20 days extension
Without exit
The UAE immigration has recently announced that they have eliminated the grace period for prepaid visit visa. Earlier, you were allowed to stay in the UAE for another 10 days after your visa reached its expiry date.
If you have a prepaid visa now, you should choose to apply for either the 30 days or 60 days visa. Once the visa you applied for expires, please exit the country or extend your visa to continue staying in the country.
You can extend your UAE visa through the airport-to-airport visa change or the Oman visa run, where you cross the border by bus.
If you are in a hurry to change your visa you can apply for an express visa where your visa will be processed in 4 to 8 hours.
When you overstay your visa, you are risking being fined and absconding which you must deal with before exiting the UAE.
The UAE immigration usually processes over thousands of applications. Once in a while, the immigration IT systems may develop issues. These might cause inconvenience to the travelers and affect some applications.
The UAE immigration comprises of very complicated systems involving airports, ports, entry points, and many immigration offices.
IT issues may arise and force you to change your flight schedule. In such cases, you will need to get a new flight ticket. The UAE immigration and we at Arabiers as well always advice that you purchase a flight ticket once your visa has been approved.
If your application undergoes IT issues and is delayed for a few days, you might need to physically visit the immigration office.
It is only the UAE immigration who can make the decision on your visa application. The decision to whether approve or reject your visa application is made by the UAE immigration.
Even if your application is rejected, the immigration will not refund the visa fee as it is a one-time fee. If you decide to reapply for visa, you will have to pay for visa fee afresh.
Visa applications submitted during UAE national holidays, Eid, and other Islamic festivals or Christmas and the New Year may experience a delay in processing. Systems are usually slow during these times and many employees are usually not working.
We advise you to apply for visa 5 to 7 days before your intended travel dates or before your current visa’s expiry date. Alternatively, you can opt to apply for express visas where you get the visa in 4 to 8 hours.
We do not take responsibility for your travel plan changes, missing flights or overstaying fines.
If you have the UAE visit visa, you will be required to pay 50 AED for every day you overstay the visa after it expires.
You will also be charged a leave permit issuance application fee and another fee when exiting the country with an overstayed visa.
You will also be charged a leave permit issuance application fee and another fee when exiting the country with an overstayed visa.
The exit pass application fee is usually around 250 to 350 AED which must be paid together with the overstay fine.
Note: The immigration charges are subject to change without any notice and we will not take any responsibility for the amounts charged.
If you have a canceled residence visa or issues with your bank when making payments, please inform us. If we are provided with such information, we will know what steps can be taken to avoid processing delays.
Your visa may also get delayed if the immigration system comes across issues with your previous exit histories.
Apart from the 96 hours and multiple entry visas, other types of visas can be extended for two times without exiting the country.
If you wish to stay in the UAE for more than 30 days, you can extend your visa. You can do this through the Airport-to-Airport (A2A) visa change or any other option that seems convenient to you.
20 days extension
Without exit
Only for 30 days on arrival nationals
30 days extension
Without exit
Only Prepaid visa holders
30 days new tourist visa
Airport to Airport visa change return flight ticket
All nationals
60 days new tourist visa
Airport to Airport visa change return flight ticket
For All nationals
30 days express visa
Travelers who exit Boarder & other country
For All nationals
60 days express visa
Travelers who exit Boarder & other country
All nationals
The UAE normally allows you 60 days after your visa is approved to enter the UAE.
On February 6 2022, the Federal Authority for Identity, Nationality, Customs and Ports Security (ICP) launched a new service where they will be allowing visitors to extend all types of visas valid for 60 days for only one time.
If you are going through issues that are causing you not to travel within the first 60 days of your visa approval, you can still enter the country after another 60 days.
You however must pay a certain fee to be able to extend the validity of your visa before entering the UAE.
Moreover, if you are unable to travel to the UAE and do not have plans to travel, you must cancel your visit visa. You also will be charged a certain fee in order to cancel the current visa.
In future, when you plan to travel to the UAE, you will not be allowed to apply for a new visa unless you first cancel the old unused visa.
Airport to airport visa change is carried out in Dubai or Sharjah airports. Occasionally, you may face some challenges during your visa change.
For instance, some middle east countries do not allow you to return back to the UAE without an approved visa. in such cases, we reschedule your return flight to the earliest time possible.
If the immigration does not issue your visa due to any reason, you only have 48 hours to stay in the airport. During the 48th hour, you need to book a flight to your home country and leave the airport.
You will be responsible to pay for your flight ticket to your home country. Ensure you adhere to the airport and immigration regulations at all times.
You need to obtain a travel insurance when travelling to the UAE. The insurance covers Medical Evacuation, Repatriation of Mortal Remains, loss or delay Baggage, personal effects and loss of travel documents.
Your insurance should also cover delayed flights and travel curtailment. You may get a 7 days, 30 days or 90 days travel insurance depending on the duration of your trip.
Absconding is when a travel agent has to report to the immigration that your visa has expired and you are overstaying.
Overstaying a visa is against the country’s rules and a criminal offence in the UAE. Agents like Arabiers report overstaying visitors to the immigration for absconding.
This is to stay on the safe side as we may be blocked from applying for new visas if our customers overstay.
You are allowed to stay in the UAE until your visa nears expiry. Depending on the type of visa, you may be eligible for a 10 days grace. During this time, you must decide whether to exit the country or to get a visa extension.
If looking for a job in the UAE, ensure your visa status changes at least a day before your visa expires.
You risk accumulating absconding fines, arrest or even deportation when you overstay. You might also be banned from ever visiting the UAE and other GCC countries.
You must pay the absconding fee to get cleared before exiting the UAE.
The UAE in 2021 implemented a new work week. The move was a way to support the UAE’s goal to become the region’s most efficient business and economic hub.
Now, offices like the Immigration department only operate from Monday to Friday noon. We have also adjusted our working hours to match the country’s work days.
If you want to extend your visa or change your visa status, please do so as per the new work week.
Submit your application before your current visa expires. For those looking to change their visa status, they should do so also a day before the current visa expires.
The UAE has official holidays every year. Arabiers offices and the immigration remain closed during these holidays.
We recommend all travelers and residents to get visa services done before the holidays.
We advise you to use the manual immigration lines to get the exit stamp. This applies to those doing a visa run or an airport-to-airport visa change.
If you also exit the country and plan to get an express visa when reentering, opt for the manual exit stamp.
Emigration Check Required (ECR) passport holders and certain nationals need to get confirmation that their visit visa is ok to board a flight. These instructions are issued by certain airlines to avoid any inconveniences.
Chek the airline, airport and your country’s specific requirements before planning a trip to the UAE.
You might lose your flight tickets or may have to delay your travel plans if you don’t meet the requirements by the airport authority.
Arabiers does not process flight tickets for travelers. You therefore must take responsibility to get the OK to board. Ensure you meet all the travel requirements set up by the airport authority.