UAE Visa Rules
UAE Visa Rules: Entry, Stay, Extension and Fines — What Applies Now
UAE visa rules are the entry, stay, and exit rules for visitors and residents, and if you are planning a trip or already here, the rule that matters first is which authority holds your file — ICP for most emirates, GDRFA for Dubai — because that decides where you check, extend, and pay.
This page is written as the current rules, not as a 2023 update. Anything on the old page that was framed as 2023 news, or priced as 2023 prices, has been removed rather than carried forward, and every fee and fine below stays in reported voice until an official page confirms it.
Which authority holds your visa
If your visa or file is Dubai-issued, your authority is GDRFA Dubai — the General Directorate of Identity and Foreigners Affairs–Dubai, at gdrfad.gov.ae, where a Visa Status service and a Fines Inquiry service are both listed on the GDRFA homepage itself. If it is from any other emirate, your authority is ICP, at smartservices.icp.gov.ae. Old references to “ICA”, to eChannels, and to a generic Ministry of Interior as the visa authority have been removed, because guides agree the current authorities are ICP and GDRFA Dubai.
Staying longer: extension from inside the UAE
The old exit-only extension rule is gone from this page, because guides report it as superseded. Guides report that in-country extension is now possible for most visit and tourist visas, with caps that depend on the visa type: a 30-day tourist visa is reported as extendable twice, by 30 days each time; a 60-day tourist visa is reported as extendable once; total tourist stay is reported as capped at 120 days; and visit visas for relatives, friends, job seekers, and medical visits are reported as extendable up to 180 days in total. The reported total cost of an in-country extension is around AED 1,000–1,200, made up of a reported base of AED 500–600 plus charges plus a reported AED 500 in-country surcharge — but that is a reported range, and the portal or service centre’s quote for your visa type is what settles your cost. No blanket extension promise is made for any single visa type here, because the caps differ by type.
Overstaying: the reported fine position
Guides report a unified overstay fine of AED 50 per day, dated to February 2026 regulations, with fines starting the day after your permitted stay — or after any grace that applies to you — ends, and with no cap until the fine is paid. Guides report no grace period for tourist and visit visas, which is the point the old page got wrong: its 10-day grace sentences have all been deleted, and so has its contradictory AED 125-per-day line, which never agreed with its own AED 50 lines. Residence grace, guides report, runs 30–180 days by category rather than as one flat period. Where an overstay exceeds 30 days, guides report an exit permit at a reported AED 250–300. None of this is an ICP or GDRFA quote yet — it is the reported 2026 position, and the official fine schedule must be checked on publish day before any figure here is firmed up. No standing exemption for flight disruption or airport closure is promised, because no checked source supports one as an ongoing rule.
Residence visas: what can be said now
Guides report one dated residence change worth carrying: from February 2026, a property worth AED 2 million is reported to qualify for a Golden Visa even with an outstanding mortgage, provided the full certified value reaches AED 2 million — replacing the older reported rule about a proportion paid off. Beyond that single reported change, this draft does not republish the old page’s residence figure set: no sponsorship ages, salary thresholds, or visa durations are stated here, because none of them was corroborated as current, and a rules page that prints stale durations as current is exactly how the old page misled readers. Green and Golden durations return to this page only from an official page.
Related UAE guides
UAE visa status check, Emirates ID status, and Emirates ID fines — linked here, so a rules question that becomes a check or payment question has a next step. Also: passport number to check the UAE Visa Status online and Emirates ID applications. UAE Guides
Official sources: ICP Smart Services, smartservices.icp.gov.ae; GDRFA Dubai, gdrfad.gov.ae (“Visa Status” and “Fines Inquiry” services confirmed on the GDRFA homepage in this run). Checked on: 26 October 2026. MyIDStatus is not ICP or GDRFA. Every fee and fine in this draft stays in reported voice until an official page confirms it.
