When I was looking for information on how to extend my tourist visa in Dubai, I didn’t find much information available, so I thought I will make this for anyone looking to do something similar.
The process is much easier than the one I found online or when I called some agencies telling me to go to Terminal 3.
Who can extend their tourist visas in Dubai
As a British passport holder, we receive 30 days visa on arrival in Dubai or the UAE.
Pretty much all European countries and the Western world will receive some type of visa on arrival.
You can check your visa requirements and what type of visa you will need here.
For example, my mum, a Bulgarian passport holder, received 90 days visa on arrival that cannot be extended.
Why extend?
We decided to visit Dubai as it is open for tourism with low cases of the virus and much better weather than the UK currently.
I wanted to make sure that we get the extension for an extra month we needed.
Unfortunately, you can only extend your visa on arrival for 30 days extra this includes your 10 days grace period that Dubai has.
Technically with this type of visa, you will have 40 days which is 30 days normal visa plus your 10 days grace period after which you will start getting fined by 100AED a day.
Extending process
I called twice the Amer number to inquire about the process, and although both agents were helpful, the second agent explained the process much better.
When extending your Dubai visa on arrival, you have three options.
- Visit an Amer centre to extend your visa (please note there is a website called Amer247 which comes on top of Google, this is not the real government website but an agency with strong ads game.) The actual Amer.ae site is here.
- You can also visit the Terminal 3 office in Dubai Airport, which is their immigration centre there. I have had friends who have renewed their visas there. We were staying in the Marina, and this is one of the furthest places to get to. So definitely didn’t want to spend 3 hours doing this.
- Online via their application. It is by far the easiest way to extend your Dubai tourist visa via the GDRFA application.
How to extend your visa using the GDRFA app
- You can download the application either on iPhone or Android.
- You should have your passport on hand as you will need to take a photo, add your passport number and name.
- It will then pull all your details and will ask you for payment.
Extending your UAE tourist visa is not free, unlike your first on arrival visa tourist visa in Dubai.
For your extension, you will need to pay around 780AED. 755AED is the visa, and then the card processing fees are 25AED so I think in total we spent 780AED.
When I spoke with the agent on the phone, he told me that your extension’s approval takes approximately 48hrs. However, for my daughter and me, this was much faster. I think it took less than 5hrs to receive the confirmation email.
Also, note that you will have to pay the fee for children as well no matter their age. If they have a passport and a visa, then you will need to factor that cost too.
Renewing my Dubai visa online via the app was the least stressful part of the whole process.
I am glad I called twice to ask the app clarification and make sure it was the genuine version.
Unfortunately, you cannot extend your visa for a second time, so the maximum amount you can stay in the country is 60 days.
Overall, it is much easier to use the GDRFA application to extend your visa in Dubai than having to go to an office or the airport. Saves you money spent on a taxi and also the time you can spend enjoying Dubai.
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