Re-Entry Permit UAE & Dubai (2026): Fees, Rules and How We Apply for You

A re-entry permit (UAE) is permission for a resident who has been outside the UAE for more than 180 continuous days to come back on their existing residence visa. Without it, the residence is treated as lapsed and the airline or border will not accept it. GDRFA Dubai calls it the Return Permit for Resident outside UAE More than 6 months. ICP calls it the Permit to Stay Outside the Country for More Than 6 Months. In Arabic it is تصريح المكوث خارج الدولة لأكثر من 6 أشهر. People also search for it as the re-entry permit, the return permit and the entry permit after 6 months. All of these names mean the same thing.

This guide sets out both routes in full. It covers the exact fees, with a real Dubai receipt broken down line by line, the published conditions, the documents, the step-by-step application for each authority, a fee calculator, and the mistakes that most often lead to refusals.

Re-entry permit at a glance: Dubai vs the other six emirates

Re-entry permit UAE service (return permit): we apply for you, wherever you are

If you are stuck abroad past day 180, MIRDXB PRO can handle your re-entry permit from start to finish while you stay where you are. We file Dubai re-entry permits (the GDRFA return permit) through Amer, and re-entry permits for the other six emirates through ICP. You send the documents on WhatsApp or email, and we do the rest. It does not matter where you are: we file re-entry permits for residents stuck in India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Nigeria, Kenya, the UK, Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. You never need to visit our office or come back to the UAE first.

What our re-entry permit service covers

• A check before you pay anything. We confirm which emirate issued your residence, whether you need a re-entry permit at all (partner, investor, Golden, student and treatment cases often do not), and whether your residence has the 30 days of validity the re-entry permit needs.
• The exact fee, in writing. We work out your number of 30-day blocks from your real exit date and give you the government fees and our service fee in writing before we start.
• Your proof of reason, prepared properly. The reason is where most applications stall. We tell you which documents will support it and check they are complete and readable before submission.
• Filing and tracking. We submit the re-entry permit at Amer (Dubai) or through ICP (other emirates), answer any request for more information, and track it by application number.
• The approval sent to you, with a reminder of your entry deadline, so the window is not wasted.
• Whole-family files. If your spouse and children are also past day 180, we file each re-entry permit together, so everyone can travel on the same flight.

How it works

1. Message us on WhatsApp (+971 56 897 4054) with your last exit date and a copy of your residence visa or Emirates ID.
2. We confirm your route (GDRFA or ICP), whether a re-entry permit is needed, and the total cost in writing.
3. You send the documents: passport copy, Emirates ID copy and proof of your reason for staying abroad.
4. We file and track the re-entry permit application. Both authorities take about two working days once the file is complete.
5. You travel within the entry window, and use the manual immigration counter on arrival.

What it costs

Government fees are passed on at cost, exactly as set out in the fee tables below: for Dubai, AED 270 in fixed GDRFA fees plus AED 100 per 30-day block (plus the Amer centre charge); for the other emirates, AED 150 in fixed ICP fees plus AED 100 per block. Our own service fee is quoted separately, in writing, before we start. See how we price PRO services.

Why residents use us for their re-entry permit

• We publish real numbers. The Dubai fee on this page comes from an actual GDRFA receipt, line by line, not an estimate.
• We cover both authorities. Dubai re-entry permits through GDRFA and Amer, and ICP re-entry permits for Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah.
• We tell you when you do not need us. If a flight home before day 180 is cheaper, or your visa type is exempt, we say so.
• We are in Dubai. Our office is in Al Barsha 1, open by appointment; whatsApp us any time, 24 hours; office open Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 18:00 (Dubai time).

A real case from our files: stopped at check-in in Canada

A client on a self-sponsored remote work (virtual work) visa had been in Canada for more than 180 days. When she tried to board her flight to the UAE, the airline stopped her and told her she needed a re-entry permit (return permit) first. She called us from there, and our team had her return permit issue sorted within an hour. GDRFA approved the Return Permit for Resident outside UAE more than 6 months on 25 September 2026, valid for entry until 24 October 2026, with Dubai as the arrival emirate. She later left a review on our Google Business Profile.

Applying for a re-entry permit from the UK, Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand

The re-entry permit works the same wherever you are. The rules, fees and documents on this page apply whether you are in London, Berlin, New York, Toronto, Sydney or Auckland, and you apply from where you are: you never need to come back to the UAE first. What changes with distance is timing. The UAE is several hours ahead of or behind you, approvals run on UAE working days, and the airline checks your permit before you board.

The UAE keeps Gulf Standard Time (UTC+4) all year and does not change its clocks, so the gap moves when your country switches to or from daylight saving.

Five things that catch residents out when they apply from abroad

• Count UAE working days, not yours. Both GDRFA and ICP take about two working days once the file is complete, and the UAE government weekend is Saturday and Sunday. A file sent on a Friday evening in North America is usually not looked at until Monday in the UAE.
• Book the flight after the approval, not before. You can only apply once you have completed 180 days outside the UAE, and the permit then has a fixed entry window: one month from approval for a Dubai (GDRFA) permit, 30 days counting the approval date for an ICP permit, and never past your residence expiry date. A refundable or changeable ticket is the safer choice until the approval arrives.
• Plan around the arrival date, in UAE time. The window is about when you enter the UAE. Long flights from Australia, New Zealand or the US west coast can land a calendar day after they depart, so check the date you land, not the date you take off.
• The airline checks before you board. As in the Canada case above, the check-in desk can refuse boarding without the approval. Keep a printed copy and one on your phone, and on arrival use the manual immigration counter, because the smart gate will not work.
• Sort the paperwork you can only get where you are. Your proof of reason, such as a hospital or doctor’s letter, a university letter or an employer’s letter for an overseas assignment, should show the dates of your absence. If you renewed your passport while abroad, say so: a passport that does not match the residence file is the most common reason a file stalls. If your UAE Pass is not set up for online access, your sponsor, a relative or a PRO in the UAE can submit for you at an Amer centre or through ICP.

The six-month rule, stated precisely

The UAE government’s official portal states it plainly. If a UAE residence visa holder stays outside the UAE for more than six months continuously, the residence visa is nullified automatically. Three words in that rule matter most.

Step one: find out which emirate issued your residence

Everything else in this guide depends on this. It is also the step most articles skip. The answer is on your own documents:

• The residence file number. The first digit identifies the issuing emirate: 1 Abu Dhabi, 2 Dubai, 3 Sharjah, 4 Ajman, 5 Umm Al Quwain, 6 Ras Al Khaimah, 7 Fujairah. A file number starting 201/ is a Dubai residence.
• The place of issue printed on your eVisa or residence record, or shown in the ICP or GDRFA app.
• Dubai free zones count as Dubai. JAFZA, DMCC, DIFC, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Meydan and the other Dubai free zones issue Dubai residences, so they go through GDRFA. RAKEZ, SAIF Zone, Ajman Free Zone and the Abu Dhabi free zones go through ICP.
• Where you live does not decide it. Someone who lives in Sharjah on a Dubai-issued employment visa uses GDRFA. Someone who works in Dubai on an Abu Dhabi residence uses ICP.

Step two: check whether your residence type needs a re-entry permit at all

The 180-day rule does not apply to every residence in the same way. Before you look at fees, find your residence type in this table. The legal source for each row is given, so you can check it yourself.

Partner and investor visas: the 360-day position

This is the question we are asked most often by business owners, and it is where published guidance is weakest. Several websites say partner visas follow the same six-month rule as employees. Others say 365 days. Neither usually cites a source. Here is what the law actually says, what happens in practice, and where the gaps are.

What counts as a partner or investor visa

A partner visa, also called an investor visa, is a residence issued to a person because they own a share in a UAE company, not because they are employed by one. The company is the sponsor, and the partner is listed on the trade licence as a shareholder or partner. It is issued for mainland companies and for free zone companies. In Dubai, it is processed by GDRFA. In the other emirates, it is processed by ICP.

It is not the same as:

• An employment visa held by a company owner. Some owners are on their own company’s employment visa as, for example, general manager. That is an employment residence, and the ordinary 180-day rule applies.
• A Golden Visa for investors. The 10-year Golden residence has its own exemption on the ICP service card. It does not need this section.
• A property-owner residence. Whether a two-year residence issued for owning property is treated as an “investor” residence for Article 60 is not set out in the text of the law. If you hold one, confirm your file with GDRFA or ICP before relying on the investor exception.

What the law says

Article 59 of Cabinet Resolution No. 65 of 2022 (the Executive Regulation of Federal Decree-Law No. 29 of 2021 on the Entry and Residence of Foreigners) says a residence permit is deemed void if the holder’s stay outside the UAE exceeds 180 consecutive days.

Article 60 then lists the categories to whom that rule does not apply. One of them, in the official English translation, is “Investors holding valid Residence Permits.” The UAE government portal repeats this: investors holding valid residence visas are among those who may stay outside the UAE for more than six months without the residence being nullified.

The text gives no maximum period for investors. It says only that the residence must be valid.

What happens in practice: 360 days

In MIRDXB PRO’s own casework, partner-visa holders have been able to return to the UAE after absences of up to 360 days without applying for a return permit, as long as the residence was still valid. Beyond 360 days, we treat the file as one that needs to be checked with the authority before travel, and we do not tell clients to fly on the strength of the exception alone.

We are stating this as practice, not as a published rule. Neither GDRFA nor ICP publishes a “360-day” figure on a public service card that we have been able to find. We give it because it is the pattern we see on real files, and because it is more useful to you than repeating the six-month rule for a visa the law exempts from it.

Why sources disagree about partner visas

• “Partner visas follow the six-month rule.” This usually comes from articles that group every non-Golden residence together. It does not match Article 60, which names investors as an exception.
• “Partner visas get 365 days.” This is close to what we see in practice, but we have not found an official source that states 365 days, so we do not use it.
• “Investors can stay out indefinitely.” The law gives no ceiling, but the residence still has to be valid, and renewing it involves steps inside the UAE. In practice there is always a limit, set by your residence expiry date.

Your family is not covered by your exemption

This catches families every year. The Article 60 exception covers the investor. It does not name the investor’s spouse, children or parents. A wife and children sponsored on a partner’s file are ordinary dependant residents, so they fall under the 180-day rule unless they fit another exception, such as students enrolled abroad.

So if a partner and their family spend nine months abroad, the partner may be able to return without a re-entry permit, but each family member will need a return permit from the same authority that issued their residence. That means GDRFA for Dubai files and ICP for the others. Budget for one re-entry permit per dependant, at the fees set out below.

Keeping a partner visa safe during a long absence

• Keep the company in good standing. A partner residence is renewed through the company. If the trade licence or establishment card lapses while you are abroad, renewal of your residence is blocked. See our guides to trade licence renewal and establishment card renewal.
• Know your residence expiry date. The exemption ends the day the residence expires. Renewal involves steps carried out in the UAE, such as the medical fitness test and Emirates ID biometrics, so plan a trip back before expiry, not after.
• Track your family’s dates separately. Your 360 days are not their 180.
• Keep evidence of your shareholding. Carry a copy of the trade licence or memorandum showing you as a partner, in case an officer asks why you are returning after a long absence.
• Check ownership changes. If your shareholding is transferred or the company is closed while you are abroad, the basis for the partner residence changes, and the investor exception may no longer apply to you.

The law behind the six-month rule

The rule is set in federal law, not just in the authorities’ service pages. Knowing the source helps when an airline, an employer or an adviser tells you something different.

The Article 60 exceptions, in full

1. Foreign wives of UAE citizens
2. Domestic workers accompanying UAE nationals who are studying abroad on scholarship
3. Domestic workers accompanying UAE nationals who are travelling for, or receiving, medical treatment abroad
4. Foreign patients and their companions travelling for, or receiving, medical treatment abroad who hold valid residence permits, provided they submit a medical report certified by the competent authorities in the UAE
5. Domestic workers of members of the UAE’s diplomatic and consular missions abroad
6. Foreigners on scholarship from public-sector institutions for training or specialised courses, or working in those institutions’ offices abroad, and their families
7. Domestic workers of members of the ruling families working at their homes abroad
8. Students enrolled at educational institutions outside the UAE
9. Investors holding valid residence permits
10. The UAE’s diplomatic and consular representatives and those accompanying them
11. Any other category excluded by a resolution of the ICP Chairman

The ICP service card for the re-entry permit adds Golden, Green and Blue residence holders, and the husband of a UAE national woman sponsored by her, to the list of those who may enter at any time while the residence is valid.

Re-entry permit Dubai: the GDRFA return permit

GDRFA Dubai issues the Return Permit for Resident outside UAE More than 6 months (تصريح المكوث خارج الدولة لأكثر من 6 أشهر) to holders of Dubai-issued residences. That includes Dubai mainland and Dubai free zone visas, whether employment, investor, partner or family-sponsored. You can apply online through the GDRFA website or the GDRFA Dubai app with UAE Pass. Or you can have it processed at an Amer centre, often by your sponsor, a relative or a PRO acting for you while you are abroad.

You may also see it called the GDRFA re-entry permit, the GDRFA return permit for residents outside UAE, or simply the return permit UAE residents need after six months abroad. All of these names describe the same Dubai application: if you need a re-entry permit for Dubai after 6 months outside the country, this is the one to apply for.

Re-entry permit Dubai cost: a September 2026 GDRFA receipt, line by line

The table below is from an actual GDRFA Dubai tax invoice for this service, processed at an Amer centre and paid on 4 September 2026. We have removed the personal and application identifiers. Nothing else has been changed. In other words, it shows the return permit for resident outside UAE more than 6 months fee exactly as GDRFA charged it, and it is the basis for the re-entry permit UAE cost figures used in this guide.

Two smaller points printed on the same receipt: paying with the wallet adds an AED 3 charge (including tax), and the GDRFA invoice carries no VAT. Only the Amer service fee is taxed.

The Dubai formula

Through an Amer centre, the Dubai cost comes down to one line:

Documents for a Dubai re-entry permit

• Passport copy: the passport your residence is linked to. If you renewed your passport abroad, say so. A mismatch is the most common reason a file stalls.
• Emirates ID copy, or the Emirates ID number.
• Proof of the reason you stayed outside for more than 180 days: medical records, a university enrolment letter, an employer’s letter for an overseas assignment, a death certificate, or evidence of a flight or border disruption.
• For family-sponsored residents: the sponsor’s Emirates ID, passport and visa copies. Typing centres usually ask for these when the sponsor applies on your behalf.
• For company-sponsored residents: the establishment can apply, or you can. Having the company’s establishment card details to hand speeds up an Amer submission.
• A mobile number and email you check daily from where you are now. GDRFA contacts you through these if it needs more information.

How to apply for a re-entry permit in Dubai: step by step

Online (GDRFA website or GDRFA Dubai app)

1. Log in with UAE Pass. This works from abroad as long as your UAE Pass is already set up. Set it up before you need it.
2. Choose the service Return Permit for Resident outside UAE More than 6 months.
3. Check the residence details the system pulls in, and correct the passport details if you have renewed your passport.
4. Give the reason for the absence and upload the proof.
5. Pay by card. The payment screen shows the application-fee quantity (your number of 30-day blocks).
6. Keep the application number, transaction number and payment date. GDRFA’s status enquiry asks for all three.
7. Once approved (about 2 working days), travel within one month of approval. The re-entry permit cannot run past your residence expiry date.

Through an Amer centre (someone in the UAE acts for you)

1. Send the passport copy, Emirates ID copy and proof of reason to your sponsor, a relative or your PRO in the UAE.
2. They submit the application at any Amer centre, which types it and submits it to GDRFA.
3. They pay the GDRFA invoice and the Amer service fee (AED 622.50 in total for three blocks, from the receipt above).
4. The approval is linked to your residence file electronically. Keep a copy on your phone and a printed copy for check-in.

Re-entry permit UAE for Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, UAQ, RAK and Fujairah: the ICP permit

Every residence issued outside Dubai goes through ICP’s Issuance of a Permit to Stay Outside the Country for More Than 6 Months. It is one federal service, so the fee and conditions are the same whether the residence was issued in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah or Fujairah.

Re-entry permit UAE cost through ICP

If a typing centre submits the application for you, it adds its own service charge, plus 5% VAT on that charge. That charge is not a government fee and varies by centre, so ask for it in writing before you pay.

By emirate: who handles your permit

How to apply for a re-entry permit through ICP: step by step

1. Go to ICP Smart Services (smartservices.icp.gov.ae) or open the ICP Smart App, and log in with UAE Pass.
2. Under residence services, choose the re-entry permit for residents staying outside the UAE for more than six months.
3. Review the form and correct any retrieved data if needed.
4. Attach documents if the system cannot retrieve your data automatically. This is where most applications stall, typically after a passport renewal, a name change or a change of sponsor.
5. Pay the fees: AED 150 plus AED 100 for each 30-day block beyond 180 days.
6. Keep the application number. ICP publishes a completion time of 2 days.
7. Enter the UAE within 30 days of approval, counting the approval date as day one.

Re-entry permit UAE fee calculator

Choose the emirate and type of your residence, enter the date you last left the UAE and, if you know it, your residence expiry date. The calculator tells you whether you need a re-entry permit at all, the last day to come back without one, and the fee if you do. The Dubai figure uses the September 2026 GDRFA receipt, and the ICP figure uses the ICP service card plus the fees charged at payment.

Re-entry permit conditions, one at a time

These conditions come from ICP’s service card. The Dubai service works to the same core rules. Each one is a hard requirement, and most refused or stalled applications fail on one of these rather than on the reason itself.

1. You must apply from outside the UAE

You cannot fly in and then apply, because the lapsed residence will not get you in. The re-entry permit is what lets you return, so you apply for it from wherever you are. Do it before you go to the airport, not from the airport.

2. More than 30 days of residence validity must remain

This is checked on the day you submit. It rules out a lot of people, because a long absence and a residence close to expiry often come together. With 30 days or fewer left, the re-entry permit is not available. The question then becomes renewal or a new residence. Check your expiry date before anything else.

3. You can only apply after completing 180 days outside the UAE

You cannot apply in advance on day 150 for an absence you expect to run long. Before day 180, the answer is to come back. After day 180, the answer is this re-entry permit. There is no option in between.

4. If you are sponsored by a company, either the company or you may apply

If your employer is slow or not responding while you are abroad, you do not have to wait for them. ICP publishes that either the establishment or the customer may submit the application.

5. You must give a valid reason

This is the only condition where the authority uses discretion. It is covered in its own section below.

6. You must enter within the validity window

For ICP, that is 30 days, counting the approval date. For GDRFA, it is one month from approval, and the re-entry permit cannot run past the residence expiry date. The next section covers this in detail.

Who does not need a re-entry permit at all

Golden, Green and Blue residence holders, the husband of a UAE national woman sponsored by her, investors holding valid residence permits, and everyone in the Article 60 list above keep their residence through a long absence while it remains valid. See step two for the full table and sources. If you rely on an exception such as study or medical treatment, carry the proof when you travel, and get it while the situation is still happening rather than afterwards.

What counts as a valid reason for a re-entry permit

Both authorities require proof of the reason for staying outside the UAE for more than six months. Neither publishes a list of accepted reasons, and we will not make one up. The exceptions to the six-month rule show which kinds of circumstance the rules already recognise: medical treatment, study, work postings and circumstances outside your control.

• Medical: admission and discharge records, and a treating doctor’s letter with dates
• Study: an enrolment confirmation, term dates and a registrar’s letter
• Work posting abroad: an employer’s letter stating the assignment and its dates
• Caring for a family member: the relative’s medical documents and proof of the relationship
• Bereavement: the death certificate and proof of the relationship
• Events outside your control: cancelled flights, closed borders or airspace, or a passport held by a consulate for renewal

The re-entry permit entry window after approval

At the airport: the smart gate will not work

GDRFA Dubai lists the travellers who cannot use smart gates. The list includes “pre-registered residents passengers who stayed outside the UAE for 6 months” and passengers with a renewed passport or nationality. Plan for the manual counter. Keep the approval on your phone and a printed copy, and do not plan a tight connection. Being sent to a counter is normal and does not mean anything is wrong. It is a routine check on a file that has been through an exception process.

How to check your re-entry permit UAE status

If nothing has changed after two working days, call rather than resubmit. A second application does not overtake the first, and it can complicate the file.

If your application is returned or refused

Returned for missing information

A “returned” application is not a refusal. The authority is asking for something: usually a clearer document, a corrected passport number or a better proof of reason. When ICP launched the service in January 2023, Gulf News reported two rules that are still worth knowing:

• An application returned for missing data is automatically cancelled after 30 days if you do not respond.
• An application returned three times for incomplete documents is cancelled.

So answer a return quickly, and fix everything that was asked for in one go rather than piece by piece. This is why the contact number on the application must be one you check daily from where you are now.

Refused

Neither authority publishes a list of refusal grounds or an appeal route for this re-entry permit on the pages we reviewed. If a re-entry permit is refused, the practical options are:

• Check whether an exception applies. If you were studying, being treated or working for a public-sector entity abroad, your residence may never have been voided. Article 60 is set out above.
• Apply again with better proof, if the refusal was about the reason and you can now evidence it properly. Remember that each new application is paid again, and your block count keeps growing.
• Start a new residence. Your sponsor applies for a new entry permit, and the medical test, Emirates ID and residence steps are repeated in the UAE.
• Ask about refunds before you pay, not after. We have not found a published refund rule for this service. Some typing centres state that fees are refunded if the authority rejects the application, but that is their statement, not the authority’s.

For employers and HR teams: an employee stuck abroad

When an employee has been abroad for more than 180 days, the company has two clean options and one expensive one.

A practical point for HR: put the 150-day mark in your own system for every employee on long leave, medical leave or an overseas assignment. By day 150 you can still ask the employee to come back briefly. By day 200 you are paying for a re-entry permit.

Re-entry permit timeline: the dates that decide your case

Checklist before you apply

• Emirate of issue confirmed: GDRFA for Dubai, ICP for the rest.
• Residence type confirmed: are you exempt (Golden, Green, Blue, investor, student, treatment)?
• Exact last exit date, and your number of 30-day blocks worked out.
• More than 30 days of residence validity left today.
• UAE Pass working from abroad, if you are applying yourself.
• Passport on file matches the passport you will travel on. If not, say so in the application.
• Proof of reason scanned, dated and readable.
• Flight, leave and money arranged, so the entry window is not wasted.
• Contact number and email on the application are ones you check daily where you are.
• Dependants’ dates checked separately, because each person needs their own permit.

After you land

• Use the manual immigration counter, not the smart gate.
• Keep the approval on your phone and printed.
• Check your residence status in the GDRFA or ICP app a few days after arrival, to confirm your file shows you as inside the country.
• Check your Emirates ID. If it expired while you were away, renew it now, because late-renewal fines apply. See Emirates ID fines for late renewal.
• Plan your next trip with the 180-day rule in mind. The count starts again from your next exit.

What happens if you do not get the permit

If you sponsor a spouse or children, their residences depend on yours. See what happens when a UAE visa expires for the full chain.

Eight situations, worked through

Nine months in Pakistan, Dubai employment visa, one year left

Dubai residence, so the GDRFA route. That is about 255 days away, which is three 30-day blocks beyond day 180. Through Amer, the total is AED 622.50, exactly like the receipt above. Have your employer or a PRO file it at Amer with your passport copy, Emirates ID copy and proof of reason. Book your flight within a month of approval.

Seven months in India, Abu Dhabi residence, two years left

The ICP route. At about 200 days away, that is one block: AED 250 if you apply yourself on ICP Smart Services with UAE Pass. The published completion time is two days. Enter within 30 days of approval.

Eight months in the Philippines, Sharjah-issued family visa

Sharjah goes through ICP. Two blocks: AED 350, plus a typing-centre charge if your sponsor files it for you. Your sponsor or you can apply, and the proof of reason carries the application.

JAFZA employee, ten months in the UK

JAFZA is a Dubai free zone, so the GDRFA route. Four blocks: AED 722.50 through Amer. Many free zones also offer this service themselves at their own service charge. Compare that charge with the Amer route before choosing.

Nine months away, residence expires in three weeks

The re-entry permit is not available, because more than 30 days of validity must remain. The route is renewal, if your sponsor and category allow it, or a new residence. Speak to your sponsor now.

Ten months abroad on a Golden Visa

No permit is needed. Golden, Green and Blue residence holders may enter at any time while the residence is valid. Check it is still valid, and travel.

Dubai partner visa, ten months in Canada, wife and children on his file

He holds an investor / partner residence, so the Article 60 exception applies to him, and at about 300 days he is inside the 360-day period we see in practice. He can return without a re-entry permit. His wife and two children are dependants, so the exception does not cover them. Each of them is past day 180 and needs a GDRFA return permit. At about 300 days, that is four blocks: AED 722.50 each through Amer, or AED 2,167.50 for the three.

Sharjah free zone partner, fourteen months in India

At about 420 days, this is past the 360-day period we work to. The law names investors as exempt and gives no ceiling, but we would not tell a client to fly on that alone after 14 months. Check the file with ICP on 600522222 (+971 600 522222 from abroad) before booking. Also check the residence expiry date: a two-year residence issued before departure may be close to expiring, and then no exception helps.

What circulates online that is not true

How this re-entry permit came about

Not to be confused with the 183-day tax residency test

People often mix up two rules that sound alike but are about opposite things:

You can keep a valid residence and still fail the tax test, or the other way round. If you need a tax residency certificate, plan your time in the UAE for that separately.

How to verify every figure on this page

What we will and will not do

We will confirm which emirate issued your residence and therefore which authority handles you. We will check your remaining validity against the 30-day condition, and work out your block count from your real exit date. We will help you put together the proof of reason and file it, at Amer for Dubai or through ICP for the other emirates, then track it by application number. And we will tell you when the honest answer is to fly back before day 180 and pay nobody.

We will not quote you an approval rate, because no authority publishes one. We will not guarantee a decision we do not make, invent a list of accepted reasons, or file before you are able to travel, because that wastes the entry window.

Related guides

• UAE residence visa grace periods: these apply after a residence expires or is cancelled, not while you are abroad.
• Overstay fine per day: the opposite situation, staying inside the UAE without valid status.
• GDRFA Dubai explained and ICP smart services: which authority owns which file.
• ICP vs GDRFA: the split that decides which re-entry permit you need.
• Amer centre services in Dubai, and entry permits in Dubai for bringing someone into the country for the first time.

Files like this, where the emirate on your visa decides the whole route, are routine for our PRO services in Dubai team.