SEDD licenses
- Who licenses what: SEDD licenses mainland companies. Sharjah’s free zones license their own companies, and SEDD plays no part
- Office: A mainland company needs a walled unit with an attested tenancy contract in its name. A flexi desk does not pass
- Licence fee:13 per cent of annual rent, or AED 11,000, whichever is higher. Below about AED 84,600 of rent you pay the AED 11,000
- Cost before rent: About AED 19,000 to 24,000 in year one for one visa, and AED 13,500 to 15,500 in year two. Rent sits on top, from AED 12,000 a year for the smallest unit. Indicative 2026
- Visas: No square-metre ratio. Plan on three on a starter office, assessed on activity and unit size
- Timeline: About four weeks from complete documents to the first Emirates ID, if the tenancy is already attested
- Mainland or free zone: Shopfront, stock or mainland invoicing from a Sharjah address: SEDD. Services, media and e-commerce: usually a Sharjah free zone. Nine in ten of our Sharjah files are free zone
A Sharjah mainland licence does not run on a flexi desk. That one rule changes the whole Sharjah business setup question, because it means the first thing you choose is an office, not a licence package.
Most people arrive with a price in mind. It usually came from a free zone advert, from a relative who set up years ago, or from a page that quoted a licence fee and stopped there. The licence fee is the easy part. On a small office it barely moves. The office decides whether SEDD accepts your file, how many visas you get, how long setup takes, and the one cost line that changes every year.
We set up companies on both sides of Sharjah: on the mainland through SEDD, and in four Sharjah free zones as a channel partner. This guide gives you the rules and figures we work to in 2026, and it is honest about the outcome: most Sharjah enquiries we see belong in a free zone, not on the mainland. Every AED figure here is indicative, so ask for a written quotation before you budget.
What does SEDD license?
The Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD) issues and renews trade licences for companies on the Sharjah mainland. It covers commercial, professional and industrial activities, plus a few small licences. It does not license free zone companies. SHAMS, SPC Free Zone, SRTIP and Hamriyah each issue their own.
So “setting up in Sharjah” means one of two separate systems. A mainland licence from SEDD lets you trade anywhere on the UAE mainland, open a shop and invoice local customers directly. SEDD plays the same role as the Department of Economic Development in other emirates. A free zone licence comes from the zone authority, with its own office rules, visa rules and price list.
The rest of this guide covers the mainland route in depth, then shows when a Sharjah free zone fits better and which one.
Why the office comes first in Sharjah
On the Sharjah mainland, the office is not a box you tick after the licence. It is the thing SEDD prices the licence from, the thing the inspector checks, and the thing immigration looks at when it sets your visa count. Choose it first.
What SEDD accepts as an office
SEDD wants a tenancy contract in the company’s name, attested by Sharjah Municipality, for a walled unit that can carry the company’s signboard. The attested contract does the job an Ejari certificate does in Dubai.
| Premises | Accepted for a standard mainland LLC? |
|---|---|
| Partitioned room in a business centre, with its own contract | Yes |
| Standalone office unit | Yes |
| Open-plan desk on a shared floor, or a flexi desk | No. There is nothing to attest and nothing to inspect |
| Shop, workshop or clinic unit | Required for stock, food, vehicle repair, medical or salon activities |
There is no published minimum area. In practice the floor is the smallest unit a landlord will attest, around 150 to 200 sq ft for a consultancy. Trading and professional files are inspected before the final licence, and the inspector checks that the unit exists and matches the contract.
This is why flexi desks work in the free zones next door but fail here. Two branch files we opened for Dubai companies both used a partitioned business-centre room, and both cleared inspection at the first visit.
How the office sets your visa count
Sharjah publishes no visa-per-square-metre ratio, and you should be wary of any page that quotes one. The quota is set after the licence, when the company’s establishment card is opened with immigration and its labour file is registered with MOHRE. It is assessed on two things together: the activity and the attested unit size.
A starter office of 150 to 200 sq ft carries the investor plus one or two staff in practice. We quote three as the safe entry figure and apply for more only after the office grows. Trading activities get less room per square foot than consultancies, because the assessor expects the staff to fit the space.
A professional we set up as a sole establishment on the smallest attested unit got the owner’s visa and one assistant. Immigration told them to move to a bigger unit before a third. If you already know you will hire four or five people in year one, size the office for them now. Moving later means a new tenancy, a new attestation and an amended licence.
How does the SEDD licence fee work?
SEDD charges 13 per cent of your attested annual rent, or AED 11,000, whichever is higher. Where every partner is Emirati, the rate is 8 per cent. The same rule applies at first issue and at every renewal. Below about AED 84,600 of rent, 13 per cent is less than AED 11,000, so you pay the AED 11,000 floor.
| Annual rent on the attested contract | 13 per cent of rent | SEDD licence line you pay |
|---|---|---|
| AED 15,000 | AED 1,950 | AED 11,000 (floor) |
| AED 25,000 | AED 3,250 | AED 11,000 (floor) |
| AED 60,000 | AED 7,800 | AED 11,000 (floor) |
| About AED 84,600 | About AED 11,000 | AED 11,000 (crossover) |
| AED 100,000 | AED 13,000 | AED 13,000 |
| AED 120,000 | AED 15,600 | AED 15,600 |
For an all-Emirati file, the crossover moves to AED 137,500 of rent.
Two things follow. First, the AED 11,000 is SEDD’s licence line only. The Chamber, the municipality attestation and the establishment card are charged separately, so no Sharjah mainland company pays just AED 11,000 a year.
Second, on a small office the licence line is heavy. At AED 20,000 of rent, the licence and the attestation together come to roughly three-fifths of the rent. Above the crossover, the licence line falls to about a seventh of the rent plus the attestation. Almost every client we file sits below the crossover. One Sharjah LLC we set up on a small attested office paid the floor at issue and paid it again at renewal. The only thing that moved was the rent.
What a Sharjah mainland company costs before rent
For one visa, a Sharjah mainland LLC costs about AED 19,000 to 24,000 in government and immigration lines in year one, and about AED 13,500 to 15,500 in year two. Rent goes on its own line, because it is the one number you choose.
| Cost line | Year one, indicative 2026 | Year two, indicative 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Initial approval and trade name registration | AED 1,000 to 1,500 | Nil |
| SEDD licence line (the floor, below about AED 84,600 of rent) | AED 11,000 | AED 11,000 |
| Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry membership | AED 1,200 to 2,000 | AED 1,200 to 2,000 |
| Sharjah Municipality tenancy attestation | A share of the annual rent, minimum AED 500 | AED 500 to 1,000 on the renewed contract |
| Establishment card and immigration file | AED 1,500 to 2,500 | AED 1,000 to 1,500 renewal |
| One investor visa, with medical and Emirates ID | AED 4,000 to 5,500 | Nil, not due in year two |
| Total before rent | About AED 19,000 to 24,000 | About AED 13,500 to 15,500 |
| Our service fee | From AED 5,000 | Quoted at renewal |
| Rent, smallest attested unit (150 to 200 sq ft) | AED 12,000 to 25,000 a year | AED 12,000 to 25,000 a year |
With our fee, year one before rent comes to about AED 24,000 to 30,000. Health insurance is a separate line for every resident. When the investor visa reaches the end of its term, it comes back at about AED 4,000 to 5,500.
The full breakdown, including bigger offices, extra employees and the totals after rent, is in Sharjah Mainland Licence Cost: Before Rent, After Rent.
What repeats every year, and what you pay once
Every year: the SEDD licence line, Chamber membership, the municipality attestation each time the tenancy renews, and the establishment card renewal.
Once: initial approval, the trade name, notarising the memorandum of association, and the visa’s entry permit and change of status.
Only sometimes: a signboard permit recurs on a street-facing shopfront. An office in a tower pays it once, with the building.
The Chamber does not let you pick a class. It assigns one from your activity and legal form when you register with your licence and lease. A standard trading LLC lands a step above a small consultancy: roughly AED 1,500 to 2,000 against about AED 1,200. The class only moves if your activity list changes.
Sharjah mainland or a Sharjah free zone?
Choose SEDD when you need a shopfront, stock held in Sharjah, or customers who need a mainland invoice from a Sharjah address. For service, media, e-commerce and remote-first businesses, a Sharjah free zone usually does the same job for less fixed cost, because the zones accept flexi desks and the mainland does not.
This is our house rule, and it decides most Sharjah enquiries in one conversation:
| Your business | Where we usually file it |
|---|---|
| Shopfront, stock, or mainland customers invoiced from a Sharjah address | Sharjah mainland, through SEDD |
| Services, consultancy, media, content, e-commerce, remote-first | SHAMS (Sharjah Media City) or SPC Free Zone |
| Laboratory, engineering, education, or light industry still at prototype or formulation stage | SRTIP |
| Anything that needs a warehouse, an industrial plot or port access | Hamriyah Free Zone |
Nine in ten of our Sharjah files are free zone, split almost evenly between SPC Free Zone, SHAMS and SRTIP. The mainland is for the smaller group that needs a physical trading presence in the emirate. A tutoring business we placed in SRTIP is typical: no stock, no walk-in customers, one owner visa. A mainland licence would have doubled its fixed costs for nothing it needed.
The general trade-off between the two routes is set out in our guide to free zone vs mainland in Dubai, and the rules hold in Sharjah. The Sharjah-specific version, with the cost of each route side by side, is in Sharjah Free Zone vs Mainland: Desk, Stock or Shopfront?. Each zone has its own guide: SPC Free Zone in SPC Free Zone: Low-Cost Sharjah Setup Beyond Print, SHAMS in its Sharjah Media City setup guide, SRTIP in SRTIP Free Zone Setup: Sharjah’s Innovation Park and Hamriyah in Hamriyah Free Zone: Sharjah’s Heavy-Industry Hub.
Where the small licences fit
SEDD issues a few licences built for very small businesses. They solve a narrow problem, and most of our clients do not qualify for them.
- Eitimad (home-based) licence. For UAE nationals living in Sharjah only. No staff, no visa.
- Micro e-commerce licence. For a resident who already holds a visa through a job or a spouse and wants to sell online legally. It has no premises, so it opens no establishment card and sponsors nobody.
- SEDD Instant Licence. Lets some activities start trading before the lease is in place, with a cap of three employees and a lease due later. If you take this route, the office-first order in this guide is delayed, not skipped.
A small licence stops working at the first of four points: you need a visa for yourself or a hire, you hold stock that needs an address, a corporate customer asks for a mainland invoice, or a bank asks why a trading business has no office. A social-media retailer we placed on an SPC Free Zone e-commerce licence hit the visa point inside a year and moved to a full licence then.
How long does Sharjah company formation take?
About four weeks from complete documents to the first Emirates ID, on a clean file. That splits into three legs, and the first one only starts once the tenancy is attested.
- Complete documents to licence: 5 to 7 working days, provided the tenancy contract is already attested. This is our working observation, not a published service standard.
- Licence to establishment card: 2 to 3 working days.
- Establishment card to first Emirates ID in hand: 10 to 15 working days, covering the entry permit, change of status, medical and biometrics.
The delay is almost always the attestation. The landlord’s paperwork has to be in order before the municipality will stamp the contract, and SEDD will not price the licence without that stamp. The second common delay is a trade name that clashes with one already registered. One branch we opened for a Dubai company lost a week to a landlord’s expired ownership document, then ran on schedule.
So check the landlord’s documents before you sign. The step-by-step filing, from initial approval to the UAE residence visa, is in Sharjah Mainland Company Formation: Lease, Licence, Visa.
Activities, legal form and ownership
A Sharjah mainland licence can carry up to ten activities, all from one licence category. Mixing a commercial activity with a professional one usually means a second licence, so map your activities before you file. The way to do that is the same in every emirate, and our guide on how to choose a business activity walks through it. The Sharjah category rules are in Sharjah Trade Licence Activities: The Category Decides.
On ownership, foreign investors can hold 100 per cent of a Sharjah mainland company for the common commercial and professional activities. We have never had ownership refused on a Sharjah file. The exception sits in the legal form, not the activity:
- A foreign individual filing a professional sole establishment still signs a UAE-national local service agent. The agent holds no equity, takes a fixed annual fee and has no say in management.
- A single-shareholder LLC carries the same activity with no agent and full ownership.
Our one Sharjah sole establishment kept its agent because the fee was small and the form suited a one-person practice. We told them to convert the day they add a partner. The wider choice is covered in sole proprietorship vs LLC.
After the licence: renewals, checks and fines
A Sharjah mainland licence renews every year on the same rule: 13 per cent of the rent on your renewed, attested contract, or AED 11,000. Your tenancy has to be renewed and attested before the licence can be. If your rent rises past about AED 84,600, the licence line rises with it.
Late renewal is fined from AED 200 a month, and after three months expired the file can no longer be renewed online. Check the licence status and any fines before every renewal, and before you sign with a new supplier or customer. How to read a Sharjah licence record is in Sharjah Trade Licence Check: Expiry, Fines, Clean Record, and the renewal steps are in Sharjah Trade Licence Renewal: SEDD Fees and Steps. The general mechanics of trade licence renewal apply here too.
Is Sharjah the right emirate for you?
Sharjah suits a business that needs a real presence in Sharjah: a shop, stock, Sharjah customers, or staff who live there. It suits a founder who wants a mainland licence with a short drive to Dubai. It does not suit a services business that only needs a licence and a visa, because a Sharjah free zone or another northern emirate will do that for less fixed cost.
Against Dubai, the licence lines are close and the gap is mostly rent. That comparison, with the numbers, is in Sharjah vs Dubai Mainland: Near-Level Licence, Lower Rent. If Sharjah itself is not a requirement, the other northern emirates are worth pricing: Umm Al Quwain mainland, Ras Al Khaimah mainland andFujairah mainland. If your business makes things rather than trades them, read Sharjah Industrial Licence: Why the Fee Follows the Rent first.
Want your Sharjah file mapped before you sign a lease?
Tell us your activity, who needs a visa in the first year, and whether you need customers to visit you. We will tell you whether it belongs on the mainland or in a free zone, which office passes, and send a written quotation with rent on its own line.
Getting a Sharjah setup right first time
Choose the office first. A walled, attestable unit decides whether SEDD accepts your file, how many visas you get and how fast you start. The licence line will almost certainly be AED 11,000 a year whatever you rent, until your rent passes about AED 84,600.
Budget about AED 19,000 to 24,000 before rent in year one and AED 13,500 to 15,500 in year two, then add the rent you actually choose. Check the landlord’s documents before you sign, because attestation is where the weeks are lost. And ask honestly whether you need the mainland at all. For most services businesses we see, a Sharjah free zone does the job.
Best Solution has formed companies in the UAE since 2014 and files both the SEDD mainland route and four Sharjah free zones. Our mainland licence service and wider business setup service quote every line separately, rent included. If you would rather have a team run the whole file, see Sharjah Business Setup Consultants: SEDD Licences. Book a free consultation on +971 52 233 0011 or connect@best-solution.ae.
