# New visa rules announced for UAE



## Yoga girl (Oct 19, 2008)

Thought you might all like to read what today's paper says about the new visa rules valid from 1st January:

gulfnews : New work permit rules in UAE from 2011 will ease job switch


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## Nightshadow (Sep 21, 2010)

Yoga girl said:


> Thought you might all like to read what today's paper says about the new visa rules valid from 1st January:
> 
> gulfnews : New work permit rules in UAE from 2011 will ease job switch


I just hope they dont start enforcing the "stay out of the country for 30 days" deal any time soon. That one has me worried.


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## Nightshadow (Sep 21, 2010)

Nightshadow said:


> I just hope they dont start enforcing the "stay out of the country for 30 days" deal any time soon. That one has me worried.


This is all I found for the TOURIST VISA, but gives no specifics. Not to be confused with the original story posted by Yoga Girl, which is for WORK VISAS. Just figured Id keep them both in the same thread. 

gulfnews : Visitors to UAE must stay out for one month to apply for new visa


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

Here's the link that will clarify things for you Nightshadow: http://www.expatforum.com/expats/du...-living-dubai/64696-new-visit-visa-rules.html

The link that you posted was already on the thread above. Major General Al Merri was responding to rumours that people had to stay out of the country for three months once their visa expired and not not one month. Hope this clears any confusion.


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

Yes Pammy but it doesn't specify if people who get visas on entry are also affected as they have mentioned this rule when they changed the visa rules 2 years ago. They have not said if those people will be affected too.


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

Moe if you look at the thread, you will see that I have mentioned that this applies to visit visas that are applied for in advance and not tourist visas obtained on arrival. Aside from the Canadians, there has been no change to visit visa rules.


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## w_man (Apr 16, 2010)

pamela0810 said:


> Moe if you look at the thread, you will see that I have mentioned that this applies to visit visas that are applied for in advance and not tourist visas obtained on arrival. Aside from the Canadians, there has been no change to visit visa rules.


 Damn Canadian government!!!


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## Moe78 (Oct 29, 2010)

Yes Pammy but the issue is what is the Tourist and Visit Visa? Which one is the visa on arrival that those "special" countries can get? If you read/google other sites they will tell you that that is a visit visa and a tourist visa is the one that you apply in advance for and may need to be sponsored by family/friend/hotel. Too much confusion here!

yeah w_man, looks like you need to find another country to come from  But can't you sponsor your wife?


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

Moe78 said:


> Yes Pammy but the issue is what is the Tourist and Visit Visa? Which one is the visa on arrival that those "special" countries can get? If you read/google other sites they will tell you that that is a visit visa and a tourist visa is the one that you apply in advance for and may need to be sponsored by family/friend/hotel. Too much confusion here!
> 
> yeah w_man, looks like you need to find another country to come from  But can't you sponsor your wife?


I think this rule will be enforced based on the passport you carry. My parents have come here so many times, where they've stayed with me for a few days, flown off somewhere else and then re-entered the UAE a few days later on a new visa (to avoid confusion, yes, they need to apply for a visa in advance). They've never had any problems. That rule is not exactly new - they had the same story over a year ago.


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## Yoga girl (Oct 19, 2008)

Moe78 said:


> Yes Pammy but the issue is what is the Tourist and Visit Visa? Which one is the visa on arrival that those "special" countries can get? If you read/google other sites they will tell you that that is a visit visa and a tourist visa is the one that you apply in advance for and may need to be sponsored by family/friend/hotel. Too much confusion here!
> 
> yeah w_man, looks like you need to find another country to come from  But can't you sponsor your wife?


There is a very clear demarcation between visit visa and tourist visa. As a western expat you land in Dubai and go through customs and there and then they stamp your passport and that 30 day visa is a TOURIST visa.

If on the other hand you are non western expat and you want your mum or other members of your family to come visit you need to "sponsor" them and apply for a VISIT visa BEFORE they come into the country. If it doesnt get approved in advance they will be denied entry upon arrival.

For the first group, and unless specified, you can get a renewal by doing a visa run.. For the second group you can extendonce for an extra 30 days by paying> After that you need to leave the UAE and cannot come back in for a month after that.

Hope this clears it all up.

Bottom line, read the newspapers here every day. Nothing here is set in stone!


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## Nightshadow (Sep 21, 2010)

Yoga girl said:


> There is a very clear demarcation between visit visa and tourist visa. As a western expat you land in Dubai and go through customs and there and then they stamp your passport and that 30 day visa is a TOURIST visa.
> 
> If on the other hand you are non western expat and you want your mum or other members of your family to come visit you need to "sponsor" them and apply for a VISIT visa BEFORE they come into the country. If it doesnt get approved in advance they will be denied entry upon arrival.
> 
> ...


Thanks a million. This definitely helps clear it up.


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