Fujairah Creative City Free Zone is in the emirate of Fujairah on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates. The free zone, started in 2007, was a pioneer in offering low cost simplified company incorporation in the UAE.
For media companies such as TV stations and radio channels targeting overseas markets, Creative City is an affordable alternative to Dubai’s Media City, Abu Dhabi’s twofour54, and Ajman’s Media City.
Fujairah Creative City focuses on a wide spectrum of business fields including software development, marketing, music, entertainment, media, events, consulting, education, design and information technology. Licenses in trading of goods, general trading and industrial licenses are not issued by this jurisdiction.
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Due to low costs and few requirements to obtain between 6 to 15 visas, many of UAE’s top expat owned service firms start out via Creative City. For many years, it’s also been the de-facto option for freelancer seeking to break into the UAE market. Since the free zone also does not require a NOC from your existing sponsor in the UAE, it’s become the preferred choice for those who want to start something on the side without giving up their full-time job.
Creative City licence holders can use the free zone’s business centres based in Dubai and use the amenities for a set number of hours a month. You can also complete ongoing administrative tasks at their Dubai office. This is ideal for clients who are closer to Dubai and do not wish to travel to Fujairah.
Please note that if you need to sponsor dependents, obtain a driver license or register a vehicle, these functions will need to occur in Fujairah. With increasing federalization of these areas, this may be subject to change in the future, however, at this stage, it still needs to be completed within Fujairah.
A business in Creative City Fujairah Free Zone can operate under these types of licenses:
Professional License
Encompassing professional services;
You can sign all the relevant documentation and receive your licence in a matter of hours. If you work with a business consultancy, you can get your company name approved in advance, making the entire transaction even quicker. At the time of publishing, these were the required documents:
We request that you check with us before you prepare your documentation for submission.
- Application form – includes a list of proposed company names;
- Passport copy of all shareholders and general manager;
- UAE residence visa and Emirates ID (if available);
- Latest UAE entry stamp (if available);
- Business description;
- Attested degree for the general manager;
- If a company, instead of an individual holds the shares, the company documentation needs to be notarized and attested. If a foreign company holds them, you will need to have them legally translated to Arabic and then attested by the home government, UAE Embassy and UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Fujairah Creative City license can take anywhere from two to three weeks. While the licensing process is relatively fast, please be aware that residence visa processing can take a significant amount of time. Through our many years of experience, we have also noted that there are restrictions on certain nationalities in obtaining both a license and a residence visas at this jurisdiction. Please speak to us so that we can check in advance to see if these issues will impact you.