FREE ZONE FILE

Dubai Studio City

Emirate DubaiEstablished 2005Type Free zone for film, television and broadcast production

Authority Dubai Development Authority, TECOM Group

What we think

Publishes nothing itself. Every figure below comes from the regulator that licenses it, the Dubai Development Authority, whose public fee schedule prices a commercial segment at AED 15,000 and a broadcasting segment far higher. The zone's own pages sell the studios and stay silent on money.

Publishes its headline prices, but not everything

Packages

No package price is published. Dubai Studio City sells space, not licence packages. The Dubai Development Authority fee schedule is the only public price list that applies to it.

Where each line was read: product page, a commercial commitment on the zone's own site. Official document, a downloadable schedule, regulation or terms. Blog only, an article on the zone's site, editorial and not contractual. Not published, the zone does not say.

Visas

Cost of an employee visanot published by the zone or by the regulatornot published

Visa quota per square metre of officenot publishednot published

Freelancer permit, one holderAED 7,500 per year, Dubai Development Authority scheduleofficial document

Offices and desks

Office, studio and warehouse rentsnot published, quoted on enquiry onlynot published

Coworking and flexible desk pricesnot publishednot published

Year two, and closing down

The two figures nobody advertises. A cheap first year means nothing if year two doubles, and nothing at all if leaving costs a fortune.

Renewal, per year

15,000 AED

AED 15,000 per year for a standard segment. The Dubai Development Authority decision that sets this fee states it as an annual fee, so the same amount falls due at each renewal. A one-off registration of AED 3,500 applies in year one only.

Closing the company

AED 1,500

AED 1,500 to deregister a free zone limited liability company, reduced to AED 1,000 for companies incubated at in5. Published by the Dubai Development Authority, not by the zone.

Other fees and penalties

Commercial or service segment, per segmentAED 15,000 per year

Broadcasting segmentAED 25,000 to AED 40,000 per year

Registration, one offAED 3,500

Additional segment on an existing licenceAED 10,000

Freelancer permitAED 7,500 per year

DeregistrationAED 1,500

Binding terms

Licences are issued and priced by the Dubai Development Authority, not by the zone's commercial team.
A licence covers one segment. Each additional segment is charged separately.
Broadcasting activities sit in a higher fee band than commercial or service activities.

What this zone does not publish

Any licence price on the zone's own website.
Second-year renewal price.
Employee visa cost and visa quota per office.
Office, studio and warehouse rents.
Trade name reservation fee.
Late renewal penalties.
Minimum share capital and audit obligation.
Any agent or referral commission terms.

Where every figure above comes from

dda.gov.ae, fee schedule
dubaistudiocity.ae
tecomgroup.ae

Read on the zone's official site on 13 aout 2026. We print the addresses rather than link them, so you can check any figure word for word, and so this page stays a comparison rather than a doorway.

AED 1,000 back on this zone

This zone pays us an introduction fee, and we hand AED 1,000 of it back to you once your trade licence has actually been issued. You pay the zone exactly what you would pay going direct, we never take a dirham from you, and the cashback is only due if you filled in the Free Zone Radar form first.

Check whether this zone fits your case12 questions, about 90 seconds. It may well tell you this zone is wrong for you.

Figures quoted from the zone are left in the language the zone published them in, so you can check them word for word. This file is available in English and French. The comparator itself is in Arabic too.