UAE visa overstay fines cut from Dh100 to Dh50 per day

Penalty for allowing any visa to expire now fixed at Dh50 per day

The UAE is offering new types of visa, including options for long-stay tourists, jobseekers, accomplished professionals, star students and high-net-worth individuals. Wam

A 60-day visit visa for tourists is now standard instead of a 30-day one. Christopher Pike / Bloomberg

The Job Exploration Entry Visa was created to attract young talent and skilled professionals. Photo: Dubai Airports

Holders of the Green Visa for Skilled Employees and Freelancers will be able to bring any first-degree relative to live with them. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

A five-year multi-entry tourist visa has been introduced. This does not require a sponsor and allows the holder to stay in the country for up to 90 consecutive days, as long as they have $4,000 or its equivalent in their bank account. Christopher Pike / Bloomberg

A Green Residence visa for an investor or partner in a company provides five-year residency. It replaces the previous residence permit, which was valid for two years. Photo: DMCC

The five-year Green Residence for Skilled Employees visa is to attract experienced professionals, freelancers, investors and entrepreneurs. AFP

The 10-year Golden Residence Scheme visa is open to investors, entrepreneurs, scientists and certain other professionals; humanitarians, first responders, and outstanding students and recent graduates. Photo: National Geographic

The Golden Visa for Outstanding Students and Graduates is available to secondary school pupils and undergraduates of exceptional academic ability, as well as outstanding graduates of UAE universities and the best 100 universities worldwide. Pawan Singh / The National

Tourists who stay beyond the validity of their visa will pay a reduced fine of Dh50 per day instead of Dh100, authorities have said.

However, if found to be overstaying when on a residency permit the penalty has risen, from Dh25 a day to Dh50.

The changes have been in force since the new UAE entry and residence visa rules came into effect on October 3.

Previously, the penalty was calculated depending on the kind of visa that had expired.

“The new system unified the amount of overstay fines to Dh50 per day for any type of visa violator,” said a spokesperson from the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security.

“The overstay fine payment can be paid either by visiting happiness centres or online through the authority website and smart application.”

Any days spent requesting documents or updating information are included in the number of days accumulating the fine.

If an application to renew the visa is started but the correct documents are not uploaded within 30 days, or the wrong documents are uploaded more than three times, the application is cancelled and a new one must be started.

Residency visa holders have a six-month grace period to either leave the country or change their status once the permit has either been cancelled or expired. Beyond this it becomes a crime to stay in the UAE and an arrest can be made.

For expired visit visas, the offender can be arrested after 30 days without a visa renewal. Inspection campaigns are regularly carried out to catch offenders.

The new UAE visa rules that came into effect last month allow holidaymakers to stay for 60 days at a time.

The decision to make all entry visas valid for 60 days from the date of issue ― double the previous allowance ― is one of a series of visa changes approved by the Cabinet in April.

Previously, there was no specific visa for tourists and those wishing to visit the UAE applied for 30-day, 60-day or 90-day visit visas.

The one, two and three-month entry permits are still available on a new visa, but mainly for people wishing to visit friends or relatives in the country, which requires documentary evidence proving the relationship and reasons for the visit.

All entry visas are available for single or multiple entry and can be renewed for a further 60 days.