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SHAMS: Company Setup, Costs and Requirements
SHAMS is Sharjah Media City. The licensing page names consultancy, trading, media and e-commerce among the activities it licenses, so the name does not confine the company to media work. It also does not say every UAE activity is available.
Licence and structure
SHAMS says it has licensed companies since 2017. The licensing page offers LLCs and branches, up to five activities on one licence even when they sit in different sectors, and a fully online registration. It also says a person who is already employed does not need a no-objection certificate. That is SHAMS’s published position for its own licence.
The page title describes the setup as fully online in 60 minutes. That is SHAMS’s description of registration. Medical fitness is paid to the medical centre, and a change of status applies only if the person is already inside the UAE. This is a different Sharjah licensor from SPC, SAIF Zone and Hamriyah.
This may fit if
- Digital marketing, content, consultancy, trading or e-commerce is on the activity list you will actually select.
- Five activities are enough, and the clients are comfortable with a Sharjah free-zone company.
- The licence can be filed online, with the visa steps handled after that.
Check carefully if
- You need a sixth activity, or an activity SHAMS has not listed.
- The visa count has to be fixed before you sign. The three published ceilings do not match.
- A campaign line about tax is being used as the tax position. This page does not apply that line.
Current promotion
The campaign page, read on 1 October 2026, does not print an expiry date. It is not the licensing page’s standing tariff. The licensing page’s calculator does not publish a dirham total. VAT is not stated. Confirm current renewal pricing from the authority/quotation. The campaign says renewal is fixed for the lifetime of the business, subject to its terms, and it does not print that renewal amount.
Current promotion. Starting packages on the campaign page.
Media package
From AED 5,750. SHAMS describes this as the media route.
Standard package
From AED 6,875. SHAMS describes this as commercial or service activities.
Not in that figure
Medical fees, and a change of status if the applicant is inside the UAE.
How a headline package sits next to visas and renewal is also covered on company formation cost.