Visa Change Status Fees UAE 2026: GDRFA and ICP Costs, Steps and Processing Time

Visa change status fees are the government charges for moving a person who is already inside the UAE from one immigration status to another (for example from a visit visa, a cancelled residence or a family visa to a new employment residence) without leaving the country. In Dubai the service is GDRFA’s “Status Amendment”, published at AED 500 plus AED 20 in dirham charges and an AED 15 or AED 50 applicant fee. In the other emirates ICP lists the same transaction as “Status Adjustment” at AED 500. The visa status change fee is only part of the story: the amendment can be lodged only after the new entry permit exists and the old residence has been cancelled.

This guide sets out, from the official service cards:

• every published component of the visa status change fee, and what the Amer counter adds on top;
• how to change visa status in Dubai step by step, online and at Amer, and how the ICP route differs;
• the visa status change processing time, and the clocks that actually decide your timeline;
• who needs a status change and who does not, including domestic workers and family members;
• worked cases, two infographics, a myths table, and a table showing how to check every figure yourself.

Visa change status fees at a glance

If you only read one table, read this one. It shows every figure we could trace to an official source, and the counter price that most people end up comparing against.

Visa status change UAE: what it actually is

GDRFA describes the service in one line: “With the help of this service, the sponsored person’s status within the country could be amended.” ICP lists the same transaction as Status Adjustment among the fees on its residency permit card. Typing centres and most people simply call it “change status”.

In practical terms, it tells the immigration system that you are already inside the UAE and that your presence should now be counted under the new permit rather than the old one. Without it, the new entry permit would expect you to arrive through an airport or land border, and your old status would still be the one on record.

It is useful to think of the UAE file as three layers:

• The old status: a visit visa, a residence that has just been cancelled, or a family or student residence you are leaving.
• The new permit: usually an entry permit issued for employment, family sponsorship or another residence category.
• The bridge between them: the status amendment, which lets you use the new permit without flying out and back in.

That third layer is what the visa change status fees pay for, whether the file is in Dubai or elsewhere in the UAE. It does not create the new permit, it does not cancel the old one, and it does not issue the residence. It only connects the two while you stay in the country.

Visa change status fees in Dubai: GDRFA’s published figures

GDRFA is the authority for residence files issued in Dubai. Its Status Amendment service card lists five fee lines. We reproduce them exactly, then add them up, because the card itself does not print a total.

The individual and establishment lines are the part most websites leave out. They reflect who is filing. A husband sponsoring his wife, or a parent sponsoring a child, applies as an individual. A company moving a new employee onto its sponsorship applies as an establishment. The base AED 500 is the same either way.

So when someone asks “is the visa status change fee AED 500?”, the accurate answer is: the base is AED 500, and the government side published by GDRFA is AED 535 or AED 570 depending on the applicant. Anything above that is a centre charge, a typing charge or VAT on a service element.

Visa change status fees at the Amer counter

The figure people compare against is usually the counter price, not the service card. At the Amer counter, a status change currently costs about AED 680, typing included (MirDxbPRO counter price list, October 2026). Our UAE employment visa cost breakdown shows it next to the other counter lines of a Dubai hire.

Set against GDRFA’s published totals, the counter price is AED 110 above the company figure (AED 570) and AED 145 above the individual figure (AED 535). The counter price list gives one figure with typing included and does not split it into government fee and centre charge, so we do not split it either. What we can say is that the government components GDRFA publishes come to AED 535 or AED 570, and that the rest of the AED 680 is paid at the centre.

Why centre totals differ from one receipt to the next

Two receipts for the same transaction can both be correct. The government lines should match the GDRFA card for the applicant type (AED 15 individual, AED 50 establishment). What varies is the channel (online avoids the counter charge), the centre’s transaction charge and VAT on that service element, and anything else bundled onto the same receipt. Ask for a line-by-line breakdown and check the visa change status fees against the card.

Visa status change fee in the other emirates (ICP)

If your residence file is in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah or Fujairah, the federal authority is ICP (the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security). The first digit of a residence file number shows the issuing emirate: 1 Abu Dhabi, 2 Dubai, 3 Sharjah, 4 Ajman, 5 Umm Al Quwain, 6 Ras Al Khaimah, 7 Fujairah.

ICP’s Issuing Residency Permit service card lists these fees, among others:

ICP does not publish a stand-alone status change card with dirham charges and applicant fees in the way GDRFA does. The AED 500 appears as one line within the residency issuance fees. In practice the ICP smart services screen, or the typing centre, shows the total for your specific transaction before you pay. We have not found an official ICP document that states a single all-in visa status change fee, so we do not quote one. The visa status change fee you pay at ICP is what the payment screen shows.

Domestic workers: a different visa status change fee

Domestic workers (housemaids, nannies, drivers and similar roles under a household sponsor) are handled by MOHRE rather than by the Status Amendment card. When a family wants to take on a domestic worker who is already inside the country, MOHRE’s Change of Employer for a Domestic Worker service is described as changing the employer of domestic workers “inside the country (change their status)”.

A second, older MOHRE page for the same domestic visa status change fee lists AED 638.75 for Dubai and AED 618 for the other emirates, with a six-month passport condition. The two MOHRE pages do not agree. The figures above are from the current service directory card; if the screen at Tadbeer shows a different total, the screen is what you pay. Our maid visa service page covers the wider domestic worker file.

Visa status change in Dubai: our service, fee and turnaround

Most status change files we see are not difficult because of the fee. They are difficult because of the order: a cancellation that has not been filed, a new permit still in approval, a visit visa with ten days left, or a sponsor whose own documents are about to expire. We handle the whole sequence so that the amendment is lodged once, at the right moment, and the visa change status fees are paid only once.

Who it suits

• You are on a visit or tourist visa and have been offered a job, or your family arrived before their residence was ready.
• You are changing employer and want to stay in the UAE while the old visa is cancelled and the new one issued.
• Your job has ended and a spouse will sponsor you on a family residence.
• You are graduating from a student visa into a role.

What we check before advising

Eligibility is confirmed the same day, before anything is paid. We look at:

• your current visa type and exact expiry date, and how much validity is left;
• whether a previous visa was cancelled cleanly, and the recorded cancellation date;
• any overstay already accrued;
• outstanding fines: ILOE, traffic and immigration;
• any absconding case or ban attached to your file;
• for employment, that the sponsor’s establishment file is clear of WPS flags, because a blocked establishment cannot get the work permit behind the new visa.

What we do

• Work out the right route. In-country amendment at GDRFA or ICP, a MOHRE domestic worker change, a dependant work permit that needs no visa status change fee, or, occasionally, exit and re-entry.
• Coordinate the cancellation and the new permit with the old and new sponsor, so the gap between them is as short as possible.
• Lodge the status amendment online or at an Amer centre, with the documents GDRFA or ICP asks for.
• Carry the file through the medical fitness test, Emirates ID biometrics and residence issuance inside the 60-day window.
• Give you a line-by-line fee breakdown so you can see every government fee separately from our charge, and copies of the cancellation, the entry permit and each receipt.

How it runs, and how long it takes

What it costs with us

Government visa change status fees are passed on at cost, exactly as they appear on the official receipt (AED 535 or AED 570 at GDRFA, AED 500 base at ICP). Our own service fee depends on the file (who the sponsor is, which emirate, whether a cancellation still has to be chased). It is fixed and agreed in writing before we start, and you can see how we price in general on our fees page. Not sure whether a border run would be cheaper? Our status change vs exit and re-entry calculator compares the two.

Why residents use us

• We publish our sources. Every figure in this guide links to the official service card it came from, and we show our Amer counter prices next to them.
• We cover both authorities. GDRFA for Dubai files, ICP for the other emirates, and MOHRE for the labour and domestic worker side.
• We tell you when you do not need us. If your file is clean and you are comfortable with UAE Pass, you can lodge the amendment yourself online and pay only the visa status change fee, and we will say so. Our office is in Al Barsha 1, Dubai.

Visa status change UAE: the two conditions that decide everything

GDRFA’s Status Amendment card lists only two conditions, and they explain most failed attempts:

1. Having a new visa.
2. Cancellation of the previous residence permit.

Read them together. Before a status amendment can be processed, the new permit must already exist and the old residence must already be cancelled. The amendment is not the step that gets you a new visa. It is the step that joins two things that have already happened.

The document list says the same thing in paperwork. GDRFA asks for:

If you do not yet have the last two, there is nothing to amend between, and the application cannot be lodged. That is not a slow application. It is one that cannot start.

What “visa” means in condition one

“New visa” on the GDRFA card means the new entry permit: the permit issued for employment, family residence or another category, which you would normally use to enter the country. For an employee of a mainland company, it follows the MOHRE work permit. GDRFA’s card for Visa Issuance for Foreigners linked with Job Contract lists as its condition “The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization’s endorsement of the work permit” for establishments under MOHRE.

So for a typical in-country employment hire the chain is: MOHRE work permit, then the GDRFA or ICP entry permit, then the amendment. For a family member it is: the sponsor’s family application approved, the entry permit issued, then the amendment.

What “cancelled” means in condition two

The previous residence must be cancelled in the immigration system, not just agreed. For an employee that usually means the old employer has cancelled the MOHRE work permit and then the residence at GDRFA or ICP. MOHRE’s new work permit and transfer cards both state that a “candidate for employment may not possess an active work permit”, so an old permit that is still open blocks the new one before the visa status change fee is ever paid.

If you are on a visit visa, there is no residence to cancel. The visit status is what is being amended, and the visit visa’s own expiry is your deadline. We cover that case in detail below.

How to change visa status in Dubai, step by step

This is the full order for a Dubai file. The amendment itself is step five. Everything before it has to be in place, and everything after it has to fit inside the 60-day window.

1. Confirm where you stand today. Check your current visa on the GDRFA app or website: its type, its expiry, and whether a residence cancellation has already been filed. If your residence was cancelled, note the date, because your grace period started then.
2. Get the new permit approved. For a mainland job, the employer applies for the MOHRE work permit, then the GDRFA entry permit. For a family visa, the sponsor applies for the family entry permit. The GDRFA work entry permit card lists AED 200 plus 5% VAT, with AED 500 plus AED 10 Knowledge Dirham and AED 10 Innovation Dirham added when the person is already inside the country, and a 48-hour completion time.
3. Make sure the old residence is cancelled. The old sponsor files the cancellation. If you were employed, the work permit is cancelled at MOHRE first. Our guide to cancelling an employment visa explains who does what.
4. Collect the five documents. Passport copies of you and the sponsor, the sponsor’s residence copy, the cancelled permit, and the new entry permit.
5. Lodge the status amendment. Online through GDRFA’s website or smart app with UAE Pass, or at an Amer centre. Pay the visa change status fees shown: AED 535 as an individual or AED 570 as a company, plus any centre charge.
6. Wait for approval. GDRFA’s published visa status change processing time is 48 hours from a complete application.
7. Complete the residence. Medical fitness test, Emirates ID biometrics and residence issuance. GDRFA’s work entry permit card says the permit allows a stay of 60 days from entry until the residence requirements are completed.

How to change visa status in Dubai online: GDRFA website or app

GDRFA lists its digital channels as available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The published steps are short:

The online route suits a clean file: the cancellation is done, the entry permit is issued, and the sponsor’s documents are valid. Many individual sponsors (a husband moving his wife from a visit visa to a family residence, for example) can do it themselves this way. For a company, the application is normally submitted through the establishment’s own GDRFA account or its PRO.

How to change visa status in Dubai at an Amer centre

GDRFA’s card lists Amer service centres, during their working hours, as the in-person channel. The published steps are: visit the nearest centre, take a ticket, submit the application “that fulfils all conditions and documents”, and pay. That wording matters. The counter checks your file; it cannot waive a missing cancellation or a missing entry permit. If you are not sure which centre handles what, our guide to Amer vs Tasheel explains the split.

How to change visa status in the other emirates (ICP)

For a residence file outside Dubai, the same logic applies but the platform is ICP. The ICP Issuing Residency Permit card lists the Status Adjustment fee of AED 500 and a completion time of 2 days, and requires the residence to be completed within 60 days from the date of entry.

1. New permit first. The employer or family sponsor obtains the new entry permit through ICP smart services or a typing centre.
2. Old residence cancelled. ICP’s residence cancellation card lists AED 50 application and AED 100 smart services, with a 2-day completion time.
3. Status adjustment. Applied for through ICP smart services (UAE Pass login) or an approved typing centre, with the AED 500 line and the other charges shown on the screen.
4. Residence completion. Medical fitness for that emirate, Emirates ID biometrics, and residence issuance within 60 days.

ICP’s call centre is 600522222 (+971 600 522222 from abroad). If you are not sure whether your file belongs to ICP or GDRFA, our guide to ICP vs GDRFA sets it out, and the ICP smart services guide walks through the login.

Visa status change processing time

GDRFA publishes an expected completion time of 48 hours for the Status Amendment service. ICP publishes 2 days on the Issuing Residency Permit card on which the status adjustment fee appears.

Why the visa status change processing time looks longer than 48 hours

When a status change runs late, it is rarely GDRFA or ICP. It is usually one of these:

• The old employer has not filed the cancellation. Until it is done, the new work permit cannot be issued and the amendment cannot be lodged.
• The new work permit is stuck. A quota issue, an establishment violation, a mismatch between occupation and licence, or a missing certificate.
• A document is out of date. A sponsor’s residence or an establishment card close to expiry.
• A fine or an administrative block is on the file. These must be cleared before the transaction goes through.

The useful question is not “how long does a status change take?” but “who am I waiting on, and have I asked them yet?” Chase the cancellation and the new permit in parallel from the first day. For a wider view of normal timings, see our guide to UAE visa processing times, and to check where an application stands, the GDRFA status check guide.

Visa status change UAE: the clocks running in the background

A status change almost never happens on its own. It sits inside at least one other deadline, and knowing which one applies tells you how much room you have.

ICP’s grace periods after a residence ends are: 180 days for Golden, Green and Blue residence holders, widows, divorced women, students after completing their studies and foreign relatives of UAE citizens; 90 days for skilled workers at levels 1 to 3 and property owners; 60 days for permits issued with a guarantor or host; and 30 days for all other categories. Our UAE residence visa grace period guide explains each tier. After the grace period, the fine is AED 50 per day; our overstay fine per day guide and overstay fine calculator show how it adds up.

Who pays visa change status fees, and who does not

One question decides it: are you physically inside the UAE when the new permit is used? If you are, a status change is needed and the visa status change fee applies. If you are abroad, you enter on the new permit and the line does not appear on your file.

The pattern is consistent: visa change status fees are the cost of already being here. They pay for the convenience of not leaving, and for most people that visa status change fee is a fair trade.

Why hiring from overseas looks cheaper

On the Dubai employment breakdown in our employment visa cost guide, an in-country hire carries two lines that an overseas hire does not: the change status line (AED 680 at the Amer counter, typing included) and GDRFA’s inside-country additions on the entry permit, which the work entry permit card lists as AED 500 plus AED 10 plus AED 10. That is why two quotes for the same job can differ by more than AED 1,000 depending on where the candidate is standing. You can model your own file with our visa cost estimator.

Visa status change UAE from a visit visa: the tightest case

This is the most stressful version of the process, so it deserves a direct answer. You are in the UAE on a visit visa with a fixed expiry. An employer or a family sponsor wants to put you on a residence. The new permit and the status amendment all have to complete before that expiry, and most of it is not under your control.

Those bands are our practical judgement from how long the stages before the amendment usually take, not a published rule.

On day one, give the sponsor your visit visa expiry in writing, ask whether their establishment or family file is in order, and agree a fallback date for a planned exit if the permit is late. An overstay on a visit visa is the visitor’s fine.

The full map of visa status change UAE routes

Employment is the most common case, but not the only one. This is the wider picture of who moves between what, and where the amendment sits in each.

Visa change status fees for family members

When a resident sponsors a spouse or child who is already in the UAE on a visit visa, the family entry permit is issued first and then the status is amended, as an individual application (AED 15 applicant fee on the GDRFA card). The sponsor’s own documents matter as much as the family member’s: two of the five GDRFA documents concern the sponsor. For the family application itself, see our family residence visa and dependent visa service pages, and the family visa salary requirement guide.

Dependants’ visas are tied to the sponsor’s. If the sponsor themselves is changing employer, the family residences move with them in the right order. u.ae states that family members’ visas must be cancelled before the sponsor’s own, and ICP’s cancellation card lists an AED 5,000 guarantee where a sponsor cancels without cancelling the family first.

A spouse on a family visa who takes a job

Two routes exist, and people often know only one:

• Stay on the family residence and add a work permit. MOHRE’s Work Permit for Dependents Sponsored by Family Members is issued to the employer for a person who holds a valid residence through a relative. The card lists AED 50 application and AED 250 issuance, 2 working days, and a two-year permit. No visa status change fee is involved.
• Move onto the employer’s sponsorship. The family residence is cancelled, the employer’s entry permit is issued, and the status is amended. The visa change status fees then apply.

Which is better depends on whether the family wants her or him to stay under the spouse’s sponsorship or become independent of it; case 5 below compares the costs.

Visa change status fees and duties: what employers should know

If you are hiring someone who is already in the UAE, several parts of the process are your responsibility, not the candidate’s.

• The application is yours. Work permits are applied for by the establishment, and on GDRFA’s card the establishment fee (AED 50) applies when a company files the amendment.
• Your establishment file can block it. MOHRE’s work permit cards require a valid licence without registered violations. An expired establishment card stops the immigration side.
• You cannot start them early. A person whose residence and work permit were cancelled cannot work for you until your permit is in place.
• The previous employer controls the timing. Until they cancel, MOHRE will not issue your permit, because the candidate may not hold an active work permit.
• Ask about the clock at offer stage. A candidate with three weeks left on a visit visa is a different plan from one who has just started a 90-day grace period.

For the overall cost of the hire, see the employment visa cost breakdown; for the service itself, our employment visa page.

Visa change status fees or exit and re-enter?

The old route still exists. Someone inside the UAE can usually leave and re-enter on the new entry permit instead of amending status in place. It is worth comparing properly, because the answer is not always the same.

For most people a return flight plus a lost working day costs more than the visa status change fee, and carries a risk the amendment does not. Exiting makes sense mainly when the amendment is not available for your visa type, or when you were travelling anyway.

When a visa status change UAE application is not the answer

• You are outside the country. You do not need it; you enter on the new permit.
• You do not yet hold the new permit. GDRFA’s first condition is a new visa.
• The old residence is not cancelled. GDRFA’s second condition, and on the labour side MOHRE will not issue a new permit while the old one is active.
• There is an open matter on the file. An unpaid fine or an administrative block stops the transaction until it is cleared. Our guides on types of ban in the UAE and checking an absconding case help you find out.
• The sponsor is not in good standing. An expired sponsor residence, or a company with an expired establishment card or registered violations.
• You only want to keep your current status. That is a renewal, and no visa status change fee applies. See our residence visa renewal page.

In several of these cases the honest answer is that the file needs fixing before any amendment is attempted. Paying someone to submit it anyway only adds a rejection to the record.

What getting the order wrong costs, beyond the visa change status fees

The visa status change fee is modest next to the cost of a badly sequenced file. These are the mistakes that turn visa change status fees into the smallest part of the bill.

Every one of these is avoidable with information rather than money.

What circulates online that is not true

Worked cases: visa change status fees in practice

Each case shows the visa change status fees that apply. These cases are built from the situations we see most often. Names and identifying details are left out, and the figures are the published ones.

Case 1: how to change visa status in Dubai from a visit visa to a job

A candidate is in Dubai on a 60-day visit visa with five weeks left and has accepted a job with a mainland company.

1. The company confirms its establishment file is clean and applies for the MOHRE work permit (2 working days on the card).
2. GDRFA issues the work entry permit: AED 200 plus VAT, with AED 500 plus AED 20 in dirham charges because the candidate is inside the country.
3. There is no residence to cancel. The company lodges the status amendment as an establishment: AED 570 on GDRFA’s card, plus the centre charge if filed at Amer.
4. Medical, Emirates ID biometrics and residence follow within 60 days.

The risk is the visit visa expiry. With five weeks, the file is workable, but only if nobody waits for anyone.

Case 2: how to change visa status in Dubai when changing employer

An employee is moving from company A to company B and staying in Dubai.

1. Company A cancels the MOHRE work permit and then the GDRFA residence. The employee’s grace period starts.
2. Company B applies for the transfer work permit (MOHRE federal fee AED 50) and the entry permit.
3. Company B lodges the status amendment: AED 570 on GDRFA’s card.
4. Medical, Emirates ID and residence follow.

The risk is company A delaying the cancellation, which stretches the visa status change processing time far past 48 hours. The employee cannot start at B and cannot force the cancellation. If A stops responding altogether, our guide to visa cancellation without sponsor sets out the MOHRE route.

Case 3: husband sponsors his wife on a visit visa (AED 535 visa status change fee)

A Dubai resident brings his wife on a visit visa and then applies for her family residence while she is here.

1. He meets the family sponsorship conditions and obtains the family entry permit.
2. He lodges the status amendment himself online with UAE Pass, as an individual: AED 535 on GDRFA’s card, no counter charge.
3. Medical, Emirates ID and residence follow within 60 days.

The risk is the sponsor’s own residence. If it is close to expiry, renew it first; his residence copy is one of the required documents.

Case 4: visa status change UAE file at ICP, Sharjah to Abu Dhabi

An employee with a Sharjah residence (file number starting with 3) is joining a company in Abu Dhabi.

1. The Sharjah employer cancels the work permit and the residence through ICP.
2. The Abu Dhabi employer obtains the work permit and entry permit through ICP.
3. The status adjustment is applied through ICP: the AED 500 line appears with the other charges on the screen.
4. Medical in Abu Dhabi, Emirates ID and residence.

The point is that both sides are ICP. GDRFA is not involved even though the person may have lived near Dubai.

Case 5: spouse on a family visa gets a job offer

A wife on her husband’s Dubai family residence is offered a job.

• Option A: she stays on the family residence and the employer applies for MOHRE’s dependant work permit (AED 50 + AED 250). No visa change status fees apply.
• Option B: the husband cancels her family residence, the employer issues an entry permit, and the status is amended (AED 570 as an establishment).

The choice depends on whether the family wants her to be independent of the husband’s residence. Option A is cheaper and simpler; option B gives her her own sponsor.

Case 6: visa status change fee for a housemaid moving to a new family

A family in Dubai wants to take on a housemaid already in the UAE whose previous employer has agreed to release her.

1. The new employer applies for MOHRE’s change of employer for a domestic worker (AED 535 in Dubai on the current card).
2. The change of status is valid for 60 days, and fines fall on the worker after that, so the residence file must be completed inside it.

The point is that the GDRFA Status Amendment card is not the route here. Domestic workers go through MOHRE and Tadbeer.

A checklist before you pay any visa status change fee

1. Does the new entry permit exist yet? Without it there is nothing to change into.
2. Has the previous residence been cancelled, and on what date? The date starts your grace period.
3. Which grace tier are you in? 30 days and 180 days call for very different urgency.
4. If you are on a visit visa, when does it expire? That is your real deadline.
5. Is anything on the file? Fines or blocks stop the transaction.
6. Is the sponsor in good standing? Their residence, and for a company its licence and establishment card.
7. Individual or establishment application? It changes the visa status change fee and who submits.
8. Which authority for your visa status change UAE file? GDRFA if the new residence is in Dubai; ICP for the other emirates; MOHRE for a domestic worker.

What to keep afterwards

Keep three documents: the cancellation of your previous residence (it proves when the old status ended, and the sponsor often never sends it unless asked), the new entry permit (it shows when your 60-day window started), and the receipt for the visa change status fees (it separates what the authority charged from any provider charge).

How to verify the visa change status fees in this guide

If a figure on the official page differs from what is written here on the day you read it, the official page wins. Tell us and we will update the guide.

What we will and will not do

We will check your file before charging you, tell you which route applies, show every government fee at cost with our fee in writing, lodge the amendment once the file is ready, and carry it through to residence. We will tell you when you can do it yourself online.

We will not lodge an application we know cannot pass, promise an approval that GDRFA, ICP or MOHRE decides, or suggest you work before your new permit is in place.

Related guides

• UAE employment visa cost: the full file, line by line, including the change status line
• UAE residence visa grace period: how long you have after a cancellation
• How to cancel an employment visa in the UAE
• Visa cancellation without sponsor: when the old employer will not act
• What is GDRFA and what is MOHRE
• UAE visa medical test: the step after the amendment
• Emirates ID and visa linking
• UAE government fees 2026
• UAE visa types
• Visa cancellation in Dubai (service)

Sequencing a status change around a cancellation you do not control and a clock that is already running is what our PRO services in Dubai team handles.