Ukmed1

Hi everyone just spent hours reading up on this and still confused, I have a resident visa here in the UAE and I would like my wife to visit me, can anyone tell me how long she can legally stay here ?

The website makes it seem like she will get a 30 day stamp which is actually valid for 60 days that can then be renewed once for another 30 days, allowing her to stay a total of 90 days.

Can anyone tell me if I got that right ?

uk-guy-in-dubai

If she has a UK passport she can come in on a free tourist visa (automatically stamped in her passport as she goes through airport immigration) that gives her 30 days. She can extend that visa only once by going to DNATA immigration desk on SZR - they will extend it by 40 days and it costs about 500dhr. Procedure is quick and easy, she just needs to take her passport along and ask at the desk for an extension.

Alternatively, she can exit the UAE and do a visa run, coming back in the same day and getting a new 30 day tourist visa stamp. Either drive to Oman, or use very cheap flydubai to go to Qatar or Oman and have a nice day out.

You can do this as many times as you like.

Enjoy.

uk-guy-in-dubai

p.s. My wife has been here for over 2-years - sponsorship/residency is a waste of time unless she wants to come in to work. Then you do need to explore visa sponsorship. Visa runs for us are a great excuse to go shopping and explore Oman. Occaisionaly we get lazy so she pops down to DNATA.

Enjoy

Hello.Kitty

sure, but forking out for the residency visa is worth it if she's coming out regularly (it becomes void if you're out of the country for more than 6 months) and want to bypass the faff and costs associated with visa runs and/or extensions.

Ukmed1

Thank you everyone for your replies, so let me gt this right she comes in, gets a 30 day stamp in her passport, then at day 29 we can go to British embassy and get it stamped for another 30 days for a 500 dhm charge after that we have to do a boarder run, and then she will get another 30 day stamp and then again we can got embassy and pay 500 dhm for 30 day extension, after that its boarder run again and the loop continues, that right ?

Uk guy can I phone you? I would really like to talk to someone who has done this before.

uk-guy-in-dubai

Almost right. It's not the British Embassy. You go to UAE Immigration - we use the immigration desk at DNATA travel agency on SZR

Norm_uk

Seems like a waste of passport space and money to me....each to their own I suppose.

N.

Chris_m

Doing a visa run is 200dirham plus fuel and time so say 260 every month, To then go and pay double that, @ SZR is a waste of money and more importantly time, You're wife can go on ur resident visa as ur spouse and its a 1 off cost of 1000-1500dirhams and valid for 2yrs, IS your wife going to come out for long period of time? I'm currently doing visa runs. Its a pain in the ass believe me!!!!!!!!

Millhouse

More like 500 AED a go by the time you've stopped off for lunch at Hatta and done the run with her.

Oyibopeppeh

Why? Are you not a resident on your spouse's visa?

Chris_m

Because right now i'm currently single so don't have a spouse,

And millhouse you're spot, I have a driver who takes me so need for that nonsense. But yer road trip involve lunch and stopping at all the interesting little shops that take her fancy haha.