Sharjah Airport International Free Zone (SAIF Zone)
Sharjah International Airport · Est. 1995 · Sharjah Airport International Free Zone Authority
Trading, logistics and light-manufacturing SMEs that want an established, airport-adjacent base with low license fees and fast issuance, and value Sharjah's cost levels over a Dubai address.
Founders who need a fully published price list or activity catalogue, large visa quotas on a desk package, direct mainland retail, or zero share-capital setup.
01Capability profile
02Where SAIFZ sits
SAIFZ: 43th percentile (AED 12,500) · Licence + registration, AED.
SAIFZ: 99th percentile (1 days) · Total estimated days from application to operational.
SAIFZ: 40th percentile (50 visas) · Absolute maximum visa allocation. Values above 500 clipped to the right edge so the bulk of the distribution stays readable.
SAIFZ: Moderate · Corporate bank account opening difficulty. Each cell is one zone.
03Costs
- Base licence
- AED 7,500
- Registration
- AED 5,000
- Renewal (year 2+)
- AED 7,500
- 3-year total
- AED 27,500
- 2-year visa cost
- AED 3,350
- Establishment card
- AED 1,575
- Minimum share capital
- AED 150,000
- Cancellation fee
- AED 3,000
- Visa renewal
- AED 2,500
- Visa cancellation
- AED 500
- Emirates ID (per visa)
- AED 390
- Dependent / spouse visa
- AED 3,000
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04Visas & workspace
- Maximum visas
- 50
- Flexi-desk cap
- 3
- Office cap
- 8
- Warehouse cap
- 15
- Family sponsorship
- Available
- Freelancer permit
- Not available
- Medical required
- Yes
- Processing time
- ~10 days
- Virtual office
- Yes
- Flexi-desk
- Yes
- Coworking
- Yes
- Dedicated office
- Yes
- Executive office
- Yes
- Warehouse
- Yes
- Industrial unit
- No
- Land plot
- Yes
- Ejari issued
- No
- Parking
- Yes
- Dedicated office cost
- AED 15,650/yr
05Banking & setup
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to account
- ~21 days
- Minimum deposit
- AED 15,000
- Corp tax rate
- 0%
- Audit cost (est)
- AED 4,000
- UBO filing
- Required
- AML / KYC
- standard
- Registration modeFully online — no in-person visit required
- Documents & applicationPassport, visa, business plan — ~3–5 days
- Bank account activeAdditional ~21 days · Moderate banking
- OperationalTypically ~1 days, up to ~7 days
06Permitted activities
Jewelry park - specialized jewelry manufacturing unit
07Jurisdiction & ecosystem
This zone is Tier-1 with dedicated office and warehouse options under regulator supervision — substance is straightforward to demonstrate but the bar is high (regulator-grade evidence).
Focus: Logistics, Trading, Light Manufacturing
Hino, Mahindra, Atkins, Pelikan, 3i Infotech, Woco, Pierlite, FURA Gems
QFZP, audit, mainland-permit and substance values are sourced where the zone authority or FTA publishes them, and inferred from published zone characteristics otherwise. How we determine these values.
08Strengths & limitations
- ["Low license fees for an established airport free zone: trading
- service and specific industrial licenses at AED 7
- 500/yr with same-day (official '1 hour') issuance"
- 'Direct air-cargo advantage: adjacent to Sharjah International Airport with on-site customs and immigration; 20 min to Dubai'
- 'VAT Designated Zone (Cabinet Decision 59/2017) plus 0% corporate tax on qualifying income'
- 'Full facility ladder: furnished SAIF Offices (3 visas)
- SAIF Suites (8 visas)
- 125-600 sqm warehouses with promo rents from AED 48
- 000
- and 2
- 500 sqm+ land plots; dedicated Jewelry Park'
- 'Proven ecosystem: operating since 1995 with 8
- 000+ companies from ~160 countries incl. Hino
- Mahindra
- Atkins
- Pelikan and FURA Gems']
- AED 150,000 declared share capital for FZE/FZC (branch exempt) — higher than most budget zones even though deposit is not enforced at licensing
- No public tariff or activity list: prices and activity availability must be confirmed case-by-case via the authority or agents
- Visa quotas tied to facility size (3 with SAIF Office, 8 with SAIF Suite); visa, immigration card and E-channel fees (~AED 5,000+ first time) sit on top of advertised bundles
- Goods sold into the UAE mainland attract customs duty and typically require a local distributor
Not ideal for: Founders who need a fully published price list or activity catalogue, large visa quotas on a desk package, direct mainland retail, or zero share-capital setup.
09Tax considerations
Does your planned revenue qualify under the QFZP qualifying-income rules?
QFZP 0% only applies to qualifying income. Mainland trading or revenue from non-free-zone clients is generally non-qualifying and taxed at 9%.
Will you need audited accounts even if this zone doesn't require them?
FTA corporate-tax filing typically expects audited accounts for revenue above AED 50M, and banks often request them at much lower thresholds.
How much of your revenue will come from mainland UAE customers, and how does that affect QFZP and 5% VAT obligations?
Mainland revenue beyond ad-hoc levels can disqualify QFZP and triggers full 9% corporate tax plus standard VAT on supplies.
Do any of your customers, suppliers, or shareholders meet the FTA's related-party definition?
Related-party transactions need transfer-pricing documentation and may push otherwise-qualifying income into the 9% bracket.
These prompts are due-diligence questions, not tax advice. Confirm every answer with a UAE-licensed tax advisor before incorporating.
10Similar zones in Sharjah
11About this data
SAIFZ data is sourced from official zone authority publications, government fee schedules, and where available, verified against direct communications with the zone. All figures in AED.
- Location
- Sharjah International Airport
- Established
- 1995
- Authority
- Sharjah Airport International Free Zone Authority
- Last verified
- 2026-07-18
- Confidence
- high
- Methodology
- How we score →
- QFZP eligibility (0% corporate tax)Secondary · 2026-07-18Primary source ↗
- Audit requirementSecondary · 2026-07-18Primary source ↗
- Economic substanceSecondary · 2026-07-18Primary source ↗
- Mainland trading permitSecondary · 2026-07-18Primary source ↗
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