on March 21th the UAE cabinet approved the launch of new visa programmes, including Dubai 5-year tourist visa, promoting tourism and encouraging individuals from all nationalities to visit and extend their stay in the country

As a cosmopolitan hub combining tradition and modernity, the UAE has become one of the most sought after destinations and a world-class tourist attraction with many opportunities for company formation in Dubai. The city’s swaths of unique experiences ranked the city as one of the most visited cities in the world topping Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, and even New York City with 16.3 million international arrivals in 2019.

Notwithstanding, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown adversely affected the population growth as many working expatriates lost their jobs and left the country. Hence, on March 21th the UAE cabinet approved the launch of new visa programmes, including 5-year multiple entries tourist visa, promoting tourism and encouraging individuals from all nationalities to visit and extend their stay in the country.

The following sections outline all the relevant information on the recently released 5-year tourist visa. 

Overview

Following the cabinet meeting chaired by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai the new Dubai 5-year tourist visa was announced as a legislative update.

“We are working with clear objectives to boost our economic status globally and provide the best quality of life to our citizens and residents. Our journey of development endures”

“We also approved a multiple-entry tourist visa for all nationalities to strengthen the UAE’s status as a global economic capital”

In parallel, the remote working visa was introduced mid-October last year allowing professionals who meet certain requirements to remain in the emirate for one year.

For more information on the remote working visa, visit our blog entry here 

Implementation of the 5-year tourist visa

All nationalities are eligible for the Dubai 5-year tourist visa. Every entry allows a 90 days stay and is extendable for an extra 90 days on demand. 

Applicants don’t need a guarantor as they are self-sponsored and can enter the country as many times as desired. 

The same previous tourist visa requirement applies for the new visa:

• Tourists can apply through one of the following airlines meeting their specific conditions:
  • Etihad Airways
  • Emirates Airlines
  • Fly Dubai
  • Air Arabia
• Via licensed travel agents and hotels provided that tourists purchase the ticket through them or maintain reservations with them.

The list of required documents for applying for any tourist visa are:

• Passport copy
• Completed application form
• Passport size photographs
• Confirmed airline tickets

It is important to note that the new tourist visa implementation falls under the complete responsibility of the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship.

Dubai 2020 Expo

The initial announcement for the 5-year tourist visa was in line with the 2020 expo. At the time, the chairman of the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, Ali Mohammad Bin Hammad Al Shamsi, had said that this decision was also taken into account, keeping in mind the upcoming visitors for Expo 2020.

Every year the UAE welcomes 21 million visitors and Dubai contributes significantly to that number. Yet due to the event being rescheduled in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Dubai’s government is taking advantage of the Dubai Expo as a catalyst for creating further global interest and boosting the activities for company formation in Dubai. The new tourist visa will ensure higher volumes of visitors that would like to stay in the country for the long term.

The new Dubai 5-year tourist visa programme has the added benefit of reducing the amount of paperwork involved and perhaps cutting down on the overall fees.

Benefit of the 5-year tourist visa

Families of UAE residents will benefit the most from the new 5-year tourist visa as they can visit the country multiple times without the need to renew their visa upon every entry.

Job seekers can also benefit from the programme by having the opportunity to visit the country multiple times without the need for multiple payments with the ability to prolong their stay up to six months in each visit.  

Overall the programme will save applicants the inconvenience of repeated application and the extra costs for separate entities renewals.

The programme will also significantly boost the country’s status as a global tourism hub. Furthermore, it could help in the next 50 years of the country’s development as the UAE is expecting 10 million visitors by the year 2021 and 40 million in the next 10 years.