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UAE Visa Regulations
United Arab Emirates is one of the countries in the world with the highest expatriates population rate which is more than 80%. This rate shows that UAE has fair and easy enough regulations for foreign residency in comparison to other countries. Generally there are two main types of visas namely Visit Visa and Resident Visa. In UAE all types of visas need sponsors. The sponsor can be a person holding residency visa or a company and will be responsible for all the legal aspects of the invitee.
1- Visit Visa
Visit Visa can be obtained for the purpose of short visits. There are different types of Visit Visas as follows:
a. Tourist Visa: Validity up to 30 days - Not Extendable. The visa status cannot be changed to any type of visit or residency visas. Usually Travel Agencies, Airlines or even Hotels will become sponsor for this type of visa.
b. Visit Visa: Validity 60 days, extendable to total of 90 days. Both companies and UAE residents will be eligible to sponsor this type of visa. Citizens of the following countries can get a 30-day visit visa free of charge upon arrival, entitling them to stay for 60 days. These countries are: Britain, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, Finland, Malta, Spain, Monaco, Vatican, Iceland, Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. After this period a visitor can extend the visit visa by a further two months by leaving the country and returning. This can be done twice. When the third visit visa expires the person must leave the UAE for at least a month before returning.
c. Multiple Entry Visas:
This type of visa can be obtained for the business visitors of reputable companies in UAE. The maximum duration is six months and with every visit less than one month. The visa will be issued only after the applicant enter UAE with normal visit visa and apply for Multiple Visa when he/she is inside UAE.
d. Mission Visa: This is a newly introduced type of visa for the purpose of temporary work in the country. This visa will be issued for a maximum of six months.e. Transit Visa: This type of visa will be issued for the travelers transiting through UAE airports. The maximum validity of Transit Visa is 96 hours and must be sponsored by an airline.
f. Special Mission Entry Visa:
This is a type of transit visa valid for 14 days and the holder of the visa will be allowed to enter the borders of the country. This visa should be sponsored by a company or a hotel inside UAE.
2- Residency Visa
Residence visa is required in case expatriates want to do any legal activity in UAE like getting driving license, leasing a home or office, opening bank account or sending their children to school or college. All the resident visas in UAE are 3-years valid, renewable on the 3rd year. The resident visa become invalid if the holder stays out of the country for more than 6 months. There are different types of resident visas as follows:
a. Investor/ Partner Visa
This type of visa will be granted in case of purchasing a property or establishing a company in UAE. Holders of this type of visa are not allowed to be employed in any company rather than their own company. Company establishment and its various types will be discussed in more detail in the Foreign Ownership section.
b. Employment Visa
This type of visa will be granted in case of employment from a valid company in UAE. Usually a company will be able to employ people on the basis of the size of its office space (e.g. one visa per 9 square meter).
c. Family Visa
Any male person holding Investor/partner residence visa or employment visa (in case of written permission of the employer) are eligible for sponsoring his family members (wife, un-married daughters, and sons below 18) for the UAE residency. The emirate of Dubai as an exception between other emirates allows a female to sponsor her family (husband and children) for resident visa in case she has a salary more than 12000 AED per month.
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