Grace period coming to an end for expired visa holders

OUR CORRESPONDENT

As September 11 nears, holders of expired visit visas in the UAE have been alerted by the
(ICA) to exit the country in four days.

Holders of UAE visit or tourist visas that expired after March 1, 2020, were given a month from August 11 to exit the country without paying fines. The grace period is coming to an end now.

In July this year, the UAE government had cancelled the previous decision to extend the visit or tourist visas until end of December 2020 since it was considered that people would not be able to travel due to the pandemic-related travel restrictions.

On its Twitter account, ICA had said in August that the extension was part of the national initiative and in line with the UAE Cabinet’s decisions and regulations.

The tweet announcing the grace period stated: “The Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship extends the grace period for holders of expiring entry permits, starting from 11/8/2020 for a period of one month, with the aim of enabling them to leave the country with exemption from all fines during this period.”

ICA called holders of expired visit or tourist visas to change their status or leave the country during the grace period.

The UAE government official website stipulates that if a tourist or visitor overstays beyond the grace period, he or she will be levied a fine of Dh200 for the first day of overstay and Dh100 for each consecutive day, besides a Dh100 service fee.