UAE Visit Visa Costs in 2026: Fees, Types and How to Apply

The government fee for a UAE visit visa starts at AED 200 for a 30-day single entry — but the fee is only the first line of the bill. On the published GDRFA schedule retrieved on 1 November 2026, 5% VAT, two AED 10 dirham fees and a refundable financial guarantee of AED 1,000 (single entry) or AED 2,000 (multiple entry) sit on top, and travellers who apply through an airline or agency typically hand over AED 330–550 in total for that same 30-day visa. This page separates the official fee from the channel price for every main visa type, prices the five-year option honestly — AED 3,000 of its AED 3,713.50 headline is a refundable deposit — and sets out exactly what an extension and an overstay cost.

Last updated: 1 November 2026 · Sources: ICP and GDRFA published fee schedules as reported by Emirates 24/7, Arabiers and Platinumlist, cross-checked across guides — full list at the end of this page. Fees change; confirm yours on the official ICP or GDRFA portal before you pay.

Who needs a visa before they fly, and who gets one on arrival?

Three groups, three very different costs. GCC citizens enter freely — no visa, no fee. A long list of nationalities — most of Europe, the UK, the US, Canada, Japan, Australia and others — receive a free entry permit on arrival, for 30 or 90 days depending on nationality; their visa cost is AED 0, and this page is not really for them. Everyone else needs a pre-arranged visa, and that is where the fees in this article apply.

There is also a fourth, newer group. Since an ICP expansion announced on 25 June 2026, nationals of India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Kenya and South Africa who hold a valid visa, residence permit or Green Card from the United States, an EU state, the UK, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand or Canada can be issued a paid visa on arrival instead of applying in advance: 14 days for AED 100, extendable once, or 60 days for AED 250, single entry and not extendable. One wrinkle, shown rather than hidden: the Dubai authority’s own channel quotes AED 253 in total for its version of this route. Which figure you meet depends on where you land and through which channel your arrival is processed — budget for the higher one and be pleasantly surprised.

This page does not print a country-by-country eligibility list. Those lists change by agreement between governments — the June 2026 expansion added six countries at a stroke — and a copied list goes stale silently. Check your nationality on the official portal or with your airline in the week you book.

How much does each visa type cost in government fees?

The table below is the GDRFA published schedule for visit visas, as reported in September 2026 and cross-checked against the authority’s service card in October 2026. These are the visa fees themselves, before the extras listed under the table.

Visa	Single entry fee (AED)	Multiple entry fee (AED)
30 days	200	300
60 days	300	500
90 days	400	700

On top of the fee, the sponsored visit route adds: 5% VAT; a refundable financial guarantee of AED 1,000 for single entry or AED 2,000 for multiple entry, plus a AED 20 deposit fee; and the Knowledge and Innovation Dirham fees of AED 10 each. The guarantee is the line that shocks people — it is refundable when the visitor leaves and the visa is closed properly, but it has to be paid first, in full. The federal ICP structures its charges differently for the other emirates — an application fee, a smaller visa fee, a smart-services fee and the same AED 1,000–2,000 guarantee — so the same-looking product can total differently by emirate and channel. That is not a scam; it is two fee cards. What you should not accept is a quote that will not separate the government fee from the service charge.

If a UAE resident is sponsoring you as a relative or friend, the sponsor’s salary is part of the price of admission: ICP requires at least AED 4,000 a month to sponsor a first-degree relative, AED 8,000 for second- or third-degree relatives, and AED 15,000 to sponsor a friend — with health insurance for the visitor and a return ticket as conditions. A tourist visa is different: it is sponsored by an airline, a hotel or a licensed agency, not by an individual, which is why its channel prices in the next section look nothing like the table above.

Why does the price you actually pay differ from the official fee?

Because almost nobody applies at the counter where the AED 200 fee lives. Most visitors buy through an airline, a hotel or a travel agency, and the channel adds its service charge, the insurance the visa requires, and sometimes an express fee. Agency price tables retrieved on 1 November 2026 put the all-in channel totals at:

Visa	Typical channel total (AED)
30-day single entry	330–550
30-day multiple entry	800–1,100
60-day single entry	550–920
60-day multiple entry	1,100–1,650

Read those ranges against the government table and you can see the channel’s margin for yourself — roughly AED 130–350 on the common 30-day single-entry visa. That margin buys real things: the application handled for you, the insurance bundled, and someone to call when the passport scan is rejected. It is not automatically a rip-off. It becomes one only when the quote hides the split, or when a “government fee” is invented that does not exist on either authority’s card. Ask for the breakdown in writing: fee, VAT, deposit, insurance, service. Every honest seller on this page’s evidence can produce one.

What does the five-year multiple-entry visa really cost?

The five-year tourist visa is the one product where the headline price actively misleads. The published totals are AED 3,713.50 through GDRFA and about AED 3,720–3,775 through ICP — but AED 3,000 of that is the refundable security deposit, returned when the visa is cancelled or expires cleanly. The true non-refundable cost through GDRFA is AED 713.50: a AED 100 application fee, AED 500 issuance, and about AED 113.50 of small service and dirham fees. Two reproductions of the ICP breakdown differ by AED 25 on the deposit line (AED 3,000 versus AED 3,025) while agreeing on the shape — recorded here because on this page, disagreements are shown.

What the money buys: five years of multiple entries with no sponsor and no host, stays of up to 90 days per visit (extendable once by a further 90), and a hard ceiling of 180 days in the country in any year. First entry must be made within 60 days of issue. The gate is not the fee — it is the paperwork: a bank balance of about US$4,000 (roughly AED 15,000) held across the previous six months, UAE health insurance, a return or onward ticket and proof of accommodation. For a frequent visitor making three or more trips a year, AED 713.50 of real cost undercuts buying single visas repeatedly within the first year. For a once-a-year visitor, it does not — do that arithmetic before you apply, and read our trip cost breakdown for what those visits themselves will cost.

How much are transit visas and short stops?

Transit visas are a separate, smaller product: 48 hours or 96 hours, issued only through UAE-based airlines (or their partners) when you connect through the country, and never extendable. The published government fee in most fee tables is AED 50 for 48 hours and AED 100 for 96 hours. One fee guide lists the 48-hour visa as free when airline-sponsored — some carriers do absorb it — and agents resell the pair at AED 100–250 all-in. The rule that matters more than the price: if there is any chance your stopover becomes a stay, buy the tourist visa instead. A transit visa cannot be extended, and the overstay fine below does not care which visa you overstayed on.

How do you apply, step by step?

One choice matters before the steps begin: applying directly on the official portal costs the government fee alone, with no service charge — but the form, the document uploads and the deposit process are entirely yours to handle. An airline, hotel or agency charges for taking that work off you, and an Amer centre or typing centre will do the same paperwork in person for a service fee in the region of AED 100–150. None of these routes issues a different visa; they differ only in who does the typing. Whichever channel you choose, the sequence is the same:

1. Pick the channel. Direct: the ICP Smart Services portal or UAEICP app for the federal route, or the GDRFA portal for the Dubai route. Sponsored: the airline you are flying with, your hotel, or a licensed travel agency. In person: an Amer centre or typing centre. 2. Prepare the documents: a passport valid for at least six months, a passport-style photo, a confirmed return or onward ticket, a hotel booking or your host’s address, and health insurance — required for visit visas, and usually bundled by agencies. 3. Submit and pay — fee, VAT and, on the sponsored visit route, the refundable guarantee. 4. Wait for processing: typically two to four working days through agencies; express handling in 24–48 hours is sold for an extra AED 100–200. 5. Enter within the window: the issued permit must be used within 60 days. Print or save the entry permit; the airline will ask for it before the authorities do.

Two process warnings from the evidence. First, apply early enough that a rejected document scan is an inconvenience, not a cancelled flight — the two-to-four-day figure is a typical case, not a guarantee. Second, keep the deposit receipt and the visa copy together: the refund of the AED 1,000–2,000 guarantee is a process you will start, not one that starts itself, and it runs on paperwork.

What happens if you need more time — or take it anyway?

An extension is a product, and it is cheaper than the alternative. Most tourist and visit visas can now be extended from inside the country without exiting: each extension adds 30 days and costs a government fee of AED 600 plus 5% VAT (the federal card builds the same AED 600 as a AED 100 application plus AED 500), with total time in the country capped at 180 days. Through an agent or typing centre, expect AED 600–1,150 all-in per extension. Apply before the current visa expires — for pre-arranged tourist visas there is no grace period to fall back on.

The alternative prices itself by the day. The overstay fine was standardised across all emirates and visa types in February 2026 at AED 50 per day, charged from the first day after expiry — AED 500 by day ten, AED 1,500 by day thirty, plus an exit-permit charge reported at AED 250–300 when you leave on an expired visa, and a record in the system that the next application will meet. Ten days of overstay costs roughly what an extension costs; the extension also keeps your record clean. Travellers pairing this page with a budget should also read our guide to travelling between the cities — the cheapest mistake to avoid is a fine, the second cheapest is a taxi you did not need.

FAQs

What is the cheapest UAE visa I can legally get?

If your nationality qualifies for free entry on arrival, AED 0. If you qualify for the paid on-arrival route, AED 100 for 14 days. Otherwise, the 30-day single-entry tourist visa: AED 200 in government fees on the published schedule, realistically AED 330–550 through the channel you will actually use.

Is the visa deposit really refundable?

Yes — the AED 1,000 (single) / AED 2,000 (multiple) financial guarantee on the sponsored visit route, and the AED 3,000 on the five-year visa, are guarantees, not fees. They are returned when the visitor exits and the visa is closed properly. Keep the receipt; the refund is claimed, not automatic.

Can I extend a 30-day tourist visa?

Yes, from inside the country, in 30-day steps at AED 600 plus VAT in government fees per extension, up to a total stay of 180 days. Apply before expiry — there is no grace period, and overstaying costs AED 50 a day from day one.

Why was I quoted AED 900 for a “30-day visa”?

Probably a multiple-entry product or a bundled quote: channel totals for a 30-day multiple-entry visa run AED 800–1,100, against AED 330–550 for single entry. Ask for the written split — entry type, government fee, VAT, insurance, service charge — and compare it with the tables on this page.

Do children pay the same visa fees?

The fee schedules retrieved for this page do not publish a general child rate for visit visas; one 2026 report mentions a 50% child discount on a specific tourist product, but it was single-sourced, so this page does not present it as a rule. Confirm on the official portal for your exact visa type before budgeting a family trip.

Data sources used on this page:

• Emirates 24/7 — sponsor salary thresholds and the GDRFA visit-visa fee breakdown (published September 2026) — https://www.emirates247.com/dubai-it/want-to-bring-your-family-or-friend-to-dubai-heres-exactly-how-much-you-need-to-earn-to-sponsor-their-visit-visa/6067?ot=ot.AMPPageLayout — retrieved 1 November 2026
• UAE Insider Guide — tourist visa government-fee and agency-cost tables — https://uaeinsiderguide.com/visa/uae-visa-for-egyptians-complete-guide/ — retrieved 1 November 2026
• MirDXB Pro — UAE visa types and costs (ICP fee structures from the authority’s service cards) — https://mirdxbpro.com/guides/uae-visa-types-complete-list/ — retrieved 1 November 2026
• Arabiers — five-year multiple-entry visa (GDRFA official fee schedule and ICP portal figures, July 2026) — https://www.arabiers.com/uae-5-year-visa — retrieved 1 November 2026
• Platinumlist — five-year multiple-entry visa requirements and fee breakdowns (updated July 2026) — https://platinumlist.net/guide/uae-5-year-multiple-entry-visa-requirements-fees-and-how-to-apply/ — retrieved 1 November 2026
• HappyFares — visa for Indian nationals (ICP media release, 25 June 2026: paid on-arrival categories and fees) — https://www.happyfares.in/blog/abu-dhabi-visa-for-indians-2026/ — retrieved 1 November 2026
• Zurich Kotak — visa-on-arrival explainer (ICP AED 100/250 fees; GDRFA channel total AED 253) — https://www.zurichkotak.com/knowledge-center/travel-insurance/is-dubai-visa-free-for-indians — retrieved 1 November 2026
• SetupInBahrain — tourist visa guide fee table (transit visas AED 50/100; extension AED 600+) — https://setupinbahrain.com/tourist-visa-dubai/ — retrieved 1 November 2026
• Visa-Requirements.io — UAE visa fees (airline-sponsored transit pricing; extension range) — https://www.visa-requirements.io/visa-requirements/uae/fees/ — retrieved 1 November 2026
• DubaiVisitVisa — visa extension guide (government fee build-up; updated 23 October 2026) — https://www.dubaivisitvisa.ae/dubai-visa-extension/ — retrieved 1 November 2026
• Visarun — UAE business and visit visa guide (GDRFA fee card cross-check, 23 October 2026; extension caps) — https://visarun.ai/blog/uae-business-visa-processing-time-complete-guide-2025-requirements-timeline — retrieved 1 November 2026