SHAMS company setup

Sharjah Media City (SHAMS) opened in 2017 as a free zone for media and creative businesses. Sharjah has long been known for culture and publishing, and SHAMS was set up to license businesses in that area.

It has grown since then. It now covers services, consulting, trading, e-commerce and holding companies, as well as media. Its licence types are media, service, trading, industrial, and a freelance permit for people who work for themselves.

It is known for good value. It is in Sharjah, within reach of both Sharjah International and Dubai International airports. It does not have the higher cost of a central Dubai address. For many businesses, that higher cost never brought anything extra.

It suits content, media and creative businesses of every size: production, publishing, design, advertising and digital. It suits people who work for themselves, because the freelance permit is a real option here. It also suits consultants, e-commerce businesses and small traders whose clients are abroad or do not care where the licence is from.

It does not suit a business whose customers will check the address. This matters more than it sounds. In some industries, some partners ask more questions about a Sharjah licence than a Dubai one. If you sell to those partners, the money you save is not really a saving. We will tell you if we think this applies to you.

It also does not suit businesses that need Dubai approvals, a Dubai mainland presence or an office in a Dubai area. And like everywhere, a free zone licence does not replace the approval of the authority that controls your industry.

SHAMS gives media, service, trading and industrial licences, plus a freelance permit. The freelance permit is really different: it licenses a person, not a company. It suits consultants, creative people and contractors who want legal status and a residence visa without running a company.

For companies, it works the usual way: a trade licence, company papers and an establishment card, which lets you sponsor residence visas. You choose your business activities when you set up, and you can usually have more than one on a licence.

The freelance permit has limits. Because it is a person, not a company, it affects how you sign contracts, how you invoice larger amounts, what banks think of you and what happens when you want to hire staff. If you plan to build a team, set up a proper company from the start instead of changing later.

We apply to SHAMS directly, and we will be honest with you about the address question, which is the only real downside of this zone. Firms that only work with Sharjah zones never mention it. We work with zones in six emirates, including six in Dubai, so we have no reason to hide it.

Banking also matters here. Banks are used to Sharjah free zone licences, but which banks accept which business activities can change. Check this before you set up the company, not after.

Our free zone company setup has a confirmed starting price, shown on this page with what is not included. The visa, Emirates ID and medical are charged for each person, not for each company.

We do not publish a separate SHAMS licence fee. It depends on the licence type, the business activity and the number of visas, and the freelance permit is priced differently from a company licence. We give you a written price for your case.

It only depends on whether a Dubai address is worth its cost for your business. If your clients are abroad, if you sell online, or if you are a creative or technical person judged on your work, it usually is not worth it. The difference is money you keep.

If you sell to UAE companies, if your partners check the address, or if you need to be in Dubai most days, it usually is worth it, and we will point you to IFZA or Meydan instead.

That is the whole comparison. Anyone who makes it more complicated is usually selling the zone they work with.