United Emirates Passport: How to Apply, Renew & Use It

If you're holding or applying for a United Emirates passport, you're dealing with one of the strongest travel documents in the world right now. Henley's 2024 index put the UAE passport in the top 10 globally, with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to roughly 180+ destinations. But the application process, eligibility rules, and renewal mechanics catch a lot of people off guard, especially dual nationals and recently naturalised citizens.

Quick answer

The United Emirates passport is issued by the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security (ICP). You apply or renew through the ICP app, the UAE Pass, or an Amer/Tasheel centre in Dubai. Standard issuance fees sit around AED 300 for adults and AED 150 for children, with delivery in 2-5 working days. Eligibility is restricted to UAE nationals by birth, descent, or naturalisation under Federal Decree-Law No. 21 of 2024 on Nationality and Passports[1]. Foreign residents cannot hold one, regardless of how long they've lived here.

Who actually qualifies for a United Emirates passport

Let's clear up the most common confusion first. A UAE residence visa is not citizenship. A Golden Visa is not citizenship. Even a 10-year investor visa doesn't get you anywhere near a passport.

Eligibility tracks Federal Decree-Law No. 21 of 2024 (which replaced the older Federal Law No. 17 of 1972) and falls into a few buckets:

By descent. Children of a UAE father are Emirati by birth. Children of an Emirati mother and foreign father can claim citizenship under specific conditions, typically by age 18.
By naturalisation. Arab nationals from Oman, Qatar, or Bahrain may apply after 3 years of residence. Other Arabs after 7 years. Other nationalities after 30 years. Honestly, naturalisation through residence alone is rare in practice.
By special grant. Since the 2021 amendments, the Cabinet can grant citizenship to investors, doctors, scientists, inventors, artists, and "individuals with special talents." This is the route most discussed in the press, but the numbers are small and you generally need to be nominated, not apply cold.

If you're a long-term resident hoping a Golden Visa converts into a passport eventually, frankly, it won't. The two regimes are legally separate.

Documents and where to apply

For a first-time United Emirates passport, you'll need your Family Book (Khulasat Al Qaid), Emirates ID, two recent passport-size photos with a white background, and the previous passport if renewing. For minors, add the birth certificate and both parents' passports.

Application channels:

ICP smart services — the official portal and mobile app for residents of all emirates except Dubai (icp.gov.ae).
GDRFA Dubai — Dubai residents apply through the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (gdrfa.ae) or an Amer centre.
UAE Pass — single-sign-on for both channels if you've activated it.
UAE embassies abroad — if you're outside the country when renewing.

Costs (2024-2025): Adult passport AED 300. Child under 21: AED 150. Express/urgent issuance: additional AED 150. Lost passport replacement: AED 1,000 plus a police report. Delivery via Emirates Post: AED 15-25.

Most renewals are decided within 48 hours. New issuances can take longer if the system flags anything in your Family Book or if a name correction is needed.

Validity, renewal timing, and the 6-month rule

UAE passports are issued with a 5-year validity for adults and 5 years for children too (the older 10-year adult option was phased out for most categories). Renew before you hit the 6-month-remaining mark — most destinations, including the Schengen area, the UK, and the US, will refuse entry if your passport expires within 6 months of your arrival date.

In my experience, the people who get burned by this are frequent travellers who assume "I still have 5 months, I'm fine." You're not fine. Airline check-in agents will pull you out of the queue at DXB before you reach immigration.

Renewal mechanics:

Submit through ICP or GDRFA with your existing passport and Emirates ID.
Pay the fee online.
Collect from an ICP/Amer centre or have it couriered.
Your old passport gets cancelled and physically returned with corner cuts.

One genuine watch-out: if your Emirates ID is expired, your passport renewal will stall. Sort the ID first.

Dual nationality — what the 2021 amendment actually changed

Before 2021, holding another nationality alongside your UAE one was technically prohibited and could cost you your Emirati status. The 2021 amendments and the consolidated Federal Decree-Law No. 21 of 2024 allow Emiratis to retain dual nationality in defined circumstances, but only with Cabinet or Ruler approval[1][2].

What this means practically:

If you were granted UAE citizenship as a naturalised investor or talent, you generally keep your original passport.
If you're Emirati by descent and acquired a second nationality (say, through marriage or birth abroad), you should formally declare it. Undeclared dual nationality can still create problems on entry/exit, particularly if you travel on the wrong passport.
When entering or leaving the UAE, you must use the United Emirates passport. Always. This is enforced at immigration and it's not negotiable.

If you've quietly held a second passport for years and never told anyone, talk to a lawyer before declaring. The right sequencing matters.

Lost, stolen, or damaged passports

Lose it abroad? Go straight to the nearest UAE embassy or consulate. They'll issue an emergency travel document (a one-way document, valid for direct return to the UAE), then you replace the full passport once you're home.

Lose it inside the UAE? File a police report at the nearest station within 24 hours, then apply for a replacement through ICP or GDRFA. The replacement fee is AED 1,000 — significantly more than a standard renewal, and there's no waiving it, so don't bother asking.

Damaged passports (water damage, torn pages, ripped chip) are treated as lost for fee purposes. A bent corner won't trigger this, but a soaked passport will.

Watch out: Carrying a UAE passport that's been heavily annotated, stamped over, or has stuck-together pages can get you stopped at foreign immigration. If yours is looking rough, renew early.

Children, name changes, and the Family Book link

A child's United Emirates passport is tied to the father's Family Book entry. If the child isn't registered in the Family Book, the passport application won't proceed — period.

Common scenarios that delay things:

Newborns: register the birth, get the birth certificate attested, add the child to the Family Book, then apply for the passport. Budget 2-4 weeks end to end.
Name corrections: if the Arabic spelling on the Family Book differs from what you want on the passport (a frequent issue with transliterated names), you'll need to fix the Family Book first. That goes through the relevant emirate's Personal Status department, not ICP directly.
Children of Emirati mothers: since the 2021 amendments, eligibility has expanded, but the documentary process is heavier. Get a lawyer involved if the father is a foreign national and you're applying for the first time.

For broader nationality and residence guidance, see our category page on visa and immigration matters.

Travel privileges and what the passport actually unlocks

The United Emirates passport gives you visa-free access to the Schengen area (90 days in any 180), the UK (6 months), most of Latin America, most of Southeast Asia, and Japan and South Korea. The US still requires a B1/B2 visa — that hasn't changed despite ongoing discussions about Visa Waiver Programme inclusion.

GCC travel is on the national ID alone, no passport needed, which most Emiratis already know but worth flagging for new citizens.

One quiet privilege people miss: many countries that require visas for UAE passport holders offer expedited or simplified processes. Australia's ETA, Canada's eTA, and India's e-Visa are all available to Emirati passport holders with minimal paperwork.

Final practical points

A few things I tell clients regularly:

Keep a scanned colour copy of your passport in a secure cloud folder. If you lose the physical one abroad, the embassy process is 50% faster with a copy.
Don't let anyone — sponsor, employer, anyone — hold your United Emirates passport. Article 329 of the UAE Penal Code and various MOHRE (Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation) circulars make passport confiscation by employers illegal. This applies to Emiratis just as it does to expats.
If you're a naturalised citizen, keep the original Cabinet decision or naturalisation decree in a safe place. You may need it for future renewals or for proving status to foreign embassies.

The United Emirates passport is a serious document with serious privileges. Treat it accordingly.

Sources

[1] Federal Decree-Law No. 21 of 2024 on Nationality and Passports — UAE Official Gazette. [2] ICP — Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security, "Passport Services" (icp.gov.ae, accessed 2024-2025). [3] GDRFA Dubai, "Citizen Services — Passport Issuance and Renewal" (gdrfa.ae, accessed 2024-2025). [4] Henley & Partners Passport Index 2024.

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UAE Passport: Visa-Free Travel to 180+ Countries