, and cancellation of the immigration card and visas; the SHAMS regulations allow a licence to be cancelled once it has gone unrenewed for more than six months.

What SHAMS does not publish

• The renewal price of the Media and Standard packages.
• Itemised visa costs: entry permit, change of status, medical test, Emirates ID, immigration card and e-channel.
• Fees for name reservation, amendments, extra activities, letters and cancellation.
• Office prices beyond the flexi desk in the packages, except on one office bundle campaign page.
• End dates and conditions of its promotions.

Banking from Sharjah

The SHAMS calculator adds AED 2,000 when you ask for help with a business bank account. Banks decide on their own criteria, usually after an in-person meeting, and look at whether your activities match what you will invoice. No zone or agent can promise an account.

A bank account does not come with a SHAMS licence: the bank opens it separately, after its own review of the company, its owners and the expected transactions. For a new small company, two common starting points are Wio Business, which costs AED 99 a month on the Essential plan, with no minimum balance, and the ADCB SmartStart business account, which costs AED 131.25 a month including VAT, with no minimum balance, for UAE nationals and residents (banks’ own fee schedules, checked October 2026). Sharjah’s own InvestBank publishes no business account fees online; ask for its tariff in writing. Compare all of them on our UAE business banks page.

How SHAMS compares

SHAMS and SPC Free Zone both publish entry prices close to AED 5,750: AED 5,760 at SHAMS and AED 5,750 at SPC. The Sharjah free zone company setup guide compares them with Hamriyah and SAIF Zone. Meydan counters with a Dubai address, and IFZA with licence variety; the IFZA, Meydan and SHAMS comparison matches each zone to use cases. For the wider market, see the UAE free zone comparison table and the cheapest free zones roundup, or model your own totals in the free zone comparison tool.

If you want help with the process, you can compare free zone setup support from verified providers.

Other Sharjah free zones we cover: SRTIP.