Dubai Tourist Visa Fees in 2025: What You Actually Pay

If you're booking a UAE trip and trying to figure out the real cost of entry, the headline visa price you see online is rarely what lands on your card. Dubai tourist visa fees stack up in layers — government charge, service fee, insurance, sometimes a refundable deposit. Here's what the numbers actually look like in 2025, and where people get burned.

Quick answer

Dubai tourist visa fees for 2025 start at around AED 300 for a 30-day single-entry visa and climb to roughly AED 1,000+ for a 90-day multi-entry. That's before VAT, service charges, and the typical AED 1,000 refundable deposit some agents collect. If your nationality qualifies for visa-on-arrival or a 90-day visa-free stay (US, UK, EU, GCC and others), you pay nothing in advance. Everyone else applies through the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA), ICP, or an approved sponsor like an airline or hotel.

Who actually needs to pay

Start here, because half the people researching dubai tourist visa fees don't need a visa at all.

GCC citizens enter freely. Citizens of 47 countries — including the UK, US, all EU states, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore — get a free visa-on-arrival, usually 90 days for EU/UK and 30 days for others, extendable once.[1] Russians get 90 days. Chinese nationals get 30 days visa-free.

Everyone else applies in advance. That's where the fees kick in.

If you're holding an Indian passport with a valid US visa, UK residence, or EU/GCC residence, you qualify for a 14-day visa-on-arrival at AED 100, extendable once for another AED 250.[2] Frankly, this option saves a lot of headaches and most travel agents forget to mention it.

The official fee table (2025)

Here are the government charges published by GDRFA and the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP). These are the base rates — agents add their own markup on top.

• 30-day single entry tourist visa: AED 300
• 30-day multiple entry tourist visa: AED 650
• 60-day single entry tourist visa: AED 600
• 60-day multiple entry tourist visa: AED 1,300
• 5-year multi-entry tourist visa: AED 650 (max 90 days per visit, extendable to 180)[3]

Add VAT at 5%. Add the Emirates ID and medical fee if you convert to residence later — but that's a different process entirely.

Costs to expect on top of the visa
- Service/processing fee: AED 100-350 depending on the agent
- Travel insurance (mandatory for some categories): AED 50-150
- Refundable deposit (sometimes): AED 1,000
- Express processing: AED 100-250 extra
- Overstay fine: AED 50 per day after grace period[4]

Where you apply changes the price

This is the part most travelers miss. Same visa, three different prices.

Through Emirates or flydubai. If you're flying in on a UAE national carrier, they offer visa sponsorship as part of the booking flow. Emirates charges around USD 90 for a 30-day single entry, processed in 3-4 working days. Convenient. Not the cheapest.

Through your hotel. Most 4 and 5-star Dubai hotels will sponsor a tourist visa if you book a minimum stay. They typically charge AED 350-500 in service fees on top of the government charge, and often want a refundable deposit. Useful if you're nervous about approval.

Through GDRFA or ICP directly. The cheapest route. Apply online at gdrfad.gov.ae (Dubai) or icp.gov.ae (federal). You'll need a UAE resident sponsor — a relative, friend, or employer. Government fee only, no agent markup. Processing: 24-48 hours typically.

Through a typing centre or visa agent. Common in places like Al Karama and Bur Dubai. Expect AED 100-200 markup. They handle the paperwork; you handle the queue.

In my experience, applicants who go direct through GDRFA save 30-40% versus airline sponsorship, assuming they have a sponsor. The trade-off is dealing with the portal yourself.

Extensions, overstays, and the deposit trap

Tourist visas can be extended twice for 30 days each, inside the UAE, without exiting. Each extension costs AED 600 (AED 850 for the 60-day variant).[5] You apply through GDRFA before the original visa expires — leave it until day 30 and you're already paying overstay fines.

Overstay fines are AED 50 per day, with no grace period as of the 2022 rule changes.[6] Used to be 10 days free. Not anymore. Plenty of travelers find this out at the airport when departure becomes a payment exercise.

Watch out: the refundable deposit
Many agents collect a AED 1,000 deposit "to guarantee departure." It's refunded 30-60 days after you leave the country, sometimes longer, sometimes never without chasing. Ask for the refund mechanism in writing before you pay. If the agent can't show you the GDRFA receipt, walk.

The 5-year multi-entry visa: worth it?

Launched in 2022, the 5-year multi-entry tourist visa costs AED 650 and lets you stay up to 90 consecutive days per visit, extendable once to 180.[3] You apply through ICP, and you'll need to show a bank balance of at least USD 4,000 (or equivalent in the last six months).

For frequent visitors — anyone making two or more Dubai trips a year — it pays for itself fast. Compared to paying AED 300+ each time for single-entry visas, the math is obvious.

The catch: total days inside the UAE can't exceed 180 per year cumulatively. Track it. ICP does.

What changes the price (and what doesn't)

The government visa fee is fixed by nationality category, not by who applies for you. So when one agent quotes AED 450 and another AED 750 for the same 30-day single-entry, the difference is pure markup.

What legitimately changes the total:

• Express processing adds AED 100-250 for 24-hour turnaround
• Visa type (single vs multiple entry, 30 vs 60 vs 90 days)
• Nationality category — some passports require additional security clearance, which can add 5-7 working days but not always extra fees
• Documents — if you need attestation, translation, or a bank letter, those are separate costs

What does not change the price: which Dubai hotel you book, which terminal you fly into, or whether you apply on a weekend. Don't let an agent tell you otherwise.

For the practical mechanics of applying and required documents, the GDRFA Dubai portal is the source of truth.[1] For broader entry rules, see our visa category page.

Honest advice before you pay

Three things, quickly.

First, check whether you actually need a visa before paying anyone. The MOFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) website lists the 47 visa-exempt nationalities — takes 30 seconds.

Second, if you do need one and you have a friend or relative in Dubai, ask them to sponsor through GDRFA directly. You'll pay the government fee plus maybe AED 50 in admin, no agent markup.

Third, screenshot every page of your application and keep the payment receipt. If anything goes wrong at immigration — wrong dates, name mismatch, duplicate entry — that receipt is what saves you.

Dubai tourist visa fees aren't complicated once you strip away the agent markups. The government rate is the government rate. Everything else is service.

Need this checked for your situation? Talk to a UAE-licensed lawyer →

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Citations

[1] GDRFA Dubai — Tourist Visa Services, gdrfad.gov.ae [2] ICP — Visa on Arrival eligibility for Indian passport holders, icp.gov.ae [3] UAE Government Portal — 5-year multi-entry tourist visa, u.ae/en/information-and-services/visa-and-emirates-id [4] Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship — Overstay Fines schedule, 2022 update [5] GDRFA Dubai — Visa Extension fees, gdrfad.gov.ae [6] Cabinet Resolution No. 65 of 2022 on Entry and Residence of Foreigners, abolishing grace period for tourist visa overstays