JAFZA License Renewal 2026: Fees, Documents, Steps

A JAFZA license renewal in 2026 costs AED 5,000 in licence fees for a service or Group One trading licence, AED 8,500 for Group Two trading, AED 15,000 for general trading or logistics and AED 30,000 for a holding licence, plus AED 500 for each additional activity, according to Jebel Ali Free Zone's own renewal guide. JAFZA lets you renew within three months before expiry and charges a flat AED 1,000 fine once the licence has expired. Your lease, the AED 1,910 immigration card and every visa renewal are paid on top, and the lease must be valid before the licence can renew.

That is the headline. The detail matters because a JAFZA renewal is not one payment. It is a sequence: lease first, then licence, then the immigration card, then visas and representative cards, with tax and audit records checked alongside. Each item has its own fee and its own expiry date, and JAFZA will not renew the licence while the lease behind it has lapsed.

This guide is for a founder or finance manager who already holds a JAFZA licence and wants to renew it on time, at the right cost, and without discovering a missing NOC in the last week. Every fee below comes from JAFZA's Services Guidebook on jafza.ae, read on 5 October 2026. Fees change, so confirm the figure on the Dubai Trade portal before you pay. Noble Core Ventures is an independent private consultancy, not a government body and not part of JAFZA. JAFZA alone decides every application.

JAFZA license renewal cost in 2026: the official fee table

JAFZA is one of the few UAE free zones that prints its renewal licence fees in full. The table below is the licence fee schedule from its Renew License guide. It is the same schedule used for activity amendments.

Read the table carefully. The licence fee is only one line of your renewal. A company in a JAFZA office pays its annual lease separately, calculated under its lease agreement, and a company with visas renews its immigration card and each residence permit on its own schedule. For a small trading company the licence fee is often the smaller part of the annual bill.

The second point is activities. A Group One trading licence covers seven activities, extendable to 17 at AED 500 each. If you added activities over the year, they appear on the renewal. If you no longer trade in some of them, renewal is the moment to remove them, because an amendment made with the renewal costs only AED 500 on top of the licence fee, while an amendment during the licence year costs the full licence fee again.

What else you pay at renewal: lease, immigration card and visas

Here are the other JAFZA fees most companies meet in the same renewal cycle, again from JAFZA's own service guides.

Two of these deserve attention. The CIC, which JAFZA calls the Computer Immigration Card and most of the UAE calls the establishment card, must be valid for any immigration application at all. If it lapses, you cannot renew a visa, cancel a visa or issue a new one until it is renewed. And JAFZA's residence permit renewal fee is a package that includes the immigration and medical handling, so do not add a separate medical fee on top of the normal package figure unless the authority's invoice shows one.

If your company is under JAFZA's group insurance arrangement, the guide adds a premium by salary band for each renewed permit. Health insurance itself is a legal requirement for every visa holder, and if you buy it through us, a basic plan costs AED 500 per person per year.

The renewal sequence: lease, licence, then immigration

JAFZA renewal follows a fixed order because each step checks the one before it.

1. Renew the lease. The Dubai Trade portal creates the lease renewal service request automatically when the lease falls due. Pay the rent under your lease agreement and upload updated insurance confirmations where your facility requires them, for example workmen's compensation, third-party and fire cover. JAFZA states the lease must be valid to renew the licence.
2. Renew the licence. In the portal, open Licence, then Renew License Approval, and submit the request with the documents for your company type. A company administrator must hold portal access to do this.
3. Renew the immigration card. Submit the CIC renewal through the Service Provider menu. The only document is a trade licence copy, so this step follows the licence.
4. Renew visas and cards as they fall due. Residence permits, Company Representative Cards and access cards each run on their own dates. Renewal of a representative card can be submitted 30 days before expiry or within 30 days after it; after that the card is cancelled automatically and a new one is needed.
5. Update outside records. If anything changed at renewal, update your Federal Tax Authority record and your bank's KYC file.

The licence itself is quick once the file is complete. The delays come from step one, from an expired Operational Fitness Certificate, or from an external NOC that was never requested. That is why we start 60 days out, even though JAFZA only accepts the licence renewal in the final three months.

Documents you need, by company type

JAFZA's guide sets out documents by entity type. For most FZEs and FZCOs in offices, the list is short.

Some activities add an external document:

• Sea shipment, cargo and transportation activities: an NOC letter from Dubai Maritime City at the time of renewal, as JAFZA's guide states.
• Vehicle rental under a service licence: an NOC from the RTA (Roads and Transport Authority).
• National Industrial licence: a valid National Production Certificate copy.

The branch of an overseas company is where renewals most often stall. A good standing certificate from the parent's home country must be notarised and attested before JAFZA will accept it, and attestation abroad runs on someone else's calendar. If your parent is outside the UAE, request the certificate at least six weeks before the licence expires.

The OFC matters for warehouses, plots and industrial units. It confirms the facility meets JAFZA's operational and safety requirements. Offices and workstations are exempt, which is one reason a pure trading or service company in a JAFZA office renews with very little paperwork.

Late renewal: the AED 1,000 fine and what an expired licence blocks

JAFZA's published penalty for renewing an expired licence is a flat AED 1,000. Compared with some free zones that charge a monthly fine, that looks mild. The real cost of a lapsed licence is what it stops.

• Immigration. An expired licence leads to an expired immigration card, and without a valid CIC no residence permit can be renewed or cancelled. An employee whose visa expires in that window cannot be renewed on time.
• Representative cards. A Company Representative Card that is not renewed within 30 days after expiry is cancelled automatically, and the company has to apply for a new one.
• Banking and customs. Banks and customs brokers routinely ask for a valid licence. An expired licence can hold up payments and shipments, which for a JAFZA trading company is usually the most expensive consequence.
• The employment card fine. JAFZA lists an AED 500 late fine on the company employment card, which sits on top of the licence fine when both lapse.

If a company is terminated, voluntarily or by JAFZA, reinstatement is a separate service. JAFZA lists the registration and licence reinstatement fee at AED 5,000, processed in three working days after an appointment with the lease team. That is five times the late renewal fine, which is a strong argument for renewing on time.

Multi-year renewal, amendments and adding activities

Three-year renewal. JAFZA allows a licence to be renewed for up to three years, but only for companies holding a plot lease or a plot and sublease facility with more than three years of validity remaining. The guide lists a charge of AED 1,500 for each licence type on that basis, and three years of rent must be paid. It also warns that an activity amendment during those three years costs the full licence fee. Ask JAFZA to confirm the full calculation for your licence before you commit, because the saving depends on your lease and activities.

Amending activities. JAFZA's licence activity amendment service takes three working days. The guide is explicit about the cost: during licence validity you pay the full licence fee again plus AED 500; with renewal you pay the licence fee plus AED 500. If you know you will add or change an activity this year, combine it with renewal and save a full licence fee.

Adding a licence. A company can hold more than one JAFZA licence, for example trading and service. If you no longer need one of them, JAFZA's additional licence cancellation costs AED 1,500 and takes one working day, but it is not available if only one licence remains.

EHS approval. JAFZA notes that EHS approval is not required for office or workstation facilities when amending a licence. Warehouses and industrial units should expect it.

Offshore companies: a separate renewal

A JAFZA offshore company is not a free zone licence and renews through its registered agent, not through a lease and licence cycle.

The registered agent submits the renewal online. Because an offshore company holds no lease, no immigration card and no visas, its renewal is simpler and cheaper. It also cannot sponsor residence visas or trade inside the UAE, so if your activity has grown into operations, renewal is the right time to ask whether JAFZA's conversion from offshore to free zone company suits you better.

Tax, audit and ownership checks before you renew

A JAFZA licence renewal does not check your tax position, but your tax position depends on the licence. Run these checks in the same cycle.

Annual audit report. JAFZA requires every FZE and FZCO to submit an updated audit report each year through Dubai Trade, prepared by an auditor licensed in Dubai by the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET). The company must pass a resolution appointing that auditor, and the financial year must be no shorter than 6 months and no longer than 18 months. Submission is processed in three working days and the courier fee is AED 10 inside the free zone or AED 20 outside.

Corporate tax. A JAFZA company can be a Qualifying Free Zone Person, paying 0% on qualifying income and 9% on taxable non-qualifying income. Qualifying status depends on audited accounts and on where the work is done. Mainland-sourced revenue above the de minimis limit, which is 5% of revenue or AED 5 million, whichever is lower, can cost the company its status for five years. If your customer base has shifted onshore during the year, review it before you renew, not after the tax return.

FTA records. If the renewal includes a change of activity, address, shareholder or manager, the change must be reported to the Federal Tax Authority within 20 business days. The published penalty is AED 1,000 per violation, rising to AED 5,000 for a repeat within 24 months. Ownership changes also trigger an Ultimate Beneficial Owner update, due within 15 working days. You can check your records and file amendments on the Federal Tax Authority portal.

Emirates ID and visa status. Residence permits renewed through JAFZA include the Emirates ID step. If an employee's Emirates ID details have changed, the ICP smart services platform is where the federal record sits.

Mainland work. JAFZA is a Dubai free zone. Dubai Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025 provides a route for Dubai free zone companies to obtain a DET permit for activity on the Dubai mainland. If your work has moved onto the mainland, renewal is the right moment to decide whether you need that permit, a mainland branch, or neither.

Renew, freeze, downsize or close: the decision at renewal

Renewal is the cheapest moment to change shape. JAFZA lists each of these options as a separate service.

Renew as is when your activities, lease and visa count still fit. For most trading and logistics companies with steady operations, this is the right answer.

Downsize when you are paying for space you no longer use. JAFZA runs separate existing company expansion and downsize services, handled with the lease team. A smaller facility lowers the rent, which is usually the largest line in the renewal.

Freeze when the business is paused but you expect to restart. JAFZA allows a licence freeze, subject to management approval, if the request is submitted before expiry or within the 30-day grace period after expiry. JAFZA lists AED 3,000 as the licence fee charge and AED 1,000 to reactivate after one year, with processing in 5 to 7 working days. The conditions are heavy: lease termination and key handover, clearance of all dues, RTA, DEWA, customs and telecom clearances, and cancellation of every visa. A freeze suits a company with no staff and no stock, not one with a team.

Close when the business has ended. JAFZA's company termination for an FZE or FZCO costs AED 5,000 for deregistration and AED 1,500 for the advertisement, plus 5% VAT, with 21 working days of processing. A liquidator with a Dubai licence must be appointed and a liquidation report submitted. Closing properly costs more than one renewal, but leaving a licence to lapse does not end the obligations attached to it, including the FTA registration.

Our view: for a JAFZA company with real trade flows, renew and use the cycle to clean up activities and unused space. For a company that has not traded in a year, compare one renewal against a freeze and against a proper closure, and decide with the tax registration in mind.

How JAFZA renewal compares with other Dubai free zones

Founders often ask whether JAFZA renewal is expensive. The honest answer is that the licence fee is moderate and the facility is what moves the total. For context, DMCC lists an annual licence renewal of AED 20,265 on its own schedule of charges, and IFZA publishes no renewal fee at all. JAFZA's AED 5,000 for a service or Group One trading licence is lower than both, but JAFZA companies typically hold warehouses, plots or dedicated offices, so the lease is a larger share of the bill.

The useful comparison is not licence against licence. It is your full renewal, meaning licence, lease, immigration card, visas and insurance, against what the same operation would cost elsewhere, including the cost of moving. A company with a warehouse, customs flows and a Jebel Ali port connection rarely saves by moving. A consultancy with two visas in a JAFZA office might, and that comparison is worth running before you sign a new lease.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Budgeting from the licence fee alone. The AED 5,000 to 30,000 licence fee is one line. Rent, the AED 1,910 immigration card, each residence permit and insurance are separate.
• Trying to renew the licence before the lease. JAFZA states the lease must be valid first. Clear the automatic lease renewal request before anything else.
• Amending activities mid-year. An amendment during the licence year costs the full licence fee again plus AED 500. With renewal, it costs AED 500 on top of the fee you are paying anyway.
• Letting the immigration card lapse. Without a valid CIC, no visa transaction is possible. Renew it in the same week as the licence.
• Missing the representative card window. A Company Representative Card not renewed within 30 days after expiry is cancelled automatically.
• Leaving the parent's good standing certificate to the end. Branches of overseas companies need it notarised and attested, which takes weeks.
• Forgetting the activity NOC. Shipping, cargo and vehicle rental activities need an external NOC at renewal. Request it early.
• Skipping the audit report. FZEs and FZCOs must submit an audited report annually through Dubai Trade, prepared by a Dubai-licensed auditor.
• Not updating the FTA after a change. Activity, address or ownership changes made at renewal must reach the FTA within 20 business days or the AED 1,000 penalty applies.
• Assuming a lapsed licence closes the company. It does not. Freeze or terminate formally, or the obligations, including tax filings, continue.

What Noble Core does for you

Noble Core Ventures is an independent private business setup consultancy, founded in 2020, with six offices across the UAE. We are not a government body and we do not issue licences; Jebel Ali Free Zone does. What we do is run the renewal so that nothing in your file expires out of order.

For a JAFZA renewal we review your lease, licence, immigration card, residence permits, representative cards and audit status 60 days before expiry. We tell you whether to renew as is, remove unused activities, add a new one, downsize, freeze or close. We collect any NOC or Operational Fitness Certificate your activity needs, prepare the documents for your company type, and sequence the lease, licence and immigration renewals so each one is valid when the next one checks it. We also confirm that your corporate tax and VAT records still match the licence after the renewal. JAFZA is not on our fixed-price rate card, so we quote your renewal after we review your licence and lease, with JAFZA's own fees shown separately at cost. We cannot guarantee any authority's decision or timing, but we make sure your file is complete before it goes in.

Send us your current licence and lease and we will review your renewal file for free. Message us on WhatsApp or call +971 52 253 5694.

Frequently Asked Questions