UAE visa for Russians in 2021. Needed or not? List of documents, price, visa processing time, how and where to get it.

Entry rules to the UAE

Immigration services reserve the right to refuse
to issue a visa, without any explanation; most often,
refusals to obtain entry visas
are due to the fact that the tourist’s name and surname are included in the so-called “Black list”, which, according to UAE law, includes all persons who have ever committed offenses in the UAE;
airlines have the right to refuse transportation to passengers who do not have a visa at the time of departure of the flight to the UAE. Without a visa, flying to the UAE is strictly prohibited
;
entry of girls under 30 years of age
is desirable accompanied by an adult brother, father or husband;
a minor child
can go on a tour only with immediate relatives (mother, father, grandparents);
Israeli stamps
in tourist passports is not an obstacle to obtaining a visa to the UAE; entry into the country is prohibited only to Israeli citizens;
upon arrival at any of the UAE airports (Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi or Ras Al Khaimah), you must have a printed copy of your visa with you and undergo a retinal scan.

Entry rules for tourists to Dubai and Sharjah in 2021

The following rules will apply for tourists flying into Dubai.

From January 31, 2021, all travelers to Dubai, including for transit, must provide a certificate and a PCR test confirming the absence of coronavirus, which was done no later than 72 hours before arrival. This is reported on the ATOR website. The certificate must be made in English or Arabic in accredited laboratories; the list is published on the official website of Rospotrebnadzor.
Children under 12 years of age do not need to take the test.
Be sure to have travel medical insurance that covers coronavirus treatment. It can be done online on the Cherehapa service; this is discussed in detail in the following video.
Tourists will be required to fill out a Health Declaration.
After arriving in the UAE, tourists will be asked to install a mobile application and will be required to take a second COVID-19 test on the territory of the state itself. Within 24 hours, the test results will be sent to the mobile application, and before receiving them you will need to self-isolate at the hotel. Results often come within 4-6 hours. It is better to install the application in advance: , .
Upon arrival at Dubai airport, tourists will have their temperature measured and will need to take a repeat test. If tourists are diagnosed with COVID-19, they will have to observe a 14-day quarantine in the UAE at a hotel or undergo treatment.
A visa to Dubai is not required for Russians if the duration of the trip does not exceed 90 days.

We recommend taking out insurance through the travel insurance service Cherehapa.ru. The service compares all offers and the cost of obtaining insurance from leading Russian companies. After registration, the insurance policy will be sent to your email within 5 minutes.

Preliminary PCR test

The PCR test must be taken no earlier than 72 hours before departure, in one of the UAE accredited laboratories.
The certificate must be in English or Arabic.
Children under 12 years of age may not take the PCR test.
It must be from one of the accredited laboratories. All medical laboratories that perform PCR tests for tourists at international airports in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities have this accreditation.

The full list of accredited laboratories can be found on the official website of Rospotrebnadzor of Russia.

Test after arrival in the UAE

Russian citizens must take a repeat PCR test after arriving in Dubai.
The test is free, its results will be sent to a mobile application, which must be installed in advance. Test results will be received within 5-12 hours. The procedure for taking the test is well established; you can do the test within 10-20 minutes. More details about the official control rules for tourists arriving in the UAE are written in English on the official website of Dahab Airport.
Until the test results are received, you must remain in self-isolation at the hotel.

Medical travel insurance

When crossing the UAE border, travel health insurance covering COVID-19 treatment is a mandatory requirement.
We recommend that you take out insurance through the Cherehapa travel insurance service. The service compares prices and costs of insurance policies from different travel companies in Russia.
Insurance is issued online within 5 minutes and includes the COVID-19 insurance function; for this, do not forget to check the appropriate option.

Declaration of health status

You will also need to fill out a Health Declaration when crossing the border. Here you can .

You can do this in advance. The insurance form will also be given at the airline check-in counter, on the plane itself and will be located near the border control points.

Installing the PH Screening Covid app on your phone

You need to download the PH Screening application to your phone; it is better to do this in advance, since at the airport you will need to connect Wi-Fi or have international roaming.

The application must be activated, indicate the tourist’s last name and telephone number.

Using the application, you can find out when the test results will be ready.

PCR test results do not appear automatically in the app. The traveler must track them and check their readiness independently.

The country's authorities use it to track the movements of tourists.

Visas to the UAE

visas are not issued
to citizens of the following countries: Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Bangladesh, Yemen, Palestine, Nigeria, Israel
visa on arrival
in the UAE for 30 days is issued at the airport of arrival for residents of the following countries: Australia, Andorra, Austria, Bulgaria, Brunei, Belgium, Vatican City, Hungary, Great Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Cyprus, Lithuania, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Poland,
Russia from 02/1/2017
, Romania, USA, San Marino, Slovenia, Slovakia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Croatia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Estonia, Japan.
transit visa
valid for 96 hours. You can apply in advance through the airline, or upon arrival at Dubai airport. Required documents: international passport, air tickets along the route, hotel reservation for the entire period of stay in the UAE.
in other cases, visa
.

Extension of a visa

Those wishing to extend their visa on the spot must contact the typing center at the representative office of the UAE Migration Service in the emirate through which they entered the country. You need to fill out an electronic form, indicate the personal number assigned during passport control, and present your international passport. The application can be submitted strictly before the expiration of the visa. The renewal fee ranges from AED 650 to AED 900, depending on the emirate. There is no requirement for a gap between visas. You can extend a visa of any type, but only once; extension period is 30 days. Prices on the page are for September 2021.

Transit visa on arrival at Abu Dhabi Airport

If tourists are traveling to a third country with a connection at Abu Dhabi airport and the time between flights is equal to or exceeds 8 hours, a transit visa can be issued upon arrival. The counter for issuing such visas is located in Terminal No. 3. The transit visa is valid for 96 hours. There is no visa fee. Along with this, it remains possible to submit documents for a transit visa online in advance.

Visa on arrival for Russian citizens

visa on arrival
(visa on arrival) is issued
at any airport in the UAE
, at passport migration control;
An arrival stamp
is placed in the tourist’s international passport , indicating the period of stay in the UAE -
30 days
;
the visa on arrival can be extended
for 30 days;
in case of several entries/exits from the country, it is also necessary to obtain a visa upon arrival each time;
registration cost is free
for citizens of the Russian Federation;
the child
must have
a separate passport
;

student visa

The United Arab Emirates is famous for the excellent quality of training at universities. Diplomas are valued all over the world, including in the European Union.

American University building in Dubai

Young people will need a student visa to study. Prospective students must submit a number of documents:

A color copy of all pages of the international passport and, for a minor, a birth certificate;
Certificate of vaccinations.

When transferring to study from your home university to one located in the UAE, you will need a transcript with grades and a certificate in the established format confirming the transfer procedure. When entering, you must have 16 photographs with you for registration of documents. In some cases, legalization of documents by the embassy is requested.

Only educational institutions licensed by the Ministry of Education can invite parties to study in the UAE.

How to apply for a visa

when purchasing a tour from a travel agency
, the travel agency takes care of obtaining a visa;
When traveling
to the UAE on your own, a visa can be obtained through an airline, hotel or through visa centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg (Dubai visa center in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Abu Dhabi Visa Center in Moscow, Asian visa center in Moscow, visa Sharjah center in Moscow and St. Petersburg). Visa centers issue visas to persons whose purpose of travel is tourism, visiting close relatives, studying, as well as those who have recently married a UAE citizen (provided that the last name has not changed)

Passport requirements

Basic requirements for a foreign passport:

the document must be undamaged;
The validity of a foreign passport for the UAE must be at least 6 months from the date of entry of the tourist.

The validity period of a passport is calculated from the day of crossing the UAE border, and not the date of departure from the country.

For example, the date of entry into any of the emirates is 03/25/2020. 6 months are added to this date, which means the expiration date of the travel document must be until 09/25/2020.

The owner and director of the site, Boris Sokolov, talks in detail in the video about the rules of entry into the UAE and the expiration dates for a foreign passport.

Additional papers

In some cases, an original birth certificate will be required when traveling to the UAE.

An adult needs it if one of the following countries is indicated in the passport in the “place of birth” column:

Algeria;
Djibouti;
Egypt;
West Sahara;
Iraq;
Yemen;
Comoros Islands;
Kuwait;
Lebanon;
Libya;
Mauritania;
Morocco;
Palestine;
Saudi Arabia;
Somalia;
Sudan;
Tunisia.

If the traveler was born in one of these countries, then the certificate will be sufficient.

If a foreign resident was born in Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Syria or Turkey, then the certificate must be supplemented with a notarized translation into Arabic or English.

Documents for a tourist visa to the UAE

To obtain a tourist visa through a travel agency, the following documents are required:

color photograph
(3.5 cm * 4.5 cm or 3 cm * 4 cm, without corners and ovals, on a light background and no more than 6 months old). Including for children included in their parents’ passports;
scanned color copy of the front page with the tourist data of the foreign passport
. For children who have separate passports, a visa is issued separately;
a scanned copy of the page where the child is registered
if he is traveling with you;

To obtain a visa to the UAE, tourists who have reached 21 years of age are considered adults. If a tourist is under 21 years of age, he must travel accompanied by an adult. For minors and citizens under 21 years of age

During the visa application process, Immigration Services may request the following documents:

scanned copy of birth certificate + notarized translation in English;
a scanned copy of consent to travel from parents in Russian + notarized translation in English with the obligatory indication of the foreign passport numbers of the accompanying person and the minor. For an accompanying person, it is mandatory to indicate in the consent the citizenship of the accompanying person;

Additional documents may be required if requested by the UAE Immigration Service.

UAE visa for Russians in 2021 - how and where to get it, how much it costs, necessary documents

Do Russians need a UAE visa in 2021? No no and one more time no! Because for Russian citizens, a visa to the United Arab Emirates is not issued in advance, but you can get it right at the airport upon arrival. Moreover, there is no need to have hotel reservations or air tickets out of the country, insurance or any other documents. The abolition of visas to the UAE for Russian citizens was introduced on January 30, 2017, and this great news made a holiday in this wonderful country even more tempting.

UAE visa for Russians - rules for obtaining

As I noted above, no supporting documents with reservations or air tickets are required. But there are several caveats that must be taken into account when obtaining a UAE visa at Dubai or Sharjah airport:

1. Your foreign passport must be valid for at least 6 months from the date of entry.

2. If you are flying with a child, he must have a separate passport. Children who are simply included in their parents' passport will not be issued a visa. Accordingly, the child will not be allowed into the United Arab Emirates. This point is checked at the airport upon departure, and if this fact is discovered, you simply will not be put on the plane. Therefore, before purchasing tickets to the United Arab Emirates, remember that the child must already have his own passport.

3. If a child is flying with you and his last name is different from yours, you need to have with you the original birth certificate of the child, as well as its translation into English without notarization.

4. If the child was born in one of the Arab countries, then you must have with you the original birth certificate with a notarized translation into Arabic or English.

Visa to the United Arab Emirates for Russians upon arrival

Actually, the process of obtaining an Arab visa at the airport is very simple. After arriving from the plane, follow the arrows in the direction of Visa Collection. Join one of the queues where visas are issued to foreigners. As a rule, there are employees in the hall who distribute the crowds of newly arrived tourists into queues.

When it's your turn, simply give the employee your passport. None of the passengers on our plane were asked for any additional documents. In general, the officers (in such attire it’s hard to call them that) are very silent and don’t ask any questions (it seemed to me that they didn’t even speak much English). After checking the documents, entering your name in the database and taking a photo as a keepsake, a free stamp is given.

Voila! You are in the United Arab Emirates!!

You can stay in the country for up to 90 days using this stamp. Moreover, it can be extended at local migration offices for another 90 days. That is, in essence, any Russian citizen with just a passport in hand can enter the UAE for 180 days. Spending an entire six months in the United Arab Emirates without any explanations or collecting paperwork is a wonderful opportunity.

As for our experience, absolutely nothing was asked of us. An Arab in a white robe simply took my and Mishutkin’s passports, took a photograph of us and checked our names and surnames in the database. If no violations have been noticed in the United Arab Emirates in the past, then a stamp confirming your entry into the country is issued without any problems. As you can see, a visa to the United Arab Emirates for Russians is issued quickly and easily.

Who is not issued a UAE visa on arrival

A visa on arrival to the UAE is not issued to those persons who have had any violations of the law in the past in the United Arab Emirates.

The embassy lists the main reasons for refusal to enter the country: 1. International wanted for any crimes 2. Violation of entry/exit deadlines from the UAE in the past 3. Previous entry into the UAE with a fake passport 4. Problems with drugs 5. Counterfeiting banknotes 6 Conviction for murder 7. Conviction for theft/theft 8. Conviction for rape 9. Insults against residents of the United Arab Emirates 10. Arms trafficking

And other serious violations of the rules and established laws of the UAE.

In general, entry into the United Arab Emirates is open to ordinary tourists. Let's hope that among the readers of my blog there are no such notorious criminals

Entry to the UAE without a visa for residents of CIS countries

While Russians do not need a visa to the UAE, residents of some CIS countries still have to obtain visas in advance.

List of CIS countries whose citizens require a visa to the United Arab Emirates: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. At the same time, residents of Ukraine and Kazakhstan do not need a visa to the UAE.

In addition, it is worth knowing that the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates itself does not accept documents for visas. This is done by specialized agencies accredited by the consulate. It is better to check information on them at the embassy itself by phone in Moscow.

The question naturally arises: how much does a UAE visa cost for those who need it? On average, $120 per visa, including agency service fee. The price depends on the length of stay in the United Arab Emirates - visas for 14 days are cheaper than visas issued for 29 days.

I was once quite upset that there were so many problems with visiting the United Arab Emirates. For some time there were even rules for women under 30, according to which young travelers must be accompanied by a man. Then I turned 30 and I was glad to have the opportunity to visit Dubai without problems, but again, invitations from accredited hotels in the UAE were required, and a bunch of other nuances. Today, the process of obtaining a visa has been simplified and has become fast, pleasant and hassle-free. Let's all go to the United Arab Emirates for new experiences and a great vacation!

How we save on accommodation while on vacation

Using the RoomGuru service, which shows special offers with discounts
on hotels, and also
helps you find the best price
per night, comparing the cost in all booking systems at once.
The benefit sometimes reaches 2-3 thousand rubles per day.

Registration period

for Russian citizens, a visa is issued within 2-4 working days
(Friday, Saturday, all holidays according to the UAE calendar are days off);
Visa documents must be submitted no earlier than 1 month
before the start of the tour;
women under 30 years of age, single and married
(if they have different surnames with their husband or other accompanying person), as well as
children
submit documents in advance for visas;
The delay in issuing an entry visa can last from 1 to 14 days.

List of required documents

To obtain permission to enter the country, you need to submit the following list of documents for obtaining a visa to the UAE.

Scan of passport page 1. The passport must expire no earlier than six months before the end of the trip.
Airplane tickets are required to obtain an insurance policy against COVID-19, for the date of discharge
The application form required to obtain a visa document is filled out by an authorized company issuing visas in the UAE.
A color photograph in a format of 3.5 by 4.3 centimeters (the photo for a UAE visa must be recent).

Penalties for violating the visa regime in the UAE

if the visa is overdue, a fine of 100 AED (~$27.2) will be charged for each day of stay. The visa extension procedure is very complicated. A visa can be extended only if you stay in 5* hotels and have documents confirming payment for the hotel for an additional period of stay or with a guarantee from the host party or the hotel. Usually the visa is extended for the same period for which it was previously issued.
In case of visa violation by a tourist, the UAE Immigration Service will issue a one-time fine of US$2,500 and an additional penalty of US$41 for each subsequent day of overstay.