Free Zone Immigration Card
The card the zone calls an immigration card and GDRFA calls an establishment card: issued, renewed, cancelled.
The free zone immigration card
Three names, one document, and a fourth thing that is not it at all. Your free zone calls it an immigration card. GDRFA in Dubai and ICP in the other emirates call the same document an establishment card. MOHRE’s labour file is a separate thing again and is not this. We untangle all three, with sources, in our guide on the establishment card and the labour file; this page is about the free zone side of it.
What the card does is best put by SPC Free Zone, which describes it as “the company’s immigration profile” and as “a legal immigration document issued by the UAE Government to companies doing business there”, issued by “the competent immigration authority (GDRFA in Dubai, ICP in other emirates, or via the relevant free zone authority)” (spcfz.ae, published 7 May 2026, shown as updated 10 November 2026).
Without it, the company cannot sponsor anybody. That is the whole reason this page exists as a separate service rather than a footnote on the formation page.
What this desk covers
- Issuing the card after a new licence, so the first visa is not held up by it
- Renewing it, which does not happen automatically when the licence renews
- Cancelling it when the company is closing, in the right order relative to the visas
- Amending it when something on the licence it is tied to has changed
- Working out which authority your zone actually deals with for it
- Checking it before a visa application, rather than after one has failed
Get this quoted
Itemised in writing, government charges shown separately, before anything is filed.
Which one do you need?
Who this page is for
- New free zone companies about to sponsor their first visa
- Owners whose visa application was refused and who have been told the card is the reason
- Companies that renewed the licence and assumed the card came with it
- Anyone closing a free zone company and unsure what has to be cancelled first
- Owners who have been given three different names for the same document and would like that settled
- Companies with staff, where a lapsed card reaches further than the owner
What we need from you
To quote and start:
- The current trade licence
- The existing card, if there is one, with its expiry
- Passport copy for the manager named on the licence
- Whether anyone is currently sponsored on the company
- Which free zone, and which emirate it sits in
SPC Free Zone publishes a requirement list for the card: a valid trade licence, company registration documents, passport copies for all owners, the office or facility address, and immigration forms, adding that further documents may be needed depending on jurisdiction (spcfz.ae).
That list is SPC's, for SPC. It is the only one of the six that publishes anything resembling a list, and it should not be read as the requirement for the other five.
How a card file runs
- Send the licence, and the old card if there is one.
- We confirm the authority. Which of GDRFA, ICP or the zone itself handles your card is the first fact, and it is not always what the owner expects.
- Written quote, with the government charge separate from our fee.
- Application filed with the documents the authority wants for your zone.
- Card issued, renewed or cancelled, and followed up until it is in hand.
- The visas checked against it, because a card in order and a visa file out of order still stops the same application.
- The expiry diarised next to the licence's, since the two do not move together on their own.
Turnaround and fees
- Fees: quote on request, with the authority's charge itemised separately.
- Not one of the six publishes a card fee, a validity period or a cancellation rule. We looked at each. SPC publishes the most and still publishes none of those three.
- SPC does publish a rough processing time — usually "just a few days" — and adds that free zone registration can speed approval (spcfz.ae). That is SPC's statement about SPC.
- The order is what costs time on a cancellation. SPC's own warning is that failing to renew could block new visa requests and the renewal of employees' work permits; closing in the wrong order has the same effect for longer.
Three names, one document, and a fourth thing
Immigration card is what your free zone calls it. Establishment card is what GDRFA calls it in Dubai and what ICP calls it in the other emirates. They are the same document. Labour file is not. That is a MOHRE registration, held with a different authority for a different purpose, and the fact that all three get called "the company file" in conversation is the source of a great deal of wasted time. We keep them apart properly, with sources, in our guide on the establishment card and the labour file. What the card is for is best stated by the one zone of six that publishes a page about it. SPC Free Zone: "the company's immigration profile", which links the company to the immigration system and gives it access to visa applications, Emirates ID processing, employee sponsorship and visa renewals (spcfz.ae). A company with no card is a company that cannot sponsor. Everything else on this page follows from that one sentence.
Issuance: after the licence, before the first visa
The order is published, and it is the order that matters. SPC sets out the steps as: obtain a trade licence from a mainland or free zone authority; submit an immigration application; submit the required documents; pay the immigration fee; receive the card once approved (spcfz.ae). Its requirement list for that application is a valid trade licence, company registration documents, passport copies for all owners, the office or facility address, and immigration forms — with the caveat, in SPC's own words, that additional documents may be needed depending on jurisdiction. Read that caveat carefully. It is SPC telling you that its own list is not universal, which is also our reason for not reprinting it as the requirement for the other five zones. On timing, SPC says processing is usually "just a few days" and that free zone registration can speed approval. That is one zone's statement about itself.
Renewal: it does not travel with the licence
This is the single most expensive misunderstanding on this page, and both ends of it are published. SPC on the card: it "must be renewed periodically" and "should be renewed along with the commercial licenses". Along with. Not by (spcfz.ae). Meydan on the licence: a renewal "does not automatically renew visas, Emirates ID or medical insurance" (meydanfz.ae). Put together: renewing the licence renews the licence. The card, the visas, the Emirates IDs and the insurance each have their own date, and nothing warns you when one of them has gone. SPC publishes what happens when the card is the one that went — new visa requests blocked, and employees' work permit renewals with them. The fix is dull and it works: the card's expiry goes on the same watched list as the licence's, on the day the card is issued.
Cancellation: the order that saves weeks
None of the six publishes a cancellation procedure for the card. What everyone who has done one knows, and what the structure of the thing implies, is that the order is not optional: the people sponsored under the card come off first, and the card comes after. That is because the card is the company's immigration profile. While a residence visa is live under it, the profile has something live attached to it, and authorities do not usually close a file with live dependants hanging from it. So a closure that starts with the card is a closure that stops at the first step and has to be restarted. A closure that starts with the visas moves. We plan it in that order and tell you the sequence before you start, because the sequencing is most of the value here.
What each of the six publishes about the card
| Zone | Publishes anything on the card | Fee | Validity | Cancellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPC Free Zone | Yes — a full article, with a requirement list and an order of steps | No | No | No |
| SHAMS | No — not mentioned in its public FAQ | No | No | No |
| Dubai South | No — not mentioned on its registration page | No | No | No |
| Meydan | No — its renewal page says only that a licence renewal does not carry visas or Emirates ID | No | No | No |
| RAKEZ | No — not named in its customer service catalogue | No | No | No |
| ANC | No — not in its FAQ; the only related line is that the visa process includes a medical fitness test, Emirates ID and visa stamping | No | No | No |
Twenty-four "No"s and one "Yes". That is the real state of published information on a document that every one of these companies has to hold, and it is why this is a page about getting it right rather than a page quoting rules.
Immigration card questions, zone by zone
Is the immigration card the same as the establishment card?
Yes — one document, different names depending on who is speaking. SPC Free Zone's own description is "the company's immigration profile", issued by "the competent immigration authority (GDRFA in Dubai, ICP in other emirates, or via the relevant free zone authority)" (spcfz.ae). Our guide on the establishment card and the labour file separates all three documents properly.
Who issues it for my free zone?
That is the first thing to establish and it varies. Note that SPC's own page is internally inconsistent on this: its body says GDRFA, ICP or the free zone authority, while the FAQ on the same page says it is issued by GDRFA. We quote the body, flag the contradiction, and confirm with the authority for your zone rather than choosing the convenient half.
When do I need it?
After the licence and before the first visa. SPC sets out the order as a trade licence first, then an immigration application, the documents, the fee, and the card (spcfz.ae). A company with a licence and no card cannot sponsor anybody.
Does it renew when my licence renews?
No. SPC's own wording is that it "must be renewed periodically" and "should be renewed along with the commercial licenses" — along with, not by. Meydan makes the same point from the other side: a licence renewal "does not automatically renew visas, Emirates ID or medical insurance" (meydanfz.ae).
How long is it valid?
Not published by any of the six, and SPC, which publishes the most about the card, gives no validity period. The answer for your card is on your card, and if you cannot find it we will.
What does it cost?
Quote on request. None of the six publishes a fee for it. A fee schedule does exist for Dubai's PCFC and Trakhees free zones, but its own scope line limits it to licence holders within Trakhees jurisdiction, which is none of the six we work with, so quoting it here would be telling you a price that does not apply to you.
What happens if it lapses?
SPC publishes the consequence rather than a penalty: failing to renew could block new visa requests and the renewal of employees' work permits (spcfz.ae). In practice that is how most owners find out it has lapsed at all.
Do the other five zones publish anything about it?
Almost nothing. Shams' public FAQ does not mention it. Ajman NuVentures' FAQ does not mention it. Meydan's renewal page does not mention it. Dubai South's registration page does not mention it. RAKEZ's customer service catalogue does not name it as a service. SPC is the only one of the six with a page about it.
How is it cancelled?
Not in a way any of the six publishes. What is published everywhere, implicitly, is the order: the people sponsored under it come off first, and the card after. Doing it the other way round is the usual reason a closure takes twice as long as it needed to.
Is the labour file the same thing?
No. MOHRE's labour file is a separate registration with a separate authority, and it is one of the three documents our establishment card and labour file guide exists to keep apart. They are not interchangeable and they do not renew together.
Can you check mine before I apply for a visa?
Yes, and it is the cheapest thing on this page. A card checked before an application costs a message; a card discovered mid-application costs the application.
Where do I read about the fees and the fine?
On our establishment card renewal guide, which sets out what GDRFA publishes in Dubai, what ICP charges instead, and the late fine, with sources. Those figures belong there and are deliberately not repeated on this page.
One zone of six publishes anything at all about this card, and its page is quoted here as read on 10 November 2026 — including the point where it contradicts itself. Fees, validity and the late fine belong to the immigration authorities and sit on our establishment card guide, not here. AL HUDHUD Documents Clearing Services is a documents clearing and PRO services company, not a law firm; this is information, not legal advice. Fees: quote on request.
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