Dubai Visit Visa Charges in 2024: Fees, Types and Hidden Costs

If you're bringing a parent over for a month, planning a long stopover, or sponsoring a friend's wedding trip, the dubai visit visa charges you'll actually pay are messier than the government portal suggests. The headline fee is one thing. What hits your card after typing agents, insurance, and the Emirates ID skip-fee is another.

Quick answer

Dubai visit visa charges in 2024 typically run AED 370 for a 30-day single-entry tourist visa, AED 840 for 60 days single-entry, and AED 1,820–2,200 for 60-day multiple-entry, all paid through the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) or GDRFA-Dubai (the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs). Add roughly AED 100–250 in typing-centre and service fees, plus mandatory medical insurance (around AED 80–200 for short stays). Extensions cost AED 600–1,200. Overstay fines start at AED 50 per day.

The official visa fees, type by type

The base dubai visit visa charges depend on duration and entries. ICP and GDRFA-Dubai both publish the same headline numbers on their portals, though the small print differs.

For a 30-day single-entry tourist visa, expect AED 370 in total on the ICP smart services portal — that's the visa fee plus standard service charges.[1] A 60-day single-entry visa costs AED 840. The 60-day multiple-entry visa, useful if you're flying in and out for work or family visits, sits at AED 1,820 to AED 2,200 depending on the sponsor type.[2]

Then there are the niche ones. A 96-hour transit visa runs AED 50 (often free with airline-arranged stopovers on Emirates and Etihad). The five-year multi-entry tourist visa introduced under Cabinet Resolution No. 65 of 2022 costs AED 650 and lets you stay 90 days per entry, extendable once for another 90.[3]

These figures are the government charges. Not what you'll pay end-to-end. More on that below.

Costs at a glance (2024)
- 30-day single-entry: AED 370
- 60-day single-entry: AED 840
- 60-day multi-entry: AED 1,820–2,200
- 5-year multi-entry: AED 650
- 96-hour transit: AED 50 (often waived)

Here's where most clients get tripped up. The same visa costs different amounts depending on who sponsors it.

Airline-sponsored visas (Emirates, flydubai, Etihad) tend to be the cheapest and fastest if you've booked a flight. Emirates charges around AED 350 for a 30-day tourist visa for confirmed passengers.

Hotel-sponsored visas are bundled into stays at four- and five-star properties — convenient, but you'll pay a premium of AED 100–300 over the bare government fee.

Resident-sponsored visas (you sponsoring your sister, parent, or friend) go through GDRFA-Dubai or ICP directly. Government fee plus a refundable deposit of AED 1,000–2,000 sits on your account until your guest exits. Frankly, this is where people forget to check their ICP balance months later.

Tourist-applied visas (the new self-sponsorship route under the 2022 reforms) let visitors apply without a UAE sponsor. Higher base fee, no deposit, more documents.

If you're sponsoring family long-term, look at the residency route instead — visit visa renewals stack up fast and a residence permit through the categories/visa pathway is often cheaper over 12 months.

The hidden charges nobody quotes you

The government fee is the floor, not the ceiling. Here's what actually appears on the bill.

Typing centre and service fees. Most applicants use a typing centre or an online agent rather than the ICP portal directly. That adds AED 50–250. The "urgent" or "express" tier — 24-hour processing instead of 3–5 working days — typically tacks on another AED 100–200.

Mandatory medical insurance. Since 2023, all visitors must have valid health insurance covering their stay.[4] You can buy it through the ICP portal during application (AED 80 for 30 days, AED 165 for 60 days through Daman or Orient), or arrive with a private policy that meets the minimum coverage. Don't skip this — immigration has been spot-checking on arrival.

Refundable deposit. Resident sponsors pay AED 1,000–2,000 held against the visa. You get it back roughly 8–12 weeks after your guest exits, if nothing went wrong. Overstays eat the deposit first.

Emirates ID for long stays. Visit visas of 60+ days now sometimes require a biometric registration. AED 170, usually.

Add it all up: a "AED 370" tourist visa often costs AED 550–700 by the time it's in your guest's inbox.

Extensions and overstay fines

Visit visa extensions in Dubai cost AED 600 for a 30-day extension and around AED 1,200 for 60 days, processed through GDRFA-Dubai or ICP without leaving the country.[5] You get up to two extensions on most tourist visas — so a 30-day visa can stretch to 90 days in-country if you pay each time.

The five-year multi-entry visa works differently. One 90-day extension allowed, same AED 600-ish cost.

Overstay fines are the part everyone underestimates. Under the current schedule:

AED 50 per day from day one of overstay (no grace period since 2022)[6]
Plus an AED 100 service charge on exit
Plus AED 100 "out-pass" fee if your visa is fully expired

That's AED 1,600+ for a one-month overstay. Three months and you're looking at AED 4,700 plus a potential entry ban. I've had clients arrive at DXB for a holiday and discover a five-year ban from an unpaid AED 800 fine in 2019. Check before you fly.

Watch out
The grace period that used to give you 10 days after expiry was removed for most tourist visas in 2022. Fines now start the day after expiry. Set a calendar reminder for day 25 of a 30-day visa.

Where to apply and what it costs there

Three main channels, three different price tags.

ICP smart services app or website — cheapest, government rate only. Works for most nationalities. UI is improving but still painful in Arabic-first sections.

GDRFA-Dubai (Amer service centres) — Dubai-specific. Slightly higher service fees (AED 50–100 extra) but human staff who can fix issues on the spot. Useful if your guest has been refused before.

Licensed typing centres and online agents like VFS, dnata, or Musafir — convenient but the markup ranges from reasonable (AED 50) to outrageous (AED 500+). Compare two before you commit.

If your visa application is rejected, the government fee is generally non-refundable, though some agents refund their service portion. Rejections happen most often for nationals of certain countries with incomplete travel history, or for applicants who've previously overstayed. A proper guide on visa rejection appeals is worth reading before you reapply.

When the visit visa stops making sense

Honestly? If you're bringing the same person three or more times a year, or for stays longer than 90 days, the maths flips.

Two 60-day visas plus an extension already costs AED 2,400+ in fees alone. A standard family residence visa under Federal Decree-Law No. 29 of 2021 on Entry and Residence of Foreigners costs AED 5,000–6,000 for the full package (entry permit, status change, medical, Emirates ID, residence stamp) and is valid two or three years.[7]

Run the numbers. Most people sponsoring elderly parents on rolling visit visas would have saved money by year two switching to dependent residency.

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Citations

[1] ICP — Issue Tourist Visa Service, smartservices.icp.gov.ae (fee schedule accessed 2024). [2] GDRFA-Dubai — Visit and Tourist Visa Fees, gdrfad.gov.ae. [3] UAE Cabinet Resolution No. 65 of 2022 on Entry Visas and Residence Permits. [4] ICP announcement, mandatory visitor health insurance, effective 2023. [5] GDRFA-Dubai — Visa Extension Service fee schedule, 2024. [6] ICP — Overstay Fines Schedule, updated 2022 (grace period removal). [7] UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 29 of 2021 on Entry and Residence of Foreigners, Art. 6–10.

Dubai Visit Visa Charges