UAE Visit Visa for Thais: Routes, Fees, Documents and the ICP Entry Visa

The short answer: Thai passport holders need a UAE visa arranged before they fly, with one narrow exception. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' checker, "Visa information to enter the country," marked Thailand "Visa Required" on 9 October 2026, and Visit Dubai's own visa tool gave the same answer when we checked it for a Thai passport travelling for tourism: "You will need to arrange a visa before your trip to Dubai." Since 25 June 2026, ICP's entry visa lets a Thai national who also holds a valid residence permit from the US, an EU member state, the UK, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand or Canada get a 14-day visa for AED 100 or a 60-day visa for AED 250. A Thai passport on its own does not qualify. Everyone else needs a pre-arranged visit visa: a UAE resident relative or friend can sponsor one through ICP or GDRFA Dubai, or a licensed travel agency, airline or hotel can sponsor it, which is the visa Holidayys arranges.

Thai residents of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the northern emirates bring parents, spouses and children out on visit visas, and Thai tourists travelling on their own need the same visa. Getting the route right before you book matters on both ends: an airline will not board a passenger whose visa documents do not match, and applying for the wrong product wastes the fee.

UAE visa for Thai citizens at a glance

Question	Answer (October 2026)
Does a Thai passport get visa-free or on-arrival entry	No. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' checker and Visit Dubai's own visa tool both marked Thailand "visa required" on 9 October 2026
Who can sponsor a pre-arranged visit visa	A UAE resident relative or friend (via ICP or GDRFA Dubai), or a licensed travel agency, airline or hotel
Visit visa lengths on offer	14, 30, 60 or 90 days, single or multiple entry
Agency/airline/hotel-sponsored visa fee (Dubai, GDRFA)	AED 200 for 30 days or AED 300 for 60 days, single entry, plus 5% VAT
ICP entry visa for Thai nationals with a qualifying foreign residence permit (from 25 June 2026)	14 days for AED 100, extendable once; or 60 days for AED 250, single entry, not extendable
Who qualifies for that route	Thai nationals (and accompanying family) holding a valid residence permit from the US, an EU state, the UK, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand or Canada
Overstay fine	AED 50 a day
Can a visit visa be used to work	No. UAE law bars it
What Emirates and Etihad check at boarding	Passport valid 6 months, the visa or entry permit, a confirmed return or onward ticket and accommodation proof

Does a Thai passport get a UAE visa on arrival?

Not on its own. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs runs a checker, "Visa information to enter the country," that marks each nationality "Visa Free" or "Visa Required." On 9 October 2026, Thailand was marked "Visa Required," not among the nationalities that get visa-free or on-arrival entry. We also ran Visit Dubai's own visa tool directly, selecting Thailand as the passport and "Tourism" as the purpose: it answered plainly, "You will need to arrange a visa before your trip to Dubai," and listed the tourist visa, the long-term visit visa and the five-year multiple-entry visa as the options to apply for. The two official tools agree on the headline question: a Thai passport by itself does not get in without a visa arranged first.

One airline page reads differently at a glance. Etihad's own UAE visa page lists Thailand inside its table of "countries eligible for a visa on arrival," but with an asterisk: eligibility is "subject to a valid visa or residency in the EU, UK or U.S, or residency in Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore or South Korea." That is the same ICP scheme described below, not an unconditional visa on arrival, so a Thai passport without one of those foreign documents still falls back to a pre-arranged visit visa, exactly as MOFA's checker and Visit Dubai's tool both say. Read the small print before you rely on any airline's eligibility table.

Three ways to get a UAE visa as a Thai traveller

• Check the ICP entry visa first, if you hold a foreign residence permit. Since 25 June 2026, Thai nationals with a qualifying document from a short list of other countries can get a 14 or 60-day entry visa, described in full below.
• Have a relative in the UAE sponsor you. They apply through ICP if they live outside Dubai, or GDRFA Dubai if they live in Dubai. This rests on their residence visa, Emirates ID and income, not yours.
• Book a visit visa through a licensed travel agency, airline or hotel. This is the visa Holidayys arranges. It does not need a UAE-based sponsor at all, which makes it the simpler route if no relative is sponsoring you.

The ICP entry visa for Thai nationals with a foreign residence permit

On 25 June 2026, ICP widened what it calls the "UAE Entry Visa for Nationals of Certain Countries," which until then covered Indian nationals only. Its notice added nationals of Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Kenya and South Africa. Thai applicants and their accompanying family members must hold a valid residence permit from the US, an EU member state, the UK, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand or Canada:

• 14-day visa: AED 100 in total issuance fees, extendable once during the stay.
• 60-day visa: AED 250 in total issuance fees, for a single stay, not extendable.
• Overstay fine: AED 50 a day beyond the permitted period.

ICP's notice calls this an entry visa and does not say whether it is issued on arrival or applied for in advance, so confirm the channel with ICP or your airline before you fly. Both Emirates and Etihad, read directly on their own visa pages, apply this same eligibility to Thai passengers. Emirates lists the same qualifying countries (the EU states individually, plus the UK, the US, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Singapore) under "Eligibility: Indonesia, Kenya, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam," and runs its own version of the permit through Manage your booking: a 14-day single entry permit for USD 63, or a 60-day single entry permit for USD 141.36, both inclusive of VAT on Emirates' own fee table. Carry the qualifying residence permit itself, since that is what makes you eligible either way.

Sponsored by a relative who lives in the UAE

If you have a parent, spouse, sibling or child already living in the UAE, Thai or any other nationality, they can sponsor your visit directly: through ICP if they live in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah or the northern emirates, or through GDRFA Dubai if they live in Dubai. This route rests on the sponsor's own residence visa, Emirates ID and income, not on yours, and it runs alongside the agency-sponsored route below rather than replacing it. ICP's own service page sets a minimum sponsor income by relationship and lists the application, issuance, Smart Service and refundable guarantee fees separately; we cover the exact figures in our UAE visa for parents guide and in the family visit section of our visa services, since the process is the same whichever relative is travelling or sponsoring.

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

This is the most straightforward route for a Thai traveller with no UAE resident to sponsor them, or whose relative's income does not clear the sponsor threshold, since the visa does not depend on anyone's salary or residence status in the UAE. GDRFA Dubai calls its version a "tourist visa," the term people also use for a visit visa; its own service pages say the host must be "one of the establishments working in the field of tourism," and only an accredited tourism office can issue it. Read on GDRFA Dubai's own pages:

• Single entry: AED 200 for 30 days, or AED 300 for 60 days, plus 5% VAT
• Multiple entry: AED 300 for 30 days, or AED 500 for 60 days, plus 5% VAT
• Security deposit: none, on this type of visa
• Processing time: about 48 hours

Outside Dubai, ICP runs the same kind of service through travel agencies, airlines and hotels, with its own fee schedule. Either way you will need a passport valid at least six months, a ticket to continue your journey or return home, and health insurance valid in the UAE. See UAE visa services for the 14, 30, 60 and 90-day options we arrange, including 14 days, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days and the 90-day multiple-entry version. We cannot guarantee or speed up a government decision on any visa.

What airlines check before you board

Immigration is not the only check: the airline verifies your documents at check-in and can refuse boarding if they do not match, regardless of which visa route you used. Emirates' own visa page asks for a passport valid at least six months, the visa or entry permit itself, a confirmed hotel reservation or a tenancy contract in a hosting relative's name, and a return Emirates ticket with dates matching the hotel booking, for anyone applying for a pre-arranged visa through the airline. Etihad's own page sets the same six-month passport rule and asks for a confirmed ticket to Abu Dhabi and onward to a third destination for its transit visa applicants. Treat whichever airline you fly as a second checkpoint alongside immigration, and carry your visa or entry permit, printed or on your phone, along with proof of your return ticket and where you are staying.

What Thailand's own government says

The Royal Thai Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Dubai publish Thai passport, ID and legalisation services, and guidance for applying for a Thai e-visa from the UAE at thaievisa.go.th. Neither publishes its own rules for entering the UAE: for that, rely on ICP, GDRFA Dubai or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' checker, as this guide does. Thailand's Department of Consular Affairs has separately warned Thai nationals about job offers that involve travelling to the UAE. In guidance dated May 2022, it described recruiters who advertise high pay for a short time, cover the traveller's flight and visa costs upfront, often using a tourist visa, then demand repayment after arrival, confiscate passports and place workers in roles that are not what was advertised. It told anyone in that situation to call the UAE's emergency number, 999, which works even without a local SIM card, and gave the Royal Thai Embassy in Abu Dhabi's hotline as a further contact. The warning is specific to illegal recruitment schemes, not to genuine tourism or family visits, but it is worth reading before accepting any job offer that depends on travelling to the UAE as a visitor first.

A visit visa is for visiting, not working

Under UAE law, a visit visa does not permit any kind of work, paid or unpaid, for yourself or anyone else. The UAE's Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation treats working on a visit visa as a serious offence that can bring fines and legal action for both the worker and the employer. The lawful route into UAE employment is an employment contract and a work visa arranged before the job starts, not a visit visa converted after arrival. If you are weighing a job offer that depends on travelling as a visitor first, verify the employer and the offer before you book anything, and see the warning above from Thailand's own consular authorities.

Extending or ending the visit

A pre-arranged visit visa, however it was sponsored, generally runs for its original 14, 30, 60 or 90 days before it needs extending or ending. Our UAE visit visa extension guide covers how extensions work and their fees in full; in short, a standard tourist visit visa can usually be extended from inside the UAE, through GDRFA or ICP, up to a total of 120 days. Staying past the last day on any visa brings the UAE's standard overstay fine: see our UAE overstay fines guide for how that works. Whichever visa you hold, our free UAE visa check confirms its status and sends WhatsApp and email reminders before it runs out, which is worth using well before any visa, pre-arranged or ICP-issued, is due to expire.

Frequently asked questions

Do Thai citizens need a visa to enter the UAE?

Generally yes. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' checker and Visit Dubai's own visa tool both marked Thailand "visa required" on 9 October 2026. Most Thai travellers need a visit visa arranged beforehand, through a UAE resident relative, a licensed travel agency, an airline or a hotel, unless they qualify for the ICP entry visa below.

Can Thais get a UAE visa on arrival?

Not on a Thai passport alone. Since 25 June 2026, Thai nationals who also hold a valid residence permit from the US, an EU state, the UK, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand or Canada can get ICP's 14-day (AED 100) or 60-day (AED 250) entry visa. ICP's own notice does not say whether this is issued on arrival or applied for in advance.

How much does a UAE visit visa cost for a Thai national?

For an agency, airline or hotel-sponsored visit visa in Dubai, GDRFA's own fee pages list AED 200 for 30 days or AED 300 for 60 days, single entry, plus 5% VAT. The ICP entry visa, where eligible, costs AED 100 for 14 days or AED 250 for 60 days. Emirates runs a separate version of the same eligibility for USD 63 (14 days) or USD 141.36 (60 days) through its own booking tool.

What is the ICP entry visa for Thai nationals, and who qualifies?

It is an entry visa ICP widened to Thai nationals on 25 June 2026, alongside Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Kenya and South Africa. It requires a valid residence permit from the US, an EU member state, the UK, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand or Canada; a Thai passport on its own does not qualify.

Can I travel to the UAE on a visit visa to work?

No. UAE law does not allow working on a visit visa, and Thailand's own Department of Consular Affairs has warned about recruiters who use tourist visas to bring Thai nationals into the UAE for undisclosed work. Arrange a proper work visa before you travel for employment.

Do Emirates and Etihad check my visa before I board?

Yes. Both airlines' own visa pages describe checking your passport validity and your visa or entry permit before issuing a boarding pass, separately from UAE immigration on arrival, and can refuse to board you if either is missing or does not match your booking.

Planning your visit

Settle the visa side first, since it decides how soon you can book flights and accommodation with confidence. See UAE visa services for the visa lengths we arrange, the family visit section if a UAE resident relative is sponsoring, or talk to us about which route fits your dates and documents.

Related guides

• UAE visa for parents: routes, fees and documents
• UAE visit visa extension: who can extend, fees and rules
• UAE visa on arrival countries
• Thailand visa for UAE residents

Last checked 9 October 2026 against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' "Visa information to enter the country" checker, Visit Dubai's own visa eligibility tool, ICP's notice of 25 June 2026 on the UAE Entry Visa for Nationals of Certain Countries, Emirates' and Etihad's UAE visa information pages, GDRFA Dubai's tourist-visa service pages, and Thailand's Department of Consular Affairs guidance dated May 2022. This guide is general information, not immigration advice. Confirm the current requirements with ICP, GDRFA, your airline or our team before you apply or travel.