Free Zone License Renewal
Renewing before expiry in each of the six zones, and what each authority actually publishes about it.
Free zone licence renewal
Two of the zones we work with put the renewal duty in their own regulations in almost the same words. Meydan: “A Licensee must renew its Licence prior to the expiry of the current term of the Licence” (Companies and Licensing Regulations, Clause 13.1). Shams: the same duty at Article 12.1 of its Companies and Licensing Regulations 2017. Ajman NuVentures states the period rather than the duty: “Licenses must be renewed annually” (ancfz.ae).
What almost none of them publishes is the other half: what happens the day after expiry. Five of the six are silent on it entirely — no grace period, no late fee, no route back. The exception is one page on Meydan’s own site, and it needs reading carefully rather than quoting flat; the section below does that. The silence is the thing worth planning around, and it is why a renewal date on a watched list is worth more than any advice on this page.
If what you want is the comparison of what each authority publishes about renewal, that is our guide, and it is linked at the foot of this page. This page is about having the renewal done.
What this desk covers
- Watching the expiry date, so the renewal starts early rather than late
- The renewal application in whichever of the six zones your licence sits in
- Clearing anything outstanding that would block it, before it blocks it
- The lease or flexi-desk renewal the licence depends on
- The immigration card, which does not renew itself alongside the licence
- A licence that has already expired: working out what that zone will actually require to put it right
- Any external approval the activity brings with it each year
Get this quoted
Itemised in writing, government charges shown separately, before anything is filed.
Which one do you need?
Who this page is for
- Owners whose renewal is due in the next quarter and who would rather not do it in the last week
- Anyone whose licence has already expired and who has had a different answer from three people
- Companies with staff on their sponsorship, where a lapse reaches further than the licence
- Owners outside the UAE at renewal time
- Anyone who has lost track of which of the lease, the licence and the immigration card expires first
- Groups with licences in more than one zone and more than one renewal calendar
What we need from you
To quote and start:
- The current licence, including its expiry date
- The zone it was issued by
- Whether the lease or flexi-desk is renewed, due, or already expired
- Whether anyone is sponsored on the company's visas
- Anything you already know is outstanding with the zone
The supporting-document list is the zone's, and none of the six publishes a complete one. Meydan's own renewal page names the renewal declaration and the payment and lists no supporting documents at all (meydanfz.ae, published 15 October 2026, updated 19 October 2026). We confirm yours with the zone rather than send you a generic checklist.
How a renewal runs with us
- Send the licence. The expiry date and the zone are the two facts everything else hangs on.
- We check what would block it — unpaid charges, an expired lease, an activity approval that has run out. Meydan's own advice on its renewal page is to "Clear unpaid charges first" (meydanfz.ae), and it is the single most common reason a renewal stalls.
- Written quote, with the zone's charges itemised separately from our fee.
- Lease or flexi-desk renewed if the licence depends on one.
- Renewal filed with the zone and followed up until the new licence is issued.
- The immigration card checked, because the licence renewal does not carry it.
- The new dates recorded, and the next renewal flagged well before it arrives.
Turnaround and fees
- Fees: quote on request. Itemised in writing, zone charges separate, before anything is filed.
- Start early, not because we say so. Meydan's own wording is that "A Business License must be renewed before the end of its validity period" (meydanfz.ae), and Shams and Meydan both put the same duty in their regulations. Leaving it to the last week removes every option if something is outstanding.
- One page on one zone's site gives a grace period and a fine, and they are the Dubai mainland figures. Everywhere else the two are simply absent. Treat the published number as a reason to ask your zone, not as your zone's answer.
- A clean renewal is quick. A renewal behind an unpaid charge, an expired lease or a lapsed activity approval is as long as that other thing takes.
The renewal duty, in each zone's own words
Three of the six put something in writing. Three do not.
- Meydan, Clause 13.1: "A Licensee must renew its Licence prior to the expiry of the current term of the Licence." (meydanfz.ae)
- Shams, Article 12.1 of the Companies and Licensing Regulations 2017: the same duty, in the same terms. (shams.ae)
- Ajman NuVentures: "Licenses must be renewed annually." (ancfz.ae)
- RAKEZ does not publish a renewal procedure. It names the service — "License Renewal Free Zone" in its customer service catalogue (eportal.rakez.com) — and its Companies Regulations treat failure to renew as a consequence rather than a procedure (Art. 101(1)(d)).
- SPC and Dubai South publish no companies or licensing regulations on their own sites at all.
Notice what is missing from all six: a date to work back from. None of them says renew thirty days before, or sixty. The duty is "before expiry" and the planning is yours.
When a licence lapses
Here is the one number anybody publishes, and the reason we will not hand it to you flat. A guide page on Meydan's own site answers "What happens if I miss my license renewal date?" with: "You'll still have a 30-day grace period, but a AED 200 fine applies for every month of delay. Long delays can lead to license cancellation or blacklisting" (meydanfz.ae, read 10 November 2026). Three things about that, in order of importance. First, a 30-day grace period and AED 200 per month are precisely the Dubai mainland figures — the ones our own Dubai trade licence renewal page sources to the Executive Council resolution that sets them. Second, Meydan's own Companies and Licensing Regulations, which are the zone's actual rules, contain no grace period and no late fee; Clause 13.1 says only that a licensee must renew before expiry. Third, the surrounding questions on that page are explicitly about Meydan while this one is phrased generally. So the most likely reading is that a Meydan marketing page is restating the mainland rule, and we are not going to repeat it to you as your zone's rule on the strength of an FAQ. If your licence is with Meydan, this is a question we put to Meydan in writing before anything depends on the answer. Set that aside and the picture across the six is blank: no other zone publishes a grace period, and none publishes a late fee. What they publish instead is consequences, and they are not small:
- Meydan, on its own site: a lapse means "the company is no longer licensed to trade", and can disrupt banking reviews and visa processing. (meydanfz.ae)
- Shams, Article 8.1: no business may be carried on without a Licence; Article 13.2(d): unpaid fees, including renewal fees, can ground suspension or cancellation. (shams.ae)
- RAKEZ, Article 101(1)(d): "a Company's failure to renew the license" is a ground on which the Registrar may apply to Court to wind the company up. Article 101(1)(b) adds suspension of the licensed activity for six months as another. (rakez.com)
So the published picture is that there is no soft landing described anywhere, and in one zone the stated endpoint is a winding-up application. That is a reason to treat the expiry date as a hard date rather than a target. If yours has already lapsed, the reinstatement page is the right one, and it is honest about how little is published there too.
Renewal, zone by zone
| Zone | Renewal duty published | Grace period | Late fee | Procedure published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPC Free Zone | No | No | No | No |
| SHAMS | Yes, Art. 12.1, before expiry | No | No | No |
| Dubai South | No | No | No | No |
| Meydan | Yes, Clause 13.1, before expiry | A guide page says 30 days — the mainland figure, not in its regulations | A guide page says AED 200/month — same caveat | Partly — a declaration and a payment, no document list |
| RAKEZ | Named as a service only | No | No | No |
| ANC | Yes, annually | No | No | Online, shareholders need not attend |
Five blanks in the grace-period column, and a sixth entry that is a mainland figure wearing a free zone's name. That is the most useful line on this page, and it is the reason we will not quote you a number for your zone without asking your zone.
What a renewal does not carry with it
Three things expire on their own schedule and a renewed licence does not touch any of them. The visas. Meydan states it directly: renewal "does not automatically renew visas, Emirates ID or medical insurance" (meydanfz.ae). The immigration card. SPC's own account is that it "must be renewed periodically" and "should be renewed along with the commercial licenses" (spcfz.ae) — along with, not by. The lease. In most of these zones the licence is issued against premises, so an expired lease stops a renewal that would otherwise be routine. The reason to list all three is that they fail in that order, quietly, and the first anyone usually notices is a visa application that will not go through.
Renewal questions, zone by zone
When does a free zone licence have to be renewed?
Before it expires, in the zones that publish a rule. Meydan: "A Licensee must renew its Licence prior to the expiry of the current term of the Licence" (Clause 13.1, Companies and Licensing Regulations). Shams says the same at Article 12.1 of its Companies and Licensing Regulations 2017. Ajman NuVentures: "Licenses must be renewed annually" (ancfz.ae).
Is there a grace period after expiry?
One page says yes and nothing else does. A guide on Meydan's own site answers "What happens if I miss my license renewal date?" with "You'll still have a 30-day grace period, but a AED 200 fine applies for every month of delay" (meydanfz.ae). Read the caution below it before relying on that: those are the Dubai mainland figures, and Meydan's own regulations contain neither. The other five zones publish nothing on a grace period at all.
What is the fine for renewing late?
The only figure published anywhere on these six zones' sites is the AED 200 a month in that same Meydan guide, and it is the Dubai mainland fine — the one set for mainland licences, which our Dubai trade licence renewal page sources to the Executive Council resolution that fixes it. No zone publishes a free zone late fee of its own. If you have been quoted one, ask where it is published.
What actually happens if the licence lapses?
Meydan's own page is blunt about the commercial consequence: a lapse means "the company is no longer licensed to trade", and it adds that it can disrupt banking reviews and visa processing (meydanfz.ae). Shams' regulations say no business may be carried on without a Licence (Art. 8.1) and that unpaid fees, renewal fees included, can ground suspension or cancellation (Art. 13.2(d)) (shams.ae). RAKEZ goes furthest: "a Company's failure to renew the license" is a ground on which the Registrar may apply to Court to wind the company up (Art. 101(1)(d), Companies Regulations).
Does renewing the licence renew the visas too?
No, and Meydan says so on its own page: renewal "does not automatically renew visas, Emirates ID or medical insurance" (meydanfz.ae). The immigration card is separate again, and our free zone immigration card page covers it.
Can I renew without being in the UAE?
In at least one zone, yes: Ajman NuVentures says renewal "can often be completed online without the need for shareholders to be physically present" (ancfz.ae). The other five publish nothing on it, so it is confirmed case by case.
Does RAKEZ have a renewal service for free zone companies?
Yes, and it names it as its own line item: "License Renewal Free Zone" appears in the RAKEZ customer service catalogue, separately from "License Renewal Non-Free Zone" (eportal.rakez.com). The catalogue names the service; it does not publish the procedure, the documents or the fee.
What usually stops a renewal going through?
Something outstanding that nobody checked for. Meydan's instruction is to "Clear unpaid charges first" (meydanfz.ae), and an expired lease comes a close second, because in most of these zones the licence cannot outlive the premises it sits on.
My lease expires before my licence. Which comes first?
The lease, almost always, because the licence is issued against it. Send us both dates and we will tell you the order for your zone rather than the general case.
I have licences in two different free zones. Can you handle both?
Yes, and the practical gain is one calendar instead of two. The zones do not coordinate with each other and nothing warns you when two renewals land in the same fortnight.
What does renewal cost?
Quote on request, in writing, with the zone's charge separate from ours. None of the six publishes a renewal fee, so a single figure here would be invented, and the spread between the six is wide enough that it would mislead almost everyone.
Where can I see what each authority publishes, side by side?
That is our guide on free zone licence renewal, which sets out what u.ae and each authority publish, with the quotes. It is linked below. This page is the service; that one is the research behind it.
Every renewal duty quoted here is the zone's own wording, read from the zone's own document on 10 November 2026. The blanks — grace period, late fee, procedure — are blanks because nothing fills them, not because we stopped looking. Authorities change these without notice. 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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