Fujairah Free Zone Authority in 2026: FFZ vs Creative City, Licences, Costs and Visas

Search for "Fujairah free zone" and you'll find two different authorities blended into one, and prices that don't match each other. This guide separates them. It's for traders, manufacturers, consultants, media businesses and freelancers deciding whether Fujairah on the UAE's east coast is the right base in 2026. You'll learn what the Fujairah Free Zone Authority offers, how Creative City Fujairah differs, which company forms and packages each one officially lists, how visas work, the tax rules, and how Fujairah compares with RAKEZ, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain.

Quick answer

Fujairah has two free zones. Fujairah Free Zone (FFZ), run by the Fujairah Free Zone Authority since 1987, is a port-side zone for trading, manufacturing, logistics and marine businesses, with flexi desks, offices, warehouses and land. Creative City Fujairah (2007) is a separate media free zone with six official packages for media, marketing, consulting and freelance businesses. Neither published a price list on its website when we checked on 9 October 2026, so get a written quote from the authority.

• FFZ company forms: FZE (one owner), FZC (several owners) or a branch

• FFZ flexi desk: eligible for 1 investor visa; licence issued within 1 hour once terms are agreed and fees paid

• Creative City packages range from zero-visa licences to a quota of 15 visas (2 free)

• 0% corporate tax only on qualifying income for a Qualifying Free Zone Person; 9% otherwise

• Register for corporate tax within 3 months of incorporation

Two free zones in Fujairah, not one

The phrase "Fujairah free zone" covers two separate government bodies, and mixing them up is the most common mistake on agent websites.

Fujairah Free Zone (FFZ) is run by the Fujairah Free Zone Authority (FFZA). It was set up in 1987 to attract foreign investment next to Fujairah Port, and the authority says it now covers about 4 million square metres. It's built for trading, manufacturing, assembly, distribution and logistics companies, and lists manufacturing, processing, petrochemicals, engineering, aviation, mining, marine, logistics, trading and consultancy among its fields of investment. Its own open-data page reports more than 35 industrial activities, investors from over 60 countries, 14,000-plus jobs and more than 75% of Fujairah's foreign trade. It's served by Fujairah Port and Fujairah International Airport.

Creative City Fujairah (FCC), officially the Creative City Media Free Zone, was established in 2007 by Emiri decree of the Ruler of Fujairah. It's an office-based zone focused on media, marketing, consulting, education, design, technology and freelance work, and it says it offers more than 2,000 activities. Most of its clients never set foot in Fujairah: the whole licensing process is remote and documents are issued digitally.

The practical rule: if you need a warehouse, a yard, land or port access, you're looking at FFZ. If you're a consultant, agency, content creator or online business that needs a licence and maybe a few visas, Creative City is usually the fit. Both give 100% foreign ownership and allow you to repatriate capital and profits.

Fujairah Free Zone: facilities, company forms and licences

Facilities you can lease

FFZ ties your licence to a facility, and the facility decides how many visas you can apply for. The authority lists these options:

FFZ says tenants of trading offices or pre-built units can move in as soon as the licence is issued, and companies building a custom unit can use free zone facilities to prepare during construction.

Company forms

FFZ offers three legal types:

• Free Zone Establishment (FZE) — a single owner, either a person or a company (a subsidiary);
• Free Zone Company (FZC) — more than one shareholder, people, companies or both;
• Branch — a branch of a foreign company or of a UAE company.

FFZ advertises "one visit, one hour, one window" licensing, and its licence services page says the licence is issued within one hour once you've agreed the contract terms, paid the first year's licence, rent and other fees, and submitted the documents. The one hour is the last step, not the whole process — security approval and any external approvals come first.

Licence activities

FFZ licenses companies across the fields it lists — trading, manufacturing and processing, petrochemicals, engineering, aviation, mining, marine, logistics and consultancy — and the licence follows the activities you register. FFZ's FAQ warns that certain activities need prior approval from the relevant federal or local authority before registration, so ask early whether yours does. FFZ doesn't publish its activity list or licence fee schedule online, so the authority's marketing team confirms both when you apply. Choose activities carefully: they decide your facility requirements, your customs treatment and whether your income can qualify for the 0% corporate tax rate.

Creative City Fujairah: the six official packages

Creative City publishes six set-up packages on its company set-up page. It lists what each includes, but on 9 October 2026 it didn't show prices on the page; costs come from its online cost calculator or the sales team. In 2026 the Ruler of Fujairah issued Decision No. (4) of 2026 approving a new Creative City fee schedule, so older price lists you find online may be out of date.

Creative City Fujairah packages (contents read 9 October 2026)

Package	Owners	Activities	Visas	Also includes
Community Support	Sole owner	1	None	Flexi desk lease, certificate of incorporation
Media	Not stated	3	None	Flexi desk lease, support with the National Media Council media licence
Entrepreneur	Up to 2	5	None	Flexi desk lease
Smart	Up to 3	5	1 free visa	Flexi desk, e-channel registration, 1-year establishment card
Business One Visa	Up to 4	5	5 visas (1 free)	Flexi desk, e-channel, establishment card
Business Multi Visa	up to 6 owners	5	15 visas (2 free)	Flexi desk, e-channel, establishment card

Community Support

Owners

Sole owner

Activities

1

Visas

None

Also includes

Flexi desk lease, certificate of incorporation

Media

Owners

Not stated

Activities

3

Visas

None

Also includes

Flexi desk lease, support with the National Media Council media licence

Entrepreneur

Owners

Up to 2

Activities

5

Visas

None

Also includes

Flexi desk lease

Smart

Owners

Up to 3

Activities

5

Visas

1 free visa

Also includes

Flexi desk, e-channel registration, 1-year establishment card

Business One Visa

Owners

Up to 4

Activities

5

Visas

5 visas (1 free)

Also includes

Flexi desk, e-channel, establishment card

Business Multi Visa

Owners

up to 6 owners

Activities

5

Visas

15 visas (2 free)

Also includes

Flexi desk, e-channel, establishment card

Every package is a one-year trade licence with a flexi desk lease that runs as long as the licence. The three zero-visa packages suit people who already hold a UAE residence visa, or overseas owners who only need a company. The Smart and Business packages add the e-channel registration and establishment card you need before any visa can be applied for.

Creative City company forms

Creative City offers three legal forms:

• a sole establishment, owned by one person who is personally liable for its debts;
• a single-person limited liability company (SP-LLC), owned by one person or company with limited liability;
• a limited liability company (LLC) with two to 50 partners, each liable only up to their share of the capital.

Creative City says it has no specific capital requirement and no mandatory annual audit. Read that carefully: if you want the 0% Qualifying Free Zone Person tax rate, the tax law requires audited financial statements anyway, whatever the free zone requires.

Working outside the zone

Creative City says its companies can operate anywhere, and asks for a no-objection certificate if you want to rent an office outside the free zone. It also advertises a dual-licensing arrangement with Fujairah Municipality that lets a company operate in the Fujairah mainland market, and licences to operate at Fujairah International Airport. For selling to customers in Dubai or Abu Dhabi you still need to follow those emirates' rules for free zone companies, and our UAE business licence guide explains the mainland options.

What it costs: published prices and how to compare

Here's the honest position on 9 October 2026: neither the Fujairah Free Zone Authority nor Creative City publishes a package price list on its website. FFZ prices depend on the facility you lease, and Creative City quotes through its calculator under the 2026 fee schedule. Agent sites quote Fujairah figures, but they don't agree with each other, rarely say where the numbers came from and often mix FFZ and Creative City. We don't repeat them here.

What you can do is compare a Fujairah quote against free zones that do publish prices. These figures come from the official sites of each zone and are covered in our guides to RAKEZ, Ajman Free Zone and UAQ FTZ.

Worked example: a one-visa consultancy

Omar runs a two-person marketing consultancy from Abu Dhabi and wants a free zone company with a residence visa for himself.

1. Choose the route. With no warehouse needs and a media-adjacent business, Creative City's Smart package fits: up to three owners, five activities, one free visa, establishment card and e-channel included.
2. Get the Creative City quote. He runs the online calculator with "one owner, visa yes, flexi desk" and asks the sales team to confirm the total in writing, including the visa's government fees, medical test and Emirates ID.
3. Benchmark. He compares the written total against the published one-visa packages above — AED 12,500 at UAQ, AED 13,131 at Ajman and AED 14,000 at RAKEZ — remembering that those packages include different things (UAQ's includes medical, Emirates ID and basic insurance; others add those on top).
4. Price year two. He asks each zone for the renewal cost, not just the first-year offer.

If the Creative City total is within a few thousand dirhams of the others, Omar might choose it for the media-licence support and the Fujairah mainland option. If not, a zone with a published price may be the safer bet.

How to set up a company in Fujairah

The steps differ slightly between the two authorities, but the shape is the same.

Setting up in Fujairah Free Zone or Creative City

1. 1

   Pick the zone and activities

   Choose FFZ if you need port access, a warehouse or land; Creative City for office-based media, consulting and freelance work. List your activities and check whether any need external approval.

2. 2

   Get security approval (FFZ) or submit the application (Creative City)

   FFZ says standard activities start with a security approval, then registration on the Fujairah e-services portal. Creative City reviews your application and applies for initial approval for you.

   Fujairah e-services portal (FFZ)
3. 3

   Choose the facility or package

   At FFZ the facility (flexi desk, office, warehouse, land) sets your visa eligibility. At Creative City pick one of the six packages.

4. 4

   Sign contracts and declare beneficial owners

   Sign the incorporation documents and lease, and complete the ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) declaration required under UAE anti-money-laundering rules.

5. 5

   Pay the first year and receive the licence

   FFZ issues the licence within one hour once fees are paid and documents are in. Creative City emails all documents once you e-sign the articles.

6. 6

   Register for corporate tax and apply for visas

   Register on EmaraTax within 3 months. Apply for the establishment card, then visas through the authority's portal.

   Tip: Late corporate tax registration costs AED 10,000.

Documents

Documents to have ready

0/6

• Clear colour passport copy for each owner, director and signatory
• Passport-size photos (FFZ asks for two, high resolution)
• UAE visa or entry stamp page, if you have one; a no-objection letter from your sponsor if you already hold a UAE residence visa (FFZ)
• Completed application, KYC and specimen signature forms
• A detailed description of your business activities
• For a branch or subsidiary: parent's board resolution, power of attorney, certificate of incorporation, memorandum, licence, UBO details, latest audit report and certificate of good standing — notarised and attested by the UAE embassy

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Corporate documents from abroad need notarisation in the home country and attestation by the UAE embassy, which is usually the slowest step. If you've never visited the UAE, Creative City says it can help you get a visit visa so you have the unified ID number (UID) the system needs; otherwise documents from a previous visit are enough.

Visas and residency

Neither zone lets you hire on the licence alone. You need an establishment card (the company's immigration file) and then visas within your quota.

At FFZ, the quota follows your facility: a flexi desk gives 1 investor visa, and offices, warehouses and land support more. FFZ says you apply for visas through the e-services portal once the company is registered and the establishment card is issued. It offers visit visas, employment visas and residence visas, and its administrative team helps with entry permits, card registration and driving licences.

At Creative City, the package sets the quota: one free visa with Smart, a quota of 5 visas (1 free) with Business One Visa and 15 visas (2 free) with Business Multi Visa. For each visa Creative City asks for an application signed by the authorised signatory, a passport copy, an entry stamp if available, an ICAO-standard digital photo, the trade licence and establishment card, an employment request letter and health insurance, which is required for visa stamping.

Every residence visa needs a medical test and Emirates ID biometrics in the UAE, so the person must travel at least once. Creative City also helps eligible clients with long-term residence. Its visa page lists a monthly salary of AED 30,000 a month for the 10-year golden visa route for skilled professionals and AED 15,000 a month for the 5-year green visa for skilled employees, both with an attested bachelor's degree. Self-employed people on the green visa route need AED 360,000 of income — see our freelance visa guide.

Corporate tax, VAT and the 0% QFZP rate

Corporate tax. Every Fujairah free zone company — FFZ or Creative City — must register for UAE corporate tax, and Creative City's own FAQ says so. A company that meets all the Qualifying Free Zone Person (QFZP) conditions pays 0% on qualifying income and 9% on taxable income that isn't qualifying. The conditions include adequate substance in the zone, audited financial statements, no election to be taxed normally, and non-qualifying revenue below 5% of total revenue or AED 5 million, whichever is lower. Break the de minimis test and you lose QFZP status for 5 tax periods.

Which income qualifies is set by Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025. Manufacturing, processing, trading in qualifying commodities, logistics, shipping and distribution of goods in or from a designated zone are on the list. Services to mainland customers and most sales to individuals generally aren't. That's why the zone matters: an FFZ distributor selling goods to resellers from the port can often qualify, while a Creative City marketing agency billing Dubai clients usually earns non-qualifying income.

Small Business Relief is the simpler option for many small companies. If revenue is AED 3 million or less, you can elect to be treated as having no taxable income for tax periods ending by 31 December 2029. You can't combine it with QFZP status. Even without either, the first AED 375,000 of taxable income is taxed at 0%. Returns are due within 9 months of the year end.

VAT. Fujairah Free Zone and the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone appear on the list of designated zones in Cabinet Decision No. 59 of 2017, as reproduced by Grant Thornton. Supplies of goods within or between designated zones can be outside the scope of UAE VAT if strict conditions are met; services are taxed normally. Creative City isn't on the original 2017 list, so unless the authority shows you a later decision adding it, treat it like the mainland for VAT. Register once taxable supplies pass AED 375,000 in 12 months. The Federal Tax Authority says free zone and designated zone status should be checked separately for each tax, so confirm with the authority before relying on it. Our UAE VAT guide and corporate tax guide cover the details.

Fujairah vs RAKEZ, Ajman and UAQ

Fujairah's free zones vs other northern-emirates zones (2026)

	Fujairah Free Zone	Creative City Fujairah	RAKEZ	Ajman Free Zone	UAQ FTZ
Best for	Port-side trading, industry, petroleum, marine	Media, consulting, freelance, online	SMEs and industry with land	Low-cost trading and services	Low-cost start-ups and freelancers
Published package prices	No	No (contents only)	Yes, from AED 6,000	Yes, from AED 5,555	Yes, AED 12,500
Entry-level visas	Flexi desk: 1 investor visa	Smart package: 1 free visa	SME package: 1	Starter: 1	UAQ Start: 1
Warehouses and land	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
VAT designated zone	Yes	No	RAK zones listed	Yes	Yes
Distance to Dubai	About 2 hours by road (estimate)	About 2 hours by road (estimate)	About 1 hour (estimate)	About 30–40 minutes (estimate)	About 45 minutes (estimate)

Best for

Fujairah Free Zone

Port-side trading, industry, petroleum, marine

Creative City Fujairah

Media, consulting, freelance, online

RAKEZ

SMEs and industry with land

Ajman Free Zone

Low-cost trading and services

UAQ FTZ

Low-cost start-ups and freelancers

Published package prices

Fujairah Free Zone

No

Creative City Fujairah

No (contents only)

RAKEZ

Yes, from AED 6,000

Ajman Free Zone

Yes, from AED 5,555

UAQ FTZ

Yes, AED 12,500

Entry-level visas

Fujairah Free Zone

Flexi desk: 1 investor visa

Creative City Fujairah

Smart package: 1 free visa

RAKEZ

SME package: 1

Ajman Free Zone

Starter: 1

UAQ FTZ

UAQ Start: 1

Warehouses and land

Fujairah Free Zone

Yes

Creative City Fujairah

No

RAKEZ

Yes

Ajman Free Zone

Yes

UAQ FTZ

Yes

VAT designated zone

Fujairah Free Zone

Yes

Creative City Fujairah

No

RAKEZ

RAK zones listed

Ajman Free Zone

Yes

UAQ FTZ

Yes

Distance to Dubai

Fujairah Free Zone

About 2 hours by road (estimate)

Creative City Fujairah

About 2 hours by road (estimate)

RAKEZ

About 1 hour (estimate)

Ajman Free Zone

About 30–40 minutes (estimate)

UAQ FTZ

About 45 minutes (estimate)

Driving times are our estimates for normal traffic, not official figures.

Fujairah's big advantage is the east-coast port: it lies on the Gulf of Oman, outside the Strait of Hormuz, which matters to shipping, bunkering and petroleum businesses. For a desk-based business that advantage disappears, and the decision comes down to price, visa quota and how close you need to be to clients. If you can't get a written Fujairah quote that beats the published one-visa packages at UAQ, Ajman or RAKEZ, there's little reason to go east unless you value Creative City's media focus or the Fujairah mainland link.

Renewal, compliance and closing down

Renewal. FFZ's operational manual says the trade licence renewal period starts at the end of the calendar year in December. You settle licence and rent, renew the lease if it has expired, update passport copies and, for branches and subsidiaries, provide an attested good-standing certificate of the parent with UBO details. Creative City takes renewal documents by email. Budget renewal as a full year's cost — licence, desk or office, establishment card and visa renewals.

Accounts. FFZ requires free zone entities to keep audited accounting records under its Circular No. 4 and Ministry of Finance requirements. Creative City says audits aren't mandatory for the licence, but you'll need audited statements for QFZP status and banks often ask for them.

Closing down. FFZ asks companies to give notice six months before the end of the lease, pay for the remaining term and collect clearances from customs, utilities, the bank and the vehicle department, publish a newspaper notice and cancel all visas. An unrenewed licence keeps building fines, so closing properly is cheaper than walking away. Remember to deregister from corporate tax and VAT too.

Common mistakes:

• Treating FFZ and Creative City as one zone. Check which authority issued your quote and licence.
• Paying on an agent's quoted price. Neither authority publishes a list — get the authority's written quote.
• Choosing a zero-visa package when you need residency. The three cheapest Creative City packages have no visa allocation.
• Assuming 0% tax. Services to mainland clients usually aren't qualifying income; compare QFZP with Small Business Relief using our corporate tax calculator.
• Missing the corporate tax deadline. Register within 3 months.

Official links

• Fujairah Free Zone AuthorityFacilities, services and contacts
• FFZ — Start Your BusinessCompany types and documents
• Fujairah e-services portal (FFZ registration)Security approval and company registration
• Creative City — Company Set UpSix packages and documents
• Creative City — Visa & ResidencyVisa documents and long-term visas
• Creative City — License verificationCheck a Creative City licence
• FTA — Free zones and designated zones (TAXP010)Tax treatment of free zones

What to do next

Decide first whether you need FFZ's port and warehouses or Creative City's office-based licence. Then ask the right authority for a written, itemised first-year and renewal quote, and set it beside the published packages in our RAKEZ, Ajman and UAQ guides before you pay anything.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

Is Fujairah Free Zone the same as Creative City Fujairah?

No. Fujairah Free Zone (FFZ), run by the Fujairah Free Zone Authority since 1987, is an industrial and trading zone beside Fujairah Port with offices, warehouses and land. Creative City Fujairah, set up by Emiri decree in 2007, is a separate media free zone aimed at media, marketing, consulting and freelance businesses. Each has its own licences, packages and portal.

How much does a Fujairah free zone licence cost?

Neither authority published a package price list on its website when we checked on 9 October 2026. FFZ quotes once you choose a facility, and Creative City prices its six packages through an online cost calculator under a new 2026 fee schedule (Decision No. 4 of 2026). Agent websites quote figures, but they disagree, so get a written quote from the authority before paying.

How many visas do I get with a Fujairah flexi desk?

At Fujairah Free Zone, a flexi desk is a shared desk that makes you eligible for 1 investor visa. At Creative City, the Smart package includes one free visa, the Business One Visa package has a quota of 5 visas (1 free) and the Business Multi Visa package 15 visas (2 free). Bigger quotas at FFZ come with offices, warehouses or land.

Can a Creative City Fujairah company work in Dubai?

Creative City says its companies can operate their business anywhere, and you ask for a no-objection certificate if you want to rent an office outside the free zone. That doesn't make it a mainland licence: selling goods or services directly to UAE mainland customers can need extra permits, and it can affect your 0% corporate tax position.

Do Fujairah free zone companies pay corporate tax?

Every company must register for UAE corporate tax within 3 months of incorporation. A Qualifying Free Zone Person pays 0% on qualifying income and 9% on the rest, if it keeps substance, audited accounts and non-qualifying revenue within 5% or AED 5 million. Small companies may prefer Small Business Relief for revenue up to AED 3 million.

How fast can I get a licence in Fujairah Free Zone?

FFZ says the licence is issued within one hour once the contract terms are agreed, the first year's licence, rent and other fees are paid and the documents are submitted. Before that you need security approval, and some activities need approval from another authority, which can take days or weeks. Creative City's process is fully remote with digital documents.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 9 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.About Fujairah Freezone — Fujairah Free Zone Authority · accessed 9 October 2026
2. 2.Start Your Business — Fujairah Free Zone Authority · accessed 9 October 2026
3. 3.Flexi Desk — Fujairah Free Zone Authority · accessed 9 October 2026
4. 4.License Services — Fujairah Free Zone Authority · accessed 9 October 2026
5. 5.FAQs — Fujairah Free Zone Authority · accessed 9 October 2026
6. 6.Open Data — Fujairah Free Zone Authority · accessed 9 October 2026
7. 7.Operational Manual (renewal and closure sections) — Fujairah Free Zone Authority · accessed 9 October 2026
8. 8.Company Set Up — Creative City Free Zone Authority (Fujairah) · accessed 9 October 2026
9. 9.Fujairah Creative City Media Free Zone Approves New 2026 Fee Schedule — Creative City Free Zone Authority (Fujairah) · accessed 9 October 2026
10. 10.Who We Are — Creative City Free Zone Authority (Fujairah) · accessed 9 October 2026
11. 11.Legal Forms for Companies and Establishments — Creative City Free Zone Authority (Fujairah) · accessed 9 October 2026
12. 12.FAQs — Creative City Free Zone Authority (Fujairah) · accessed 9 October 2026
13. 13.Key Features — Creative City Free Zone Authority (Fujairah) · accessed 9 October 2026
14. 14.Visa & Residency — Creative City Free Zone Authority (Fujairah) · accessed 9 October 2026
15. 15.Free Zones and Designated Zones for Tax Purposes (TAXP010) — Federal Tax Authority · accessed 9 October 2026
16. 16.Ministerial Decision No. 229 of 2025 on Qualifying Activities and Excluded Activities — UAE Ministry of Finance · accessed 9 October 2026
17. 17.Cabinet Decision No. 59 of 2017 on Designated Zones (VAT alert with list) — Grant Thornton UAE · accessed 9 October 2026