Free Zone Licence Renewal in the UAE: What Each Authority Publishes
Free zone licence renewal is not one rule — every free zone authority writes its own. We read five authorities’ own pages and regulations on 14 October 2026. Only one publishes a daily late penalty, only one publishes multi-year terms, and not one of the five publishes a grace period.
The federal portal does not fill that gap either, which surprises people. This guide prints what each authority publishes, says plainly where it is silent, and never fills a silence with an agency’s number. If you would rather hand the renewal over, our trade licence service handles it; see also our guide to renewing a Dubai mainland trade licence, which is a different process under a different authority.
What u.ae publishes about free zone licence renewal
Almost nothing, and that is worth knowing before you go looking.
The federal portal’s page on starting a business in a free zone, dated 6 May 2026, says you apply “through the website of the respective free zone authority” and that “After review and approval, you will get a licence within 14 working days.” It does not say how long a licence lasts or how it is renewed.
The companion page on running a business in a free zone does not mention renewal periods, validity, late fines, the renewing authority or fees at all.
So there is no federal rule to look up. Your answer is on your own free zone’s website, and nowhere else.
Five free zones, side by side
Everything in this table is quoted or summarised from that authority’s own page or regulations, read 14 October 2026. “Not published” means the authority is silent on it — not that no rule exists, and not that you are free to ignore it.
| Free zone | Renewal term | Grace period | Late penalty | Office or lease rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DMCC | 1 year for industrial licences; 1, 2, 3 or 5 years for service and trading, except certain regulated activities | Not published | “a sanction will be imposed on the member company account, penalties will apply”; amounts are in the Schedule of Charges, not on the page | Ejari number mandatory for all leased units except seven named types, where lease documents replace it |
| IFZA | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| Meydan | Not published | Not published | No amount; the Authority may impose “a fine the value of which to be decided by the Authority” | “A Company or Branch shall at all times have a registered address within the Authority” |
| RAKEZ | Not published on the renewal checklist | Not published | AED 50 per day from the expiry date, plus third-party fines on the immigration file and chamber membership | Two copies of the renewed lease agreement for offices, warehouses or land |
| Shams | Not published | Not published | No renewal-specific fine; a general breach fine of “UAE Dirhams 1,000” | “A Company or Branch shall at all times have a registered address in the City” |
Read down the grace-period column. Five authorities, five silences. Whatever anyone tells you about “thirty days after expiry being fine”, no one has published it.
What each authority actually says
DMCC
DMCC’s Licence Renewal Guidelines are the most complete of the five. The obligation is plain: “a DMCC Entity must renew its Licence on or before the date of expiry specified in the Licence.”
Miss it and “a sanction will be imposed on the member company account, penalties will apply”, and it “might lead to the licence being terminated by authority.” The amounts are not on the page; it points you to the Schedule of Charges.
The term is the useful part. Industrial licences renew for one year. Service and trading licences can renew for one, two, three or five years — but “Companies with certain regulated activities cannot apply for multi years licence renewal.” Processing is “2 Business days.”
On premises: “Ejari Certificate number is mandatory for all leased units except for” the DMCC Business Centre, non-DMCC business centres, common areas, plots, shared units and the DMCC Tea Trading Centre, where lease documents are accepted instead. Our guide to when you need Ejari in Dubai covers that registration itself.
IFZA
IFZA publishes little about renewal mechanics, but it publishes one thing no other authority on this page does. From its licence renewal FAQs, which carry no issue date of their own: “Effective from the 30th of September 2025, a company will need to submit their Financial Statements during the renewal of their trade license.”
And for anyone who renewed just before that date: “Companies that renew their license before the 30th of September 2025 will not be required to submit Financial Statements as part of the renewal process. However, submission will be required for the subsequent trade license renewal.”
Statements must be electronically signed by the authorised signatory and submitted through a form shared during the renewal process. Audited statements prepared for the Federal Tax Authority for the same financial year may be used.
Meydan
Meydan’s Companies and Licensing Regulations 2022 set the obligation and little else. The document carries no date: “A Licensee must renew its Licence prior to the expiry of the current term of the Licence”, and “Temporary Licences are renewable if approved by the Authority.”
No term, no grace period and no fine amount are published. The Authority may suspend or cancel a licence where fees including “the application, licence, renewal or other fee” are unpaid, and may impose “a fine the value of which to be decided by the Authority.” A company must “at all times have a registered address within the Authority.”
RAKEZ
RAKEZ publishes the one hard number in this guide, on its Free Zone Licence Renewal Checklist, Issue No 04, dated 22 January 2025 — the only one of the five documents that carries a proper issue date:
“Failure to renew on or before the expiry date will result in incurring late renewal penalty charge of AED 50 per day”, and “In addition, third-party fines will be incurred on Immigration File and COC membership.”
There is a timing trap in the same checklist worth knowing before you plan anything: licence type and activity changes, adding or cancelling a licence, and lease upgrades or downgrades “will only be accepted 60 days prior to licence expiry.” If you were going to add an activity at renewal, that window matters. For leased offices, warehouses or land, “it is required to submit two (2) copies of the Lease Agreement”.
Shams
Sharjah Media City’s Companies and Licensing Regulations 2017, which carry no date, set out the same obligation — renew before expiry — with no term, no grace period and no renewal-specific fine. The regulations provide a general fine of “UAE Dirhams 1,000” for a breach, and allow the Authority to suspend or revoke a licence where renewal fees are unpaid. A company must “at all times have a registered address in the City”.
The free zones we did not read
DAFZA, JAFZA, Dubai South, Sharjah Publishing City and the Ajman free zones are not in the table because we did not read their renewal terms on the day. We are not going to describe them from memory or from somebody’s blog.
For any of those, check the authority’s own page and take the terms it publishes, not the terms a consultant quotes you. Our guide to mainland versus free zone companies in Dubai covers how the two regimes differ before you are in one.
What is not published anywhere official
- Any grace period after expiry, for any of the five authorities read.
- A licence validity period for IFZA, Meydan, RAKEZ or Shams. Only DMCC publishes renewal terms.
- Renewal fees for any of the five. DMCC points to a Schedule of Charges; the others publish no figure on the pages read.
- The penalty amounts behind DMCC’s “penalties will apply” and Meydan’s fine “to be decided by the Authority”.
- Whether a free zone licence can be renewed after it has already expired, and for how long, in any of the five.
- Whether IFZA, Meydan or Shams require Ejari or an equivalent at renewal.
- Anything at all, federally. Neither u.ae page addresses free zone renewal.
Our advice — practical guidance, not a rule
Marked as advice because no official page prescribes it.
- Treat the expiry date as the deadline, because every authority we read does. All five use the same construction — renew before expiry. None offers you a day after it.
- Find your own authority’s renewal page and keep the link. The answer is not federal and not transferable between free zones. What DMCC publishes tells you nothing about what RAKEZ charges.
- If you are changing anything, start early. RAKEZ will only accept activity and lease changes in the 60 days before expiry. Other authorities may have windows they do not publish.
- Get the lease or Ejari settled first. It is the requirement most likely to stall a renewal that is otherwise ready.
- If you are with IFZA, have the financial statements ready. They have been part of renewal since 30 September 2025, and the first renewal after that date is when it bites.
- Do not budget from a figure you were quoted verbally. Only RAKEZ publishes a penalty amount. Everything else is a number somebody has told you.
If you would rather not read five sets of regulations, our trade licence desk tracks the expiry, assembles what your authority asks for, and tells you plainly when a figure is not published rather than inventing one. Our guide to establishment card renewal covers the other renewal that falls due alongside it, and our guide to closing a company in Dubai covers the decision not to renew at all.
Frequently asked questions
How do I renew my free zone licence in the UAE?
Through your own free zone authority’s portal, before the expiry date printed on the licence. There is no federal renewal process: u.ae directs you to “the website of the respective free zone authority” and publishes nothing about renewal itself.
What is the grace period for free zone licence renewal?
None of the five authorities we read — DMCC, IFZA, Meydan, RAKEZ and Shams — publishes a grace period. Each one requires renewal before expiry. Treat any grace period you are offered verbally as unpublished.
What is the penalty for late free zone licence renewal?
RAKEZ publishes AED 50 per day from the expiry date, plus third-party fines on the immigration file and chamber membership. DMCC says penalties will apply without publishing amounts, Meydan leaves the value to the Authority, and IFZA publishes nothing.
Can I renew a free zone licence for more than one year?
At DMCC, yes for service and trading licences — one, two, three or five years — though certain regulated activities are excluded and industrial licences renew annually. The other four authorities we read do not publish renewal terms.
Do I need Ejari to renew a free zone licence?
At DMCC an Ejari certificate number is mandatory for leased units, with seven named exceptions where lease documents are accepted instead. RAKEZ asks for two copies of the renewed lease for offices, warehouses and land. The others do not publish a requirement.
Do I need financial statements to renew?
At IFZA, yes, since 30 September 2025. Companies that renewed before that date were exempt for that renewal but not for the next one. No other authority on this page publishes the requirement.
What happens if I do not renew my free zone licence?
Every authority we read can suspend or cancel the licence. DMCC says non-renewal “might lead to the licence being terminated by authority”; Meydan and Shams allow suspension or revocation where renewal fees are unpaid. None publishes how long it takes.