Traveling to Dubai

A valid passport is required for nationals of the European community as well as for nationals of many countries travelling to Dubai or to the United Arab Emirates for a stay up to 60 days.

Upon arrival, an entry visa will be stamped in your passport for an initial validity period of 30 days. An extension of another 30 days is possible provided that the stay does not exceed 60 days in total.

Fees apply for the visa extension.

If you are in transit in Dubai, a transit visa valid up to 96 hours is necessary if you intend to leave the transit area of the airport. You can get the transit visa on request after landing. Otherwise, if your flight to your final destination leaves Dubai within 24 hours after your arrival, a transit visa is not necessary.

If you require an entry visa to Dubai, or if you are not sure whether you need an entry visa or not, you must check with the nearest embassy or consulate of the United Arab Emirates in your country. It is required that you provide information about the motive of your trip to Dubai. It is also required that you provide authorizations that your local sponsor in Dubai, (a company, an organization, family or friends) would have requested for you from.

For information about tourist visas applications, or to find out if need a visa to travel to Dubai, please check the website of Emirates at www.emirates.com/

Useful link:

Emirates
www.emirates.com/

UAE embassy in the United Kingdom
www.uaeembassyuk.net/

UAE embassy in the United States
www.uae-embassy.org/

Article written by Expat blog
Last update on 2009-09-12 17:32:37
Guide section: Formalities

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User contributed notes

The person who has written the above blog must be from UK, Europe or America. The 'Visa on arrival' is applicable only for some 30-odd country nationals, due to bilateral or preferential arrangements. Not everyone gets a visa on arrival. However, it is normally a simple process to obtain UAE visa ahead of your travel. Visit the UAE embassy website for a city near you. Hotels are permitted to sponsor visitors so they include a fee for service, coupled with their hotel rates and visa fees. If you fly Emirates or Air Arabia (this enters UAE in Sharjah, which is less than 30 minutes drive from Dubai) the airlines can obtain visa for you. In most middle east countries the visa is for single entry, unless you have specially applied for and obtained a multi-entry visa. Note that multi entry is not automatically provided when you apply. Flying to Dubai is very easy since almost all airlines (other than Israeli) connect to Dubai. It is among the top 10 busiest airports in the world.

HERVER
As rules are frequently changing in Dubai with regard to entry visa validity period, it is important to regularly check with the UAE embassy of your country to keep updated.

Any question? Please ask on the United Arab Emirates forum.

Traveling to Dubai

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