VisaDubai plans tourist visa applications through Visit Dubai this month
The announced channel still asks visitors to register interest; existing visa requirements and application routes need separate checks.
Official source date: 2026-11-01
Last verified against linked sources:
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Separate the announced channel from a completed application
Tourists needing an advance visa for Dubai should distinguish the announced application channel from permission to travel. Visit Dubai bases advance-visa, arrival-visa or visa-free categories on nationality; the new channel is not required for every visitor.
Dubai’s government announcement of 1 November says single-entry and multiple-entry tourist visa applications will be offered through Visit Dubai during November. GDRFA Dubai retains responsibility for assessment and visa issuance. Further categories are planned, but the announcement gives no exact opening day or detailed eligibility for the new channel. It also announces a separate invitation-only tourism membership programme. That programme should not be confused with a general visa application or assumed to grant immigration permission. The announced project involves GDRFA, the Department of Economy and Tourism and Digital Dubai.
Use the current page’s application instructions rather than its headline alone
Visit Dubai’s current page still invites interest registration for notification when applications open. Its explanation says direct applications are available soon. A notification request is not a lodged visa application or issued permit. No registration or payment was completed during verification.
The page directs ordinary thirty- or sixty-day tourist applicants to licensed travel agents, tour operators or airline partners, separately describing direct GDRFA applications for the five-year product. Do not infer that all tourist visas can already be completed within Visit Dubai; establish which current route accepts the actual application.
For single entry, check the tourism sponsor and document file
GDRFA’s single-entry tourist service covers thirty or sixty days with a tourism-sector establishment as sponsor or host. It lists a personal photograph and passport copy, plus a home-country identity card for specified nationalities including Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. Its conditions also require at least six months’ passport validity, a ticket continuing the journey or leaving the UAE, and UAE-valid medical insurance.
The card lists AED200 for thirty days and AED300 for sixty days, with five per cent VAT. It says there is no security-deposit amount for this type, despite introductory wording referring generically to a financial security deposit. Ask the provider to itemise the charge rather than treating that generic sentence as a confirmed deposit. The service also lists conditional inside-country charges. These existing service terms do not establish what a future Visit Dubai checkout will charge or which conditions its launch may modify.
Compare multiple entry without assuming it means unlimited residence
GDRFA’s separate multiple-entry tourist service likewise describes thirty- or sixty-day tourism with an establishment in that sector as sponsor. Its fee categories are AED300 for thirty days and AED500 for sixty days, plus five per cent VAT. It lists no security-deposit amount and adds AED10 knowledge fee, AED10 innovation fee and AED500 inside-country fee where applicable. The total may vary with circumstances.
A multiple-entry application is therefore a different priced category from single entry, rather than an automatically included benefit of using a new website. The card’s passport, insurance and onward/departure-ticket conditions still require checking. Its expected completion time is forty-eight hours. Visit Dubai’s current application guidance instead describes three working days. These published estimates should not be treated as equivalent guarantees; neither establishes approval by a particular flight date. Allow for the receiving route’s actual assessment and any further document request.
Ask GDRFA about the remaining launch and case-specific questions
GDRFA’s contact page publishes 8005111 within the UAE and +97143139999 internationally, as well as amer@gdrfad.gov.ae, an enquiry form and a video-call option. For a case affected by the planned channel, ask whether the relevant application category is currently being accepted, who submits it and what fee components apply. No enquiry was sent for this report. The contact page separates enquiries from a complaints route for service problems. Select the purpose that matches the issue rather than submitting an initial visa question as a complaint.
The public evidence verifies an announcement and current instructions, not an end-to-end test application through Visit Dubai. An exact launch day, launch-specific charges and any changed sponsorship arrangements remain unconfirmed. Retain that distinction when choosing a flight or paying a provider: a notification request about a future service cannot establish that an immigration application has entered assessment.
