UAE tourist visa types and fees

The short version

UAE visit visas are not one product with one price. The main options are a 30-day or 90-day tourist visa (single or multiple entry), a 5-year multiple-entry visit visa, and a visa for GCC residents. The 5-year and GCC resident fees are confirmed against the UAE's own official fee schedule; the standard 30/90-day visa's fee is not, because the sources checked for it disagree. Many visitors, depending on nationality, also qualify for visa-on-arrival, which is a separate process not covered here.

Standard tourist visas: 30 and 90 days

The most straightforward option is a tourist visa valid for either 30 or 90 days, available as single entry or multiple entry. Two sources were checked for this guide, and they describe this visa's fee differently enough that this guide does not state a figure for it.

A Gulf News explainer gives flat totals by product: Dh300 for single entry/30 days, Dh720 for single entry/90 days, Dh749 for multiple entry/30 days, and Dh1,799 for multiple entry/90 days. A separate Gulf Today report, citing an ICP announcement, describes a different structure entirely: a Dh200 single-trip fee plus a Dh100-per-month issuance charge, and a Dh300 multiple-entry fee plus a Dh200-per-month issuance charge, without naming 30-day and 90-day products the way Gulf News does. Neither article links to or reproduces an official ICP fee schedule, and the Gulf News figures come from a 2022 article with no stated source of their own.

The 5-year multiple-entry visit visa

For frequent visitors, a 5-year multiple-entry visit visa is also available. Under this visa, each stay is 90 days, extendable once by another 90 days, for a maximum continuous stay of 180 days at a time. Unlike the standard visa above, this fee is now confirmed directly: Cabinet Resolution No. (88) of 2022, the official schedule of ICP service fees published on the UAE Government's own legislation portal, lists it under "Multi-entry (5-year) tourist visa":

• Application fee: Dh100
• Issuance fee: Dh500
• Total: Dh600

A Gulf News explainer reports a higher total (Dh650), adding a Dh50 "electronic services fee" and an optional Dh100 urgent-processing fee on top of the same Dh100/Dh500 base. Neither of those two extra line items appears in the official fee schedule. They may be real, separate charges the legislation simply doesn't itemise, or they may not apply; this guide states the confirmed Dh600 base fee and flags the other two as reported, not confirmed.

GCC resident visa

Residents of GCC countries (not UAE/GCC nationals, who do not need a visa at all) can use a visa for a 30-day stay from the date of entry. The same official fee schedule, Cabinet Resolution No. (88) of 2022, lists a "Single Entry visa for GCC residents and their companions" at a confirmed Dh200 total (Dh100 application, Dh100 issuance).

Gulf News instead describes two separate issuing channels with different totals: Dh250 through ICP (broken into Dh100 request, Dh100 issuance, Dh28 e-services and Dh22 ICP fee) and Dh200 through GDRFA. The official schedule confirms a Dh200 total, which matches Gulf News's GDRFA figure, but the schedule itself is ICP's, not GDRFA's, and it does not describe two separate channels or an "e-visa" by that name. This guide states the confirmed Dh200 figure from the official schedule and does not confirm Gulf News's two-channel structure or its Dh250 figure.

General consumer information only, not legal advice. Rules and regulations can change, so check the latest official guidance for your circumstances.

The practical takeaway

Match the visa type to your actual trip length before paying for more than you need: a longer, multiple-entry visa costs more than a shorter, single-entry one, and is only worth the extra cost if you genuinely need to re-enter the UAE within that window. The 5-year visa's Dh600 fee and the GCC resident visa's Dh200 fee are confirmed against the UAE's own official fee schedule, a 2022 resolution rather than a live fee page, so budget around those figures but check ICP's or GDRFA's current page if your application is time-sensitive. The standard 30/90-day visa's fee is not stated here at all, because the sources checked for it disagree; confirm that one directly on the ICP or GDRFA website, or with your airline or sponsor, before paying.