Visa change requirements, if you plan to visit the UAE any soon
Many of us plan on visiting other GCC countries in the coming months as it gets cooler during this period.
Do you plan to tour around the UAE any soon? Then, here is the arrival and entry routine that one must follow and keep in mind during the travel.
- You do not need a visa to travel to the UAE, if you’re a citizen of the GCC countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar or Saudi Arabia.
- You will automatically be issued with a free 30-days visa upon arrival in the UAE if you are a national of:
Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA or Vatican City.
- If your country is not in the above list, then you will need to apply for an E-visa, ideally 2 weeks, before you plan to travel.
- Visa requirements sometimes change without prior notice, so it’s a good idea to check whether you need a UAE visa with the UAE Embassy in your home country or with the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs, Dubai (GDRFA-D) by clicking the link here: gdrfa.ae/GCCIND/.
So, all GCC residents who were able to get a UAE visitor's visa on arrival at the airport, based on their residency and job title, now need to apply for the visa in advance as this service is no longer available.
Do you have any such plans this winter?
I am not sure about others but in last 3 months i travelled twice to uae. 1st i got visa on arrival at dxb terminal 1. 2nd time i went by road in my car, i did get visa on arrival at ghuwefat uae border but the captain said this is the last time we are giving you visa on arrival, next time plz apply online. Also i did hear him saying the same to others... i told the captain that i did apply online but it was taking time thats why j could not wait. He said apply 2 weeks before your travel date :(
Anyway eventually they gave the visa but wd lil gir gir gir... :)
My advice, apply online before you go. Else do whatever you feel like :)
I did an application yesterday afternoon, and got the visa approval this morning.
I wanna say some thing that, i had applied on 10 of October to fly on 15 of October, but i received and email on 19, which is to upload some more information.. i had called them several times to get it done but, they did not answer my call. so as usual i went and got on arrival.
online process charge me QR, 237/- if any case of rejection only QR 100 will be refundable...
Thats true. Visa on arrival to gcc residents are not granted anymore. Appreciate Khan's detailed explanation :)
Very poorly designed site for online visa application. Didn't expect this from UAE.
OoOoOoOoOops whats That,, Were is my Home Country ( Great Pakistan ) Who Built The UAE in Strong Hands and Bravo Think, But any how We Follow the Rules because we all deserve Q , as we are Asian (Pakistan Zindabad Qatar ZindaBad)
It all about of Colour of Skin, few countries free entry visa 30 days, few other having to pay also from their nose & plus visa subject to approvals to be applied 1-2 weeks in advance.
Where is future super power country INDIA not listed.
Do they have a transit visa like Saudi does (for road trip)
Mine took 1 day to be processed, but yes some of my friends had to wait for about 10 working days. My understanding there were some issues with their system.
The visa is valid for 59 days from application date (i know i traveled about a month and a half from the day i took it). Once you enter UAE, you have 30 days to leave unless otherwise communicated by passport control.
Yet always check their website for updates on terms as these can change.
Mine took 1 day to be processed, but yes some of my friends had to wait for about 10 working days. My understanding there were some issues with their system.
The visa is valid for 59 days from application date (i know i traveled about a month and a half from the day i took it). Once you enter UAE, you have 30 days to leave unless otherwise communicated by passport control.
Yet always check their website for updates on terms as these can change.
Goto this site to reduce your existing photos to 100kb:
http://webresizer.com/resizer/
Apply online: https://www.gdrfa.ae/GCCIND/login.do
khan...where should i go to apply ? or can i apply online ?
(You need to be careful For Eg: Consider the situation in which the Pakistan Embassy in Qatar gave you your passport and passport no is AA742374...When you enter the details make sure the issuing Country is Pakistan and Not Qatar)
Also you need to attach a good scan of your ID Copy aswell as an extra attachment.
Since only 100 kb is allowed , you can reduce the kb from easily available sites online)
Also once approved, make sure you take a print of the e Visa before going to airport otherwise you will be denied boarding.
Also note that donot expect ednrd to send you visa copy by email. They will not send you.
You have to go to the site and check status of the approval. Enter passport number and date of birth and login. If your application is approved you can download the visa. And your visa is valid only for 30 days from the date of issue. Hence donot waste time awaiting a notification by email. You will not get any such notification.
Correction: The process takes approximately 1 to 2 working weeks .
My experience