Dubai visa fees: what each authority publishes, including where they conflict

The overstay fine: two official answers

We publish both because both are live on UAE government sites and no page reconciles them. Note also that no general grace period is published before overstay fines begin. The only grace period we found anywhere is on the visa-on-arrival page: a 30-day visa on arrival comes “with a 10-day grace period for extension”. The 30-day grace period stated in an ICP FAQ refers to Emirates ID renewal, not visas — it is frequently misquoted as though it applied to visitors. The UAE portal’s own dedicated overstay page returns a 404 while remaining indexed.

Tourist visa fees: GDRFA against GDRFA

Two sets of pages on the same authority’s own site. They differ on price, on duration and on whether the visa can be extended at all.

The service cards add “In addition to value added tax (5%)”, plus a Knowledge Dirham of AED 10, an Innovation Dirham of AED 10, and — if the applicant is already inside the UAE — a further AED 500. So a headline AED 200 visa can be AED 200 plus VAT plus AED 520. GDRFA states its own hedge plainly: “The total amount of the visa may vary more or less depending on the circumstances surrounding the sponsored person or any other reasons that may require it.”

ICP prices components, not products

The federal authority publishes no bundled tourist visa price at all — only parts: application AED 100, single-entry issuance AED 100 a month, multiple-entry AED 200 a month, and a Smart Service Fee of AED 100 added in February 2023. Financial guarantees of AED 1,000 single-entry and AED 2,000 multiple-entry sit on top where required.

ICP mentions VAT nowhere. GDRFA states it is exclusive. So the same visa is priced by two authorities with two structures and two VAT positions. This is why no single figure should be quoted as “the Dubai tourist visa fee”.

Extensions: three incompatible answers

An ICP FAQ elsewhere gives “180 days for certain types” — a fourth cap. The practical reading is that the extension you get depends on which authority processed your visa, and that neither publishes a figure the other agrees with.

The 5-year multi-entry visa

Both authorities publish this one, and their totals differ by AED 7: GDRFA gives AED 3,713, ICP gives AED 3,720. The bulk of it is a refundable financial guarantee of AED 3,000; the difference is in the service-fee line items.

The conditions both agree on: a bank balance of USD 4,000 or equivalent across the six months preceding the application, valid UAE health insurance, and a ticket out. The stay is “a continuous period not exceeding 90 days”, extendable by the same again, capped at 180 days within a single year, and ICP adds that unused days “cannot be carried over to the following year”.

Visa on arrival, and what the government will not put in a list

The rules are published; the country lists are not readable. The UAE portal states GCC citizens need nothing, that eligible nationalities get 30 days on arrival with a 10-day grace period for extension or 90 days depending on the list, and that Indian nationals holding a valid US visa, green card or UK/EU residence visa can get 14 days on arrival. Passports must be valid at least six months from entry.

The lists themselves render only in a browser, and the newer version of the government page hands the question off to the tourism board rather than answering it. GDRFA’s own list page returns a 403. The government’s own instruction is the one to follow: “Lists of countries eligible for visa on arrival may vary from time to time; therefore, please check with the UAE embassy in your country before travelling to the UAE.”

A June 2026 expansion added six nationalities — Indonesia, Viet Nam, Thailand, the Philippines, Kenya and South Africa — where the holder also has residence in one of a named list of countries. A 14-day visa at AED 100, extendable once; a 60-day visa at AED 250, single entry and non-extendable.

Transit, and the requirements people invent

Only GDRFA publishes transit figures: the 48-hour transit visa is free — “No fees apply for issuing the 48-hour visa” — and the 96-hour is AED 120 in total. Applications go through approved airlines. The federal portal describes both types and publishes no fee.

Three things worth stating because they are widely asserted and not officially required:

• A hotel booking is not published as a requirement by any government source we read. Do not treat it as one.
• No minimum funds requirement is published for a standard 30 or 60-day tourist visa. The USD 4,000 rule applies only to the 5-year visa.
• An onward or return ticket is published, repeatedly, and is real.

One live page worth knowing about: the UAE portal still serves a COVID-era quarantine page with no archive banner and no date, stating testing requirements and a AED 50,000 fine — while a sibling page on the same site is properly marked as archived. More of the same on the stale sources page.

Once you are in: what the hotel adds to the room rate, and getting from DXB into the city.

This is a transcription of what ICP and GDRFA Dubai publish, not immigration advice. Fees depend on nationality, on which authority issues, and on whether you are already inside the UAE — no figure here is universal.

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