Last updated
Sharjah Healthcare City (SHCC) is the emirate's free zone for health businesses: hospitals, clinics, labs, rehabilitation centres, wellness providers and medical suppliers. It does not publish a starting price or a package, so you get a quote based on your licence and premises. You can set up an FZ-LLC or a branch. The zone is regulated by the Sharjah Health Authority, which matters if you plan to treat patients.
SHCC was formed in . It covers 4.5 million sq m of land near Sharjah International Airport, about six minutes away by its own estimate, in the Al Rahmaniya area on the zone map. Its website now sits at shcc.shj.ae.
Sharjah Healthcare City costs: what is and is not published
SHCC lists no licence fees, registration fees, visa fees or office rents on its site. We read its setup, invest, facility, regulations, renewal and public notices pages in . The renewal page only says to pay "any applicable fees" and warns that adding activities may change them. The setup agents we checked publish no SHCC price either: Avyanco's SHCC page has no figures, and Bestaxca says SHCC prices each case on its clinical scope and facility. So there is no market range to show you, and the zone is priced by quote.
One caution if you search for prices. A "from" figure for an SHCC licence turns up in some search summaries, but it is another Sharjah free zone's entry price, taken from a blog that zone runs. It is not an SHCC fee.
That is common for health zones. The bill depends on things a standard package cannot cover:
- Licence type: a commercial licence for a supplier costs differently from a facility that sees patients
- Premises: a desk in a business centre, a warehouse, clinical space or a land plot for a hospital
- Professional licences for doctors, nurses and technicians who work at the facility
- Fit-out and approvals for clinical space, which must meet health authority standards
- Visas for the staff you bring in
For a sense of scale, the health zone in Dubai does publish its fees: Dubai Healthcare City charges AED 15,000 a year for most commercial licences. That figure is Dubai's, not Sharjah's. Use it as a benchmark only and get SHCC's own numbers.
Which licence types and company forms does SHCC offer?
The SHCC setup page names three licence types:
| Licence | Typical holder |
|---|---|
| Commercial | Medical equipment and supply traders, pharmacy distributors, health product firms |
| Professional | Consultancies and specialists whose service is health related |
| Industrial | Producers of medical or health products |
Source: SHCC setup business page, checked . The "typical holder" column is our plain-language reading, not SHCC wording.
Invest in Sharjah, the emirate's investment office, also lists a healthcare licence and a service licence for the zone. SHCC handles the company licence, the facility licence and the professional licences with the Sharjah Health Authority, so a clinic does not have to run three separate processes in different offices.
Company forms
- FZ-LLC: a limited liability company registered in the zone
- Branch of a UAE company: for a group already licensed elsewhere in the country
- Branch of a foreign company: for a hospital group or supplier based abroad
Share capital rules and shareholder limits are not published on the pages we read.
Space: land, offices, warehouses and clinical units
Invest in Sharjah lists four kinds of space at SHCC: land, offices and business centres, warehouses, and clinical space. A hospital or large medical centre would normally lease land and build. A clinic needs clinical space that passes inspection. A trader of medical goods can look at an office or a warehouse. Sizes and rents are not published.
How do visas work in SHCC?
SHCC does not publish a visa quota per office size or visa fees. Ask how many visas your chosen space allows before you sign a lease, because clinics often need more staff than a small unit permits in other zones. Our free zone visa cost page shows what other zones charge.
What documents does SHCC ask for?
The SHCC setup page lists:
- The application form
- A business plan, for clinical activities only
- A resolution to incorporate the company
- Passport copies of the director, manager, legal representative and every shareholder
- For corporate shareholders and branches: company papers, attested
Medical staff will also need their own qualification papers for professional licensing.
How do you set up a company in SHCC?
- Decide whether your activity is clinical (patients) or non-clinical (supply, services, production).
- Pick the company form: FZ-LLC or a branch.
- Prepare the documents above, including a business plan if you will treat patients.
- Submit the application to SHCC and agree the space you will lease.
- Get the facility and professional licences through the Sharjah Health Authority process.
- Receive the trade licence, then apply for visas.
SHCC does not publish a setup time. Clinical projects take longer than a supplier licence because of inspections and staff licensing.
How does SHCC license renewal work?
Every SHCC licence renews once a year. If you miss the expiry date, SHCC allows 30 days with no penalty. The renewal fee is not published. Read free zone licence renewal for what a renewal usually involves.
Pros and cons of Sharjah Healthcare City
Pros:
- Built only for health businesses, with clinical space and land
- Company, facility and professional licences handled with the Sharjah Health Authority
- Branch option for UAE and foreign groups
- Near Sharjah International Airport
Cons:
- No published prices, packages or visa rules
- No agency price data to compare against
- Not suited to general businesses with no health link
- Setup time not published
If your firm sells health products online or offers non-clinical services, a general zone may be simpler and cheaper. SPC Free Zone and SRTIP both publish package prices. The full list is on the Sharjah free zones page.
Get a quote from SHCC
Because SHCC quotes each project, the fastest route is to describe yours: the activity, clinical or not, the space you need and your staff numbers. Use the form on this page. UAEFreeZoneDirectory.com is a private directory, not part of SHCC or the Sharjah Health Authority. We hand your request to SHCC or a licensed setup partner, who replies to you.
Setup consultants and SHCC
Few of the setup consultants we list name SHCC on their own websites, so ask the zone which agents it works with. The directory of Dubai setup consultants lists firms by area and service, and the top 15 by weighted Google score shows how they compare.
Sources
- https://shcc.shj.ae/about : founding year, regulator
- https://shcc.shj.ae/ : land area, distance to the airport, location
- https://shcc.shj.ae/setup-business : licence types, company forms, documents
- https://shcc.shj.ae/company-license-renewal-amendment : renewal, grace period, fee wording
- https://bestaxca.com/business-setup-cost-in-sharjah/ : agency note that SHCC prices each case individually
- https://investinsharjah.ae/sharjah-freezones/ : extra licence types, facilities
