UAE — Visa On Arrival (90 Days in 6 Months)

Summary

Limit

90 days of stay in total

Validity

6 months from the date of issue

Entries

Multiple

Cost

Free on arrival (eligible nationalities)

Who

74 nationalities on the airline-published list, incl. most EU states, UK, US

The official u.ae portal does not publish the visa-on-arrival country list itself: it says the lists may vary and links to the airlines' visa pages. According to the tables Emirates and flydubai publish, citizens of 74 listed countries, including the UK, the US and most EU states, get a free multiple-entry visa on arrival to the United Arab Emirates that is valid for six months from the date of issue, for a stay of 90 days in total. You can enter as often as you like during those six months, but every day you spend in the UAE counts toward the same 90. Confirm your own passport with ICP, GDRFA Dubai or the UAE embassy before relying on it.

Who it applies to

This matters most if you are:

• A tourist, remote worker, or frequent visitor from one of the eligible nationalities who enters the UAE without arranging a visa in advance.
• Someone who hops in and out of the UAE across a season — several short trips that add up — rather than a single long stay.
• A traveller using Dubai or Abu Dhabi as a base or stopover hub and returning repeatedly over a half-year.

It applies by nationality. The airline-published lists put most European countries, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Brazil and others on the 90-day list. Ireland is the EU exception: Irish citizens get a 30-day visa on arrival, as do Andorra, Brunei, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Macau, Malaysia, Mauritius, Monaco, Mongolia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vatican City. Mexican passport holders get a multiple-entry visa for 180 days in total on the same six-month validity.

The rule — and why it exists

According to the Emirates and flydubai tables, eligible nationalities have their passport stamped on arrival with a multiple-entry 90-day visit visa. Two points define how it behaves:

• It is a total, not a per-trip limit. The 90 days are shared across every visit made on that visa; there is no separate consecutive-day cap per entry.
• The clock is the visa's validity. The visa runs for six months from its date of issue. The count is measured against that fixed period, not a window that slides forward day by day.

Why it exists: official sources don't state a purpose. What they do say is that the visa-on-arrival lists may vary from time to time, so u.ae advises checking with the UAE embassy in your country before travelling. For longer stays the UAE has separate visit, tourist and residence visas.

Counting the days

Count against the visa you are on. There is no per-visit limit; what matters is your total days of presence since the visa was issued.

1. 1Find the issue date of your current visa-on-arrival stamp — normally the day of your first entry on it.
2. 2The visa is valid for six months from that date.
3. 3Add up every day you have been physically present in the UAE since the issue date. Official sources don't say how part-days count, so counting both arrival and departure days is the cautious approach.
4. 4As long as the total stays at or below 90 and you are inside the six-month validity, you are within the allowance.

Unused days don't carry over: when the six months end, the visa expires. Official sources don't spell out when a fresh visa on arrival is issued after that, so if you plan to return soon after a full 90 days, check with ICP or GDRFA Dubai first.

Bounded's UAE visa-on-arrival counter checks your days in the UAE against 90 in the last 184 days — a rolling window ending today, 184 days being the longest a six-month period can run. That window reaches back over the whole of your current visa, and it may also pick up days from an earlier visa, so it errs on the cautious side. The issue date on your stamp, and the six months that follow it, remain the legal measure.

Examples

Example 1 — one long stay

You arrive on 1 March and stay 88 continuous days, leaving on 27 May. You have used 88 of your 90 days. The visa is valid until about the end of August, but only 2 days of stay remain on it.

Example 2 — several short trips

Over five months you make four visits of about 20 days each (80 days total), all on the same visa. They add up to 80 of your 90 days, so you have about 10 days left before the visa's six-month validity ends.

Example 3 — days you didn't use

You spend 60 days in the UAE in the first two months after your visa is issued, then stay away. The remaining 30 days are usable only until the six months from the issue date run out; after that the visa has expired and the unused days are gone.

Exceptions & edge cases

• Not every nationality gets 90 days. On the airline-published lists, thirteen passports, including Ireland's, get a free 30-day visa on arrival. Nationals of India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Kenya and South Africa who hold a valid residence permit from the US, the UK, an EU state, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand or Canada (Indian nationals can also use a valid US visa) can get a paid 14-day (AED 100, extendable once) or 60-day (AED 250, single entry, non-extendable) visa, issued before travel. GDRFA Dubai says citizens of all other countries must apply for a visa in advance.
• After the 90 days. Official guidance doesn't describe extending the free 90-day stamp. Emirates notes that citizens of the listed European countries who have used it fully can apply for a pre-arranged visit visa; otherwise you need a tourist or residence visa.
• Overstay fines. Staying beyond the allowance accrues a fine of AED 50 per day, ICP's standardised rate for visit, tourist and residence visas.
• Lists change. u.ae notes that the visa-on-arrival lists may vary from time to time and advises checking with the UAE embassy in your country before travelling.

Common misconceptions

• "Each entry gives me a fresh 90 days." False — the 90 days are a shared total across all entries during the visa's six-month validity.
• "A quick border hop resets my counter." False — leaving and returning does not clear used days; they count until the visa itself expires.
• "Staying under 90 days keeps me out of UAE tax." False — the visa limit is an immigration rule; tax residency is judged on separate criteria.
• "Every EU citizen gets the free 90-day visa." Not quite — Irish citizens get 30 days, and many non-EU nationalities get 30 days or must apply ahead of travel.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• u.ae — Check if you need a visa to enter the UAE
• Emirates (airline; visa services linked from u.ae) — UAE visa information: 30-, 90- and 180-day visa-on-arrival lists
• flydubai (airline; visa services linked from u.ae) — Dubai visa rules
• ICP — Six new nationalities added to the 14-day and 60-day entry visa (25 June 2026)
• GDRFA Dubai — Visa for citizens of certain countries resident outside the UAE (14- and 60-day)
• u.ae — General provisions for the residence visa (standardised overstay fines)