UAE Visa for Parents: How to Sponsor a Visit, Routes, Fees and Documents

The short answer: A UAE resident can bring a parent over to visit in three main ways. You can sponsor a relative visit visa yourself, through the ICP (smartservices.icp.gov.ae or the UAEICP app) if you live in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah or one of the northern emirates, or through GDRFA Dubai (gdrfad.gov.ae, the GDRFA smart app or Dubai Now) if you live in Dubai. ICP's service page sets the sponsor's minimum income for a parent at AED 4,000 a month. Or you can skip sponsorship altogether and book a visit (tourist) visa through a licensed travel agency, airline or hotel, which Holidayys arranges; this route does not depend on your own salary or residence visa. A third option costs nothing to arrange: if your parent's own passport already qualifies for UAE visa-free entry or a visa on arrival, such as most UK, EU, US, Canadian and Australian passports, they simply fly in. For a longer stay, a parent can be sponsored on a residence visa, renewed every year, which is a separate and more demanding process.

Bringing a parent to the UAE is one of the most common reasons a resident deals with immigration at all. A grandchild's birth, a wedding, Ramadan or a long winter with the family are the usual occasions, and residents from India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Egypt and Sri Lanka, the largest expat communities here, generally need to arrange something before a parent can fly in. Which route suits your family depends on where you live, your income, your own visa status and how long your parents want to stay.

UAE visa for parents at a glance

Question	Answer (October 2026)
Who can sponsor a relative visit visa	A UAE resident with a valid residence visa and Emirates ID
Minimum sponsor income for a parent (ICP, outside Dubai)	AED 4,000 a month, ICP's service page states
Minimum sponsor income for a parent (GDRFA, Dubai)	No figure on GDRFA's own pages; a salary certificate or employment contract is required either way
Where residents outside Dubai apply	smartservices.icp.gov.ae or the UAEICP app
Where Dubai residents apply	gdrfad.gov.ae, the GDRFA smart app, Dubai Now, or an Amer centre
Visit length on issue	30, 60 or 90 days, single or multiple entry
Longest stay with extensions	Up to 120 days total via ICP; up to 180 days total via GDRFA Dubai
Processing time	About 2 working days, per ICP's and GDRFA's own service pages
Overstay fine	AED 50 a day, ICP's service page states
Without sponsoring anyone	A visit visa through a licensed agency, or visa-free or on-arrival entry if the parent's passport qualifies

Three ways to bring your parents to the UAE

There are three ways to get a parent into the UAE for a visit, and a fourth if they are moving in for longer than that.

• Sponsor a relative visit visa yourself, through ICP if you live outside Dubai or through GDRFA if you live in Dubai. It rests on your own residence visa, Emirates ID and income.
• Book a visit visa through a licensed travel agency, airline or hotel. Holidayys arranges these; it does not depend on your residence visa or salary.
• Check whether your parent's own passport already qualifies for visa-free entry or a visa on arrival. If it does, nobody needs to sponsor anything.
• Sponsor a parent on a residence visa, if they are moving in with you rather than visiting. This is a separate, more demanding process, covered below.

Sponsor a relative visit visa yourself

This route puts your own residence visa, Emirates ID and income behind the application. Which authority you deal with depends on where you, the sponsor, live, not where your parent is flying from.

If you live in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah or the northern emirates: ICP

Residents of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah apply to the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP), through smartservices.icp.gov.ae or the UAEICP app. Sign in with UAE Pass, choose the entry permit service, and set the visitor category to "visiting relatives or friends".

ICP's own service page sets a minimum sponsor income, read in October 2026:

• AED 4,000 a month to sponsor a first-degree relative, which includes a parent, spouse, son or daughter
• AED 8,000 a month for a second or third-degree relative, such as a sibling or grandparent
• AED 15,000 a month for a friend who is not a relative at all

You also need proof of kinship, a passport valid at least six months, a return ticket and UAE health insurance for your parent, and your own sponsor file must be active. The permit runs 30, 60 or 90 days, and ICP's page says your parent must enter the UAE within 60 days of it being issued. ICP's page lists a service completion time of about two working days.

ICP's fee list, as read on the same page: an AED 100 application fee, AED 100 a month for a single-entry permit or AED 200 a month for multiple entry, an AED 100 Smart Service fee, and a refundable financial guarantee of AED 1,000 for single entry or AED 2,000 for multiple entry, plus an AED 20 guarantee deposit fee. The guarantee is returned once your parent cancels the visa or leaves the country, provided there is no residency violation. Check the current total on the service card before you pay, since these figures move.

If you live in Dubai: GDRFA

Dubai residents apply to the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA), through gdrfad.gov.ae, the GDRFA smart app, Dubai Now, or an Amer centre. GDRFA runs this as two separate services, a single-entry visit and a multi-entry visit, and both list the same shape of fee, as read on GDRFA's own service pages in October 2026:

• Single entry: AED 200 for 30 days, AED 300 for 60 days, or AED 400 for 90 days, plus 5% VAT
• Multiple entry: AED 300 for 30 days, AED 500 for 60 days, or AED 700 for 90 days, plus 5% VAT
• Refundable security deposit: AED 1,000 for single entry or AED 2,000 for multiple entry, plus a AED 20 deposit service fee and a AED 40 collection and reimbursement fee
• Medical insurance: AED 40, 60 or 90, depending on whether you choose 30, 60 or 90 days

If your parent is already inside the UAE when you apply, GDRFA's pages add a further AED 500 in-country fee, plus two AED 10 Knowledge and Innovation Dirham charges. GDRFA's pages list the required documents as two photos, a passport copy valid at least six months, a birth certificate to prove the relationship, and a salary certificate (government, semi-government or free zone staff), an employment contract (private sector) or a partnership contract (for partners); they do not state a minimum salary figure on the pages we read, unlike ICP's. Check the current threshold with GDRFA or an Amer centre before you plan around it. GDRFA's pages say processing takes about 48 hours.

Documents you will need

• Your parent's passport, valid at least six months, plus a recent photo
• Your own Emirates ID and residence visa, since you are applying as the sponsor
• Proof of the relationship: your parent's birth certificate, attested if it is not already in Arabic or English
• Proof of your income: a salary certificate, an attested employment contract, or partnership papers if you are self-employed
• A return ticket for your parent
• UAE health insurance covering the visit: GDRFA bills this as part of the fee; ICP's page lists it as a condition of the permit
• For Afghan, Iranian or Iraqi nationals, ICP's page also asks for a copy of their national identity card; GDRFA's Dubai pages add Pakistani nationals to that list

Health insurance

Both authorities build health insurance into the visit visa, rather than leaving it to you to arrange separately. ICP's page lists valid UAE health insurance as a condition of the permit. GDRFA Dubai charges it directly as part of the fee: AED 40 for a 30-day visit, AED 60 for 60 days, or AED 90 for 90 days, as read on GDRFA's service pages in October 2026.

Extending the visit

The base permit runs 30, 60 or 90 days, however you apply. Beyond that, the two authorities cap the total differently. ICP's page for Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the northern emirates says the total stay, including any extension, cannot pass 120 days. GDRFA Dubai's own extension service page allows the visa to be extended one or more times for a total of up to 180 days. The two figures do not agree, so if your parent wants to stay longer than 90 days, confirm the cap that applies to your emirate before you plan around it. GDRFA's extension costs AED 600 plus 5% VAT, and a further AED 500 plus two AED 10 Knowledge and Innovation Dirham charges if your parent is already inside the UAE when you apply, as read on GDRFA's page in October 2026.

Overstay fines

ICP's service page states a fine of AED 50 a day for an expired or overstayed entry permit, as read in October 2026. Check whether any grace period applies on the ICP or GDRFA fines lookup rather than assuming one, and renew, extend or have your parent exit before the permit runs out.

Book a visit visa through a travel agency, airline or hotel

UAE immigration law also lets a licensed travel agency, airline or hotel sponsor a visit visa, separately from the relative-visit route above. This is the visa Holidayys sells: it does not rest on your own residence visa, Emirates ID or salary, which makes it the simpler route if your income does not clear ICP's threshold, or if you would rather not put your own sponsor file forward. Choose 30, 60 or 90 days by how long your parent is staying. Your parent still needs a passport valid at least six months, a recent photo, a return ticket, and somewhere to stay: your address as their host, or a hotel booking.

See our UAE visa services for the current visa types, or go straight to the family visit section for the two routes side by side. We do not sponsor the relative-visit route above; only you, as the resident, can do that, and we cannot speed up or guarantee the outcome of either route.

Check whether your parent's own passport already qualifies

Not every parent needs sponsoring at all. If your parent's own passport already carries UAE visa-free entry or a visa on arrival, such as most UK, EU and Schengen, US, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Japanese, South Korean, Singaporean, Malaysian and Chinese passports, they can simply book a flight and fly in on their own passport, the same as any other visitor. Your UAE residence visa makes no difference to their passport's own entry rules.

There is also the exception for Indian passport holders who already hold a valid US visa, US green card, or UK or EU residence permit: they have been able to obtain a UAE visa on arrival rather than applying in advance, subject to conditions. See our UAE visa guide for the full position by nationality, and check it before assuming either way, since these lists are revised by the authorities periodically.

Sponsoring parents on a residence visa

If your parents are moving in with you rather than visiting, the UAE's family residence visa covers parents as well as a spouse and children, but on stricter terms than a visit visa. Official guidance has generally required both parents to be sponsored together, not one at a time, unless one parent has died or they are divorced, proven with attested documents, and asks you to show that you are their sole means of support. The visa is issued for one year at a time regardless of how long your own residence visa runs, so it is renewed annually. Each parent needs a medical fitness test at an approved UAE health centre, and mandatory health insurance, renewed every year, which generally costs more for an older dependant. The income threshold for sponsoring a parent is higher than for a spouse or child and is set by your emirate's immigration department; it has changed before, so check the current figure with ICP or GDRFA, or ask us, before you commit to this route rather than a repeated visit visa.

Frequently asked questions

Can I sponsor my parents' visit visa in Dubai?

Yes. Dubai residents apply to GDRFA, through gdrfad.gov.ae, the GDRFA smart app, Dubai Now or an Amer centre, for a single or multiple entry visit of 30, 60 or 90 days. Residents of the other emirates apply to ICP instead.

What salary do I need to sponsor my parents?

ICP's service page sets the minimum at AED 4,000 a month to sponsor a parent, as a first-degree relative, for residents of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the northern emirates. GDRFA Dubai's pages ask for a salary certificate or employment contract but do not state a figure on the pages we read, so confirm the current Dubai threshold with GDRFA before you apply.

How long can parents stay on a visit visa?

The base permit runs 30, 60 or 90 days. With extensions, ICP's page caps the total at 120 days for the other emirates, while GDRFA Dubai's extension page allows up to 180 days in total. Check the cap that applies to your emirate before you plan a longer stay.

Can I sponsor only one of my parents?

For the residence visa route, generally no: official guidance has required both parents to be sponsored together, unless one has died or they are divorced, proven with attested documents. The visit visa routes do not carry this restriction in the same way, since each visit application covers one visitor at a time.

Do my parents need health insurance for a UAE visit visa?

Yes. ICP's page lists valid UAE health insurance as a condition of the relative visit permit. GDRFA Dubai bills it directly: AED 40, 60 or 90, depending on whether you choose 30, 60 or 90 days, as read on GDRFA's service pages in October 2026.

What happens if my parents overstay their visit visa?

ICP's service page states a fine of AED 50 a day for an expired entry permit, as read in October 2026. Renew or extend before the permit expires. If you booked the visit through a travel agency rather than sponsoring it yourself, tell the agency as soon as a return looks in doubt, since the fine and any exit formalities still fall on your parent and, for a sponsored visa, on you.

Bringing your parents over

If a parent or relative is coming to see you, the sponsorship route and the booking are easier to sort out together, since the same details, dates, where they are staying, the return flight, go into both. See the family visit section of our visa services for the two routes side by side, browse UAE visa services for the visit visa we can arrange, or talk to us about which route suits your family.

Related guides

• UAE visa guide: types, rules and status check
• UAE transit visa: 48 and 96 hour permits
• How much does a Dubai trip cost
• Dubai with kids: a family guide

Last checked 9 October 2026 against ICP's service page for issuing an entry permit, GDRFA Dubai's service pages for the single-entry, multi-entry and extended relative or friend visit visa. This guide is general information, not immigration advice. Confirm the current requirements with ICP, GDRFA or our team before you apply or travel.