How much does it cost to renew a UAE free-zone licence?
There is no single UAE free-zone renewal price: a renewal is the annual licence and establishment card, year one's one-off registration and immigration-file fees drop out, and each residence visa renews on its own cycle. Formenzo confirms your zone's renewal figure in writing.
Formenzo publishes real, published 2026 scenario figures, confirmed in writing, with no sales call. See the full Cost Index or the open price dataset (CC-BY).
Build my estimate →Get a quote on WhatsApp →By the Formenzo Research Desk · compare all 9 zones
What a renewal invoice actually includes
Year two drops the pieces that were genuinely one-off — the registration fee and the first-time immigration file — which is why renewal normally lands below the year-one figure. What you keep paying is the annual licence and authority fee, the establishment or immigration card where your zone charges one, and the running cost of keeping any active residence visas valid. That is also why no single renewal number exists for "the UAE": the figure is a function of your zone and your headcount, which is what the calculator works from.
Who checks renewal costs before choosing a zone
Renewal maths matters most to founders committing for the long haul: a solo consultant who will hold the same licence for years, an e-commerce operator carrying staff visas, or anyone weighing a cheap first-year offer against what the zone charges once the promotion ends.
Two things founders ask
Do visas renew at the same time as the licence? Not usually — the licence renews annually while each residence visa follows its own validity, so the two costs often land in different months.
What happens if the licence lapses? Zones add late penalties and can freeze visa and amendment services until the renewal is settled, so the deadline is worth diarising.