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UAE Residence Visa & Emirates ID Cost Calculator

Build the real cost of a 2-year UAE residence visa line by line: entry permit or in-country status change, medical test, Emirates ID, visa stamping, the ICP Smart Services fee, typing charges and the one line nobody can quote blindly, mandatory health insurance.

Government fees change and insurance varies; confirm on ICP / GDRFA. Reviewed 2026.

Application type

Default is a 2-year private-sector residence visa.

Entry method
Emirate

Dubai runs through GDRFA (Amer); other emirates run through ICP.

Each dependent repeats the per-person lines (medical, Emirates ID, stamping, insurance).

Mandatory and highly variable: roughly AED 800 to AED 5,000+ depending on age, emirate and plan. Default AED 1,200 is a basic-plan placeholder, not a quote.

Estimated total cost

AED 2,880 to AED 4,440

1 person on the file · new issue · Dubai (GDRFA)

Line itemPer person
In-country change of status (no exit)
Convert an existing/visit status without leaving the UAE
AED 500-AED 700
Medical fitness test
Standard to express/VIP speed tier (DHA / MOHAP / EHS)
AED 250-AED 700
Emirates ID (2-year)
AED 200 card (AED 100/year x2) plus ICP service / typing
AED 270-AED 390
Residence visa stamping / issuance
Residence permit affixed to the file (2-year private sector)
AED 460-AED 900
ICP Smart Services fee
Federal ICP digital-services charge listed on ICP service cards
AED 100
Typing / service-centre handling
Amer / Tasheel / typing-centre processing per application
AED 50-AED 250
GDRFA Dubai channel uplift
Dubai GDRFA service lines tend to run above the federal floor
AED 50-AED 200
Health insurance
Mandatory, varies by age / plan
AED 1,200
Government / service subtotal (1x)AED 1,680-AED 3,240
Health insurance subtotal (1x)AED 1,200

Government fees change and insurance varies; confirm on ICP / GDRFA before you pay. Reviewed 2026.

Have our desk handle the visaEmirates ID renewal guide

What goes into a UAE residence visa

A UAE residence visa is not a single payment. It is a stack of separate government and service-centre charges, each with its own portal and its own fee, processed in sequence over a week or two. The federal authority, ICP (the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security), administers the system across all seven emirates, while in Dubai the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA), through Amer service centres, handles the processing. Other emirates run directly through ICP. That split matters because the GDRFA Dubai channel tends to price slightly above the federal floor, which is why this calculator carries a Dubai toggle.

The journey is either an entry permit issued from outside the UAE, which you travel in on and then convert, or an in-country change of status if you are already here on a visit or tourist entry. From there the steps are the same: a medical fitness test, the Emirates ID registration, the residence visa stamping or issuance, and the mandatory health insurance that must be in place before the visa is granted. ICP service cards also list a federal ICP Smart Services fee of AED 100 on top of the existing lines. For the identity-card side specifically, the Emirates ID renewal guide walks through the ICP and typing-centre steps in detail.

The line-item cost stack

Every figure below is a range, not a single price, because the schedules differ by channel, emirate and speed tier. The largest swing is the medical test (standard versus express or VIP) and, separately, health insurance, which is genuinely open-ended. Treat the table as the structure of the bill and confirm each line on ICP or GDRFA before you pay.

Line itemTypical AED (per person)Notes
Entry permit (from abroad)350 - 1,150Incl. e-channel deposit where applicable
In-country status change500 - 700No exit needed; alternative to entry permit
Medical fitness test250 - 700Standard to express / VIP speed tier
Emirates ID (2-year)270 - 390AED 200 card (100/year x2) plus service / typing
Residence visa issuance / stamping460 - 900Dubai GDRFA tends to the higher end
ICP Smart Services fee100Federal digital-services charge (per ICP service card)
Typing / service-centre handling50 - 250Amer / Tasheel / typing centre
Health insurance800 - 5,000+Mandatory; varies by age and plan

Add the government and service-centre lines together and a standard 2-year residence visa lands at roughly AED 1,500 to AED 3,500 per person before insurance. Insurance then adds AED 800 to AED 5,000 or more per person. For how this UAE residency bill compares against the equivalent paperwork across the Gulf, see the GCC paperwork cost index.

Worked examples

ScenarioGov / service rangeInsuranceTotal range
Single applicant, status change, Dubai1,680 - 3,2401,2002,880 - 4,440
Single applicant, entry permit, ICP emirate1,480 - 3,4901,2002,680 - 4,690
Applicant + spouse + 1 child, Dubai, status change5,040 - 9,7203,6008,640 - 13,320

Example 1. A single professional already in Dubai on a visit status does an in-country change of status. The government and service lines (status change, medical, Emirates ID, stamping, ICP fee, typing and the Dubai uplift) sum to roughly AED 1,680 to AED 3,240, then a basic AED 1,200 insurance plan brings the total to about AED 2,880 to AED 4,440. Example 2. The same profile entering from abroad in an ICP emirate pays the entry permit instead of the status change and drops the Dubai uplift, landing around AED 2,680 to AED 4,690 all-in. Example 3. A family of three in Dubai multiplies the per-person lines by three, so the bill scales to roughly AED 8,640 to AED 13,320 with three basic insurance plans.

What is and is not included

Included: the entry permit or in-country status change, the medical fitness test, the Emirates ID for the 2-year term, the residence visa stamping or issuance, the ICP Smart Services fee, typing or service-centre handling, an optional Dubai GDRFA uplift, and the mandatory health insurance line as an editable input.

Not included: document attestation and legal translation (often AED 150 to AED 500 per document), the refundable e-channel or establishment deposit some sponsors lodge, PRO or agency markups beyond the typing-centre line, courier and photo costs, and any overstay or late-renewal fines if a previous status had lapsed. The employment-visa labour-side costs that sit on the employer are also out of scope. If your previous visa expired, price the penalties with the UAE overstay fine calculator and the Emirates ID fine calculator before you assume the clean numbers above.

Edge cases

Renewing from abroad

A residence visa can lapse while you are outside the UAE, and the Emirates ID renewal in particular has rules for handling an expired card from overseas. The fee structure is similar to a fresh issue, but timing and re-entry conditions differ. See renewing an expired Emirates ID from abroad for the sequence.

Golden and Green visas

Long-term routes change the math. A 10-year Golden Visa carries a higher government fee but a far longer term, so the per-year cost can be lower; the medical, Emirates ID and insurance lines still apply. Check eligibility with the Golden Visa eligibility checker and the Golden Visa requirements guide before budgeting for one.

Sponsoring dependents

Each dependent repeats most of the per-person stack, and the sponsor must meet a minimum salary threshold plus attested relationship documents. Confirm you qualify with the family sponsorship eligibility checker before you commit to the family-file budget.

Checking an existing status

Before renewing, confirm where the current visa actually stands. You can verify status by passport number, and employees can cross-check the labour card and contract. See checking UAE visa status by passport number and the MOHRE labour card and contract check.

Related calculators

The residence visa is one line in a connected stack of UAE paperwork. These free tools handle the adjacent numbers and eligibility checks:

For the wider country picture see the UAE country guide, and to have the whole sequence handled end-to-end our residency and visa service runs the ICP and GDRFA transactions for you.

Frequently asked

How much does a UAE residence visa cost in 2026?

For a standard 2-year private-sector residence visa, the government and service-centre stack runs roughly AED 1,500 to AED 3,500 per person, before health insurance. That covers the entry permit or in-country status change (AED 350 to AED 1,150 for the permit route, or about AED 500 to AED 700 for an in-country status change), the medical fitness test (AED 250 to AED 700 depending on the speed tier), the Emirates ID for two years (AED 270 to AED 390), the residence visa issuance or stamping (AED 460 to AED 900), the ICP Smart Services fee (AED 100, listed on ICP service cards) and typing or service-centre handling (AED 50 to AED 250). Mandatory health insurance is on top and is the single most variable line at AED 800 to AED 5,000 or more per person per year. Because the schedules differ by channel, emirate and speed, treat any single figure as a range and confirm on ICP or GDRFA before you pay.

Why is the cost shown as a range instead of one number?

The UAE residence visa is not one fee, it is a stack of separate government and service-centre lines, and several of them are tiered. The medical fitness test alone runs from about AED 250 for standard turnaround to AED 700 or more for express and VIP same-day service. The entry permit and the in-country status change are priced differently. Dubai applications run through GDRFA (Amer centres) and tend to sit above the federal floor, while other emirates run through ICP. On top of all of that, health insurance is genuinely variable by age and plan. A single precise number would be misleading, so the calculator sums each line into a low-to-high total range.

Is health insurance really mandatory, and why is it not a fixed number?

Yes. Health insurance is a mandatory condition of a UAE residence visa, and the sponsor must hold a valid policy for every person on the file before the visa is issued or renewed. It is not a fixed number because premiums depend on age, the emirate, pre-existing conditions and the plan tier. A basic compliant plan for a young adult can sit near AED 800, while a comprehensive family plan or cover for an older applicant can run AED 5,000 or well beyond per person per year. The calculator makes insurance an editable input with a basic-plan default of AED 1,200 so you can drop in a real quote. Do not treat the default as a quote.

What is the difference between an entry permit and an in-country status change?

If you are outside the UAE, you are issued an entry permit, travel in on it, and then convert it to a residence visa. If you are already inside the UAE, for example on a visit or tourist status, you can do an in-country change of status without exiting the country, which avoids a flight but carries its own fee of roughly AED 500 to AED 700. The status-change route is usually cheaper and faster when you are already in the country; the entry-permit route applies when you are sponsoring someone from abroad. The calculator lets you toggle between the two for a new issue.

How much is the Emirates ID for a 2-year residence visa?

The Emirates ID card fee is set centrally by ICP at AED 100 per year of validity, so a 2-year card is AED 200 in card fees. Add the ICP online service fee of roughly AED 70, or a typing-centre fee of roughly AED 50 to AED 150 in place of it, and the Emirates ID line lands at roughly AED 270 to AED 390 for a 2-year residence. Express (Fawri) issuance, if requested, adds an urgent-service charge of about AED 150. The Emirates ID is mandatory and is processed in parallel with the residence visa, so it is always part of the cost stack, never optional.

Do dependents cost the same as the main applicant?

Broadly yes for the per-person lines. Each dependent repeats the medical fitness test, the Emirates ID, the residence stamping and the health insurance, so adding a dependent roughly repeats most of the stack. That is why the calculator multiplies the per-person rows by the number of people on the file. Sponsoring dependents also requires the sponsor to meet a minimum salary threshold and, for some relatives, attested documents, which are eligibility conditions rather than fees. Use the family sponsorship eligibility checker before you budget for dependents.

Does the Golden Visa or Green Visa change these numbers?

Yes, materially. This calculator is built for the standard 2-year private-sector residence visa. A 10-year Golden Visa carries a higher government fee, typically several thousand dirhams more, but removes the need for an employer sponsor and runs for a far longer term, so the cost per year of validity can be lower. The Green Visa (a 5-year self-sponsored route for skilled workers, freelancers and investors) sits between the two. The medical, Emirates ID and insurance lines still apply to all of them. Check the Golden Visa eligibility checker before assuming you qualify.

What is not included in this estimate?

The estimate covers the core government and service-centre fees plus mandatory insurance for a standard residence visa. It does not include document attestation or legal translation (often AED 150 to AED 500 per document), the refundable e-channel or establishment deposit some sponsors lodge, PRO or agency markups beyond the typing-centre line, courier and photo costs, or any overstay and late-renewal fines if your previous status had lapsed. It also does not include the labour-side costs for an employment visa, which sit on the employer. Treat the output as the residency-paperwork floor, not the all-in relocation budget.