Meydan Free Zone License Renewal 2026: Cost and Steps

A Meydan Free Zone license renewal in 2026 costs AED 12,500 a year with no visas and AED 14,350 with one visa on our rate card, rising to AED 19,900 for four visas. Meydan gives you a 30-day grace period after expiry, then charges AED 200 for every month of delay, so the real deadline is the expiry date on your licence, not the end of the grace period.

That is the short answer. The longer answer matters more, because the renewal invoice is only one part of keeping a Meydan company in good standing. Visa allocations, residence visas, corporate tax filings, audited accounts and any activity changes all meet at the renewal date, and a problem in any one of them can hold up the rest. This guide is written for a founder who already holds a Meydan licence and wants to renew it cleanly, without overpaying and without finding out about a missing filing on the day the licence expires.

We cover the price by visa count, what drives the bill, the timeline and late fees, documents, the step by step process, visas, tax checks, multi-year options, and the decision to renew, amend, switch or close. Noble Core works with Meydan Free Zone under a commercial channel-partner agreement; licences are issued by Meydan Free Zone and visas by the UAE immigration authorities, not by us.

Meydan Free Zone license renewal cost in 2026: the price table

Here is what a Meydan company pays us to renew from year two onwards, next to what the same package cost in the first year. All figures are in AED and come from our current channel-partner rate card.

Three points stand out.

A zero-visa licence costs the same every year. At AED 12,500, a Meydan licence without visas does not get cheaper on renewal. There is no setup cost to strip out, because the zero-visa first-year price is essentially the licence itself.

The visa packages drop sharply. A one-visa company saves AED 6,210 on renewal against its first year, and a four-visa company saves AED 18,840. The first year carries one-off costs such as the initial visa processing. From year two, you mainly pay to keep the licence and the allocations alive.

Each extra visa adds AED 1,850 at renewal on our card. Going from one visa to two adds AED 1,850, and the same step applies up to four. That matches the AED 1,850 allocation fee Meydan Free Zone publishes on its own site. If you hold allocations you no longer use, this is money you can stop spending.

What is not in the table: change of status (AED 1,500 per visa, a government fee collected at actual, only when the person is already inside the UAE), health insurance (required by law and priced separately; basic cover is AED 500 per person per year on our card), and optional registrations such as VAT (AED 500) and corporate tax (AED 400) through us. Meydan's own published list prices sit on meydanfz.ae, and we always confirm the current invoice with the authority before you pay.

What actually drives your Meydan renewal bill

Two companies with the same licence can pay very different amounts at renewal. These are the levers.

1. Visa allocations held, not visas used. You renew allocations whether they are filled or not. A company that bought three allocations for a hiring plan that never happened pays for three every year. Reduce allocations before the renewal invoice is raised.

2. Activity groups. Meydan lists the first three activity groups as included in the licence fee and publishes additional activities at AED 1,000 each. If you added activities you no longer trade in, removing them at renewal is a direct saving. If you now trade in something outside your licence, add it, because operating outside your licensed activity is one of the grounds on which Meydan's regulations allow suspension.

3. Workspace. The standard package includes a flexi-desk. If you upgraded to a dedicated desk or office, that workspace has its own price and term. Meydan publishes a shared office from AED 15,000 a year and a dedicated office from AED 30,000 a year. Ask whether you still need it before it renews.

4. Late fines. Every month past the grace period adds AED 200, and all fines are settled before the renewal goes through. A company that is six months overdue is carrying fines before any renewal fee.

5. Regulated activities. If any activity needs approval from another authority, the renewal can depend on that approval still being valid. Meydan's portal flags external approvals automatically. Build in time for them.

6. Tax and compliance status. An unregistered corporate tax account, a missed return or an out-of-date beneficial owner record does not appear on the renewal invoice, but it can stop the renewal, a bank review or a visa application. Fixing it later costs more than fixing it now.

The Meydan renewal timeline: when to start and what happens if you are late

Meydan Free Zone's regulations say a licensee must renew its licence before the current term expires. Its published guidance then sets a 30-day grace period and a monthly fine. Here is how we plan it.

Why the expiry date is the real deadline. The grace period protects you from the fine, not from everything else. A bank's compliance review, an immigration application or a supplier's due-diligence check will see an expired licence on the day it expires. Visa renewals for staff and dependants are harder to process while the company file is not current.

Why 45 days matters. Many changes to a free zone company, such as a name change, a new activity or a shareholder update, are easier to file while the licence has a clear remaining term. Leaving an amendment to the last week means it collides with the renewal itself, and one waits for the other.

What suspension means. Meydan's Companies and Licensing Regulations allow the authority to suspend or cancel a licence where the licensee has not paid fees or fines, has stopped carrying on its activity, or carries on a different activity without approval. A suspended company is harder and more expensive to close or revive than one that is simply renewed on time.

Documents you need for a Meydan renewal

Meydan has removed most of the paperwork that renewals in other zones still require. It states that it does not need an Ejari lease or an NOC from an employer to renew. In practice, have these ready:

• Current trade licence and the company's portal login.
• Passport copies of shareholders, directors and the manager, only if anything has changed or a passport has been renewed since the last cycle.
• Emirates ID copies for shareholders and the manager who hold UAE residence, where details have changed.
• External approvals for regulated activities, where the portal asks for them.
• Tax registration numbers: your corporate tax registration and, if registered, your VAT number.
• Beneficial owner details confirmed as current, including any change in shareholding since last year.
• Audited financial statements for the last financial year if the authority has asked for them, or if you are claiming qualifying free zone status for corporate tax.
• Previous renewal receipts in case of a query on fees paid.

The common hold-up is not a missing form. It is a passport that expired since the last renewal, or a shareholder change that was agreed between the owners but never filed with the authority.

Step by step: how a Meydan renewal runs

Step 1. Check the dates. Log into the Meydan portal and note three expiry dates: the licence, the establishment card, and every residence visa sponsored by the company. They rarely line up.

Step 2. Review the company record. Confirm the shareholders, manager, address and activities are correct. If something has changed in real life, file the change first. A renewal on wrong data only repeats the error for another year.

Step 3. Decide on allocations and activities. Trim unused visa allocations, remove activities you no longer use, and add the ones you now need. This is the decision that changes the invoice most.

Step 4. Clear fines and tax gaps. Settle any outstanding fines. Make sure the corporate tax registration exists and the last return was filed with the Federal Tax Authority. Meydan integrates corporate tax registration and beneficial owner compliance into its renewal flow, so gaps tend to surface here.

Step 5. Submit and pay. Submit the renewal application through the portal and pay. Meydan states that most renewals are issued within about an hour once nothing is outstanding.

Step 6. Renew the establishment card. The establishment card is the company's immigration file. Keep it valid alongside the licence, because new visas, renewals and cancellations all run through it with the Dubai immigration authority (GDRFA) and the federal identity authority (ICP).

Step 7. Update the bank and FTA. Send the renewed licence to your bank, which will ask for it in its periodic review. If anything changed on the licence, update the FTA record too.

Step 8. Calendar next year. Put the next licence expiry, establishment card expiry and each visa expiry in a shared calendar with a 90-day reminder.

Visas at renewal: allocations, residence visas and dependants

Most of the cost and most of the risk in a Meydan renewal sit in the visas.

Allocations versus residence visas. An allocation is the company's right to sponsor a visa. The residence visa is the permit issued to a person. Meydan lets a company hold up to six allocations without an office lease, and publishes the allocation fee at AED 1,850. You pay to renew allocations whether or not they are filled.

Visas run on their own cycle. A residence visa issued in March does not expire when the licence does. Meydan confirms that visa renewal is not automatically included in licence renewal, though you can renew or add allocations during the same process. Treat each person's visa and Emirates ID as its own deadline.

Meydan visas are Dubai visas. Residence visas for Meydan companies are processed with GDRFA, and Emirates ID is issued by ICP. Government fees for residence permits and Emirates ID are set by those authorities and change from time to time, so confirm the current figures on the ICP portal before you pay.

Change of status. If you are hiring someone who is already inside the UAE on another visa, a change of status fee of AED 1,500 per visa applies at Meydan. It is a government fee collected at actual. We quote it up front so it is not a surprise.

Adding visas at renewal. If you are growing, adding allocations at renewal keeps everything on one cycle and one invoice. On our card each step from one to four visas adds AED 1,850 to the renewal.

Corporate tax and VAT checks you should run at renewal

Renewal is not a tax event, but it is the best moment to make sure your company is not carrying a tax problem into the next year.

Corporate tax registration. Every Meydan company is a taxable person under the UAE corporate tax law and must register with the Federal Tax Authority, even if it expects to pay 0%. Late registration carries an AED 10,000 penalty. If you have not registered, fix it before renewal. Registration through us is AED 400. The FTA's guidance is on tax.gov.ae.

The return deadline. A corporate tax return is due within nine months of the end of the financial year. Meydan's regulations allow a first financial year of up to 18 months, so check which period your first return covers rather than assuming a calendar year.

Qualifying free zone status. A Meydan company can pay 0% on qualifying income if it meets the qualifying free zone person conditions, which include adequate substance in the zone and audited financial statements. Revenue from work physically performed for mainland clients is generally non-qualifying and taxed at 9%. If non-qualifying income goes above the de minimis limit (the lower of 5% of revenue or AED 5 million), the company can lose the 0% status for five years. If your client mix shifted toward the mainland this year, review it before the return.

Audited accounts. Meydan's regulations require every company to prepare financial statements and to submit audited statements within 30 days of a request from the authority. If you are claiming qualifying status, you need audited accounts anyway. Have them ready before renewal.

VAT. Registration is mandatory once taxable supplies pass AED 375,000 over twelve months and voluntary from AED 187,500. A company that grew this year often crosses the threshold without noticing. VAT registration through us is AED 500.

Keep records in step. If the renewal includes a change of name, activity, address or manager, update the FTA record. The FTA gives 20 business days to report a change, and the penalty for failing to do so is AED 1,000, or AED 5,000 for a repeat within 24 months.

One year or several: Meydan's multi-year option

Meydan Free Zone says its licence validity can run up to 10 years, and its published cost guide says multi-year commitments receive up to a 15% discount against annual renewal rates. That is a real saving, but it is not right for everyone.

Multi-year suits you if you run a stable consultancy, holding or trading company with no visas or one visa, the same activities year after year, and no plan to move. You lock in the price, cut the admin and remove the annual risk of a missed expiry.

Annual suits you better if you expect to hire, change activities, add shareholders or move zones. Visa counts and activities change, and an amendment during a multi-year term still costs money. Money paid in advance for later years is also money you cannot use in the business.

What multi-year does not change. Residence visas still run on their own two-year or longer cycles, corporate tax returns are still annual, and your bank will still ask for proof that the company is active. A long licence is not a reason to stop checking the company file.

Ask for the multi-year price in writing and compare it with the annual figure for your exact package before deciding. The 15% is described as an upper limit, not a fixed rate.

Renew, amend, switch or close: which is right for you

Renewal is also a decision point. Here is how we think about the four options.

Renew as is if the licence still fits your activity and your visa count is right. This covers most Meydan companies.

Renew and amend if the business has changed shape. Add the activity you now actually trade in, remove unused allocations, update the manager or shareholders. File the amendment early so it goes through on the current licence. Meydan's regulations treat this as a variation of the licence, which the authority approves and reissues.

Switch zone only when the activity or location demands it. On our card a one-visa renewal costs AED 14,350 at Meydan, AED 14,000 at RAKEZ, AED 17,100 at IFZA and AED 7,350 at SHAMS. Moving means forming a new company, opening a new bank account, re-registering for tax and moving visas, then closing the old entity. For most companies the setup cost of the new zone wipes out several years of renewal savings. Meydan's Dubai address, online renewal and no-lease flexi-desk are why many founders choose it in the first place.

Close the company if it no longer trades. Do not let the licence lapse. The AED 200 monthly fine keeps running, unpaid fees and fines are grounds for suspension under Meydan's regulations, and a suspended company is harder to close cleanly than a live one. Cancel visas, settle fines, deregister from tax and apply for cancellation while the licence is in good standing.

A realistic three-year cost for a Meydan company

Founders often compare zones on the first-year price. The three-year view is more honest. These totals use our rate card and assume no change in visa count and no multi-year discount.

Add health insurance for each visa holder, any change of status fees, and the cost of your accountant and auditor. For comparison across zones, our free zone renewal cost guide puts the same packages side by side.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Treating the grace period as the deadline. Banks, immigration and clients see the expiry date, not the grace period.
• Renewing allocations nobody uses. Each one costs AED 1,850 on renewal. Trim them before the invoice is raised.
• Forgetting the establishment card. An expired establishment card blocks new visas, renewals and cancellations even when the licence is valid.
• Leaving amendments to the last week. File activity, name or shareholder changes at least 45 days before expiry.
• Operating outside the licensed activity. It is a ground for suspension under Meydan's regulations. Add the activity at renewal.
• Skipping corporate tax registration because the rate is 0%. Registration is mandatory, and late registration costs AED 10,000.
• Assuming qualifying free zone status without audited accounts. No audited statements, no 0% claim.
• Letting a dormant company lapse. Close it properly instead of running up monthly fines and risking suspension.
• Switching zone to save a small amount. Setup, banking and visa transfer costs usually exceed the renewal saving.

What Noble Core does for you

We handle Meydan renewals end to end under our channel-partner agreement with Meydan Free Zone. Before your licence expires we check the company record, visa allocations, establishment card, residence visa dates, corporate tax registration and VAT position, then give you one renewal quote from our rate card. We file any amendments early, renew the licence and establishment card in the same cycle, and update your bank and the FTA. We do not guarantee approvals; Meydan Free Zone and the UAE authorities make those decisions.

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

Frequently Asked Questions