How to check your visa status in the UAE

Two government systems answer this. The federal authority, ICP, has a file validity check you can open without logging in, and GDRFA in Dubai has a Visa Status service that checks the validity of entry permits, residence cards and establishment documents. Which one to use depends on where your visa was issued, not on where you live now.

Dubai visas are handled by GDRFA. Visas issued anywhere else in the country, including Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, sit with ICP. If you do not know which applies, try ICP first.

1. Find your passport number and nationality, and if you have one, your file number or entry permit number.
2. Open the ICP smart services file validity check, or the GDRFA Visa Status service if the visa came from Dubai.
3. Enter the details exactly as they appear in the passport, including the way the name is spelled there.
4. Read the expiry date on the result. That date, not the sticker in your passport, is the record the authorities work from.

Worth knowing. Check the status before you book travel rather than after. An expired residence file is the reason people are stopped at check in, and the fine for overstaying accrues per day while the problem is unresolved.

What this does not mean

A valid visa is not the same as a valid Emirates ID, and the two expire on their own schedules. The check also says nothing about fines, bans or a case in the courts: a file can read as valid while a travel ban is in place, because those are held in different systems.

If you need a step by step with screenshots, see our resource on checking UAE visa status with a passport number. For a cancelled visa, see visa cancellation status, and for bans, how to check a travel ban.

Sources: GDRFA Dubai, Visa Status service; ICP Smart Services, file validity check.