A Guide to Different Types of Visas in UAE

Whether you are a traveler or on a visit to take on or look for a job or is in UAE to join your friends or relatives, it is vital to obtain a valid visa before entering the country. But the acquirement of visa prior to the arrival at a UAE airport is not applicable to citizens of 39 nations including GCC nationals from Kingdom of Bahrain, Kuwait, Sultanate of Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. All that GCC nationals require to produce at the airport upon the arrival of UAE is to produce their valid passports.

The Dubai Naturalization and Residency Department (DNRB) issues different types of visas based on a number of factors, such as your nationality, purpose of your visit and duration. These include Visa on Arrival, Sponsor Visa, 30 Days Short-Term Visit Visa, 90 Days Long Term Visit Visa, Student Visa, Tourist Visa, Transit Visa and Mission Visa that are issued to business men as well as qualified professionals.

The visa on arrival is provided at no cost for the citizens of nations such as UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Norway, Ireland, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, Greece, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Finland, Spain, Monaco, Vatican, Iceland, Andorra, New Zealand, Australia, San Marino, Liechtenstein and United States. Since the list of these countries may sometimes change, it is significant to check the UAE embassy website from time to time. The AGCC residents with high professional status are also eligible for a 30-day visa on arrival, including auditors, doctors, pharmacists, engineers, company managers and business people.

For people not falling under any of the above categories, they will require the sponsorship of a UAE resident by way of friends, relatives, companies, travel agencies or airlines to obtain a visa. This includes 30 days tourist visa, 30 days visit visa or 14 days service visa applied by hotels and tourist companies on your behalf, 96 hour visa applied by airlines companies on behalf of their crew members, visit visas and service visas applied by UAE organizations, visit visas applied by individual UAE residents and employment visas applied by your employers. In the case of student visa, the sponsor must be a UAE based education institution approved by the Ministry of Higher Education.

To apply for a visa and gain an entry permit to the UAE, the applicant must possess a passport with at least six months validity, along with recently taken color photographs. When it comes to fee, the rate usually varies depending on the type of visa that you are applying for.