If you are visiting the UAE for the Expo 2020 Dubai event and are planning to stay there for five to six months to explore the places in the emirates further, you are supposed to extend your tourist visa. Regardless of your purpose, if you want to make sure that your tourist visa stays valid for up to six months, here’s what you can do.
You can apply for a 90-day tourist visa extension as the United Arab Emirates offers tourist visas for 30 to 90 days and more recently for five years. You can even request the airlines, you are or will be travelling, for your visa extension. While booking your ticket to the UAE, you can enquire about how to apply for a visit visa. You can also approach licensed travel agents and hotels in the UAE to arrange a tourist visa for you, considering that you have purchased the ticket through them and possess a hotel reservation with a specific hotel.
You can even contact travel agencies in India for any tourist packages available to the UAE in partnership with a local tour operator. Asking your friends or family living in the UAE could also be an option. According to the VisitDubai website, your friend or a family member who is a resident of the UAE can apply for a visa on your behalf by maintaining proper guidelines.
How to extend the Visa?
You can apply for the extension by providing the necessary documents and paying the fee towards the same. The required documents are listed below:
• Passport copy (must be valid for at least six months)
• Passport size photograph
• Old tourist visa/cancelled visa copy
• On-arrival nationalities would only require passport copy and photograph if they have entered UAE using the on-arrival facility
• If the visa was applied for you by any of your friends or relatives, they are likely to submit a copy of their residence visa page and UID number.
A visa extension for 90 days would cost you around Dh 720. You can also apply for a second renewal before the expiry of the first one by paying Dh 600. If you want to visit the UAE for a long time over the next few years, you have a new visa option. As per the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA), individuals across nationalities can opt for a 5-year multiple-entry tourist visa through the authority’s website by logging on to the ICA website, www.ica.gov.ae
1. First, select ‘E-channel Services’ from the main module on the website.
2. Tap on Public services.
3. Select the service ‘Visa – multi-trip / tourist long-term (5 years) for all nationalities/visa issuance’
4. Fill in the application form with your personal details and your passport details
5. Attach Documents: coloured photograph, passport copy, medical insurance copy, bank statement for the past six months with a balance of at least $4,000 or its equivalent in foreign currencies
6. Review the application
7. Pay the fees of Dh650
