UAE 5-Year Multiple Entry Visa Cost: Fees, Expenses and Other Charges Explained

The largest number attached to this visa isn't a fee at all.

It's a deposit. Money the authority holds while you travel, and returns once the visa runs its course without incident. Miss that distinction and the visa looks about five times more expensive than it is, which is why so many Indian travellers price it up, wince, and go back to buying a short tourist visa for every trip.

So here's the money as you'll actually meet it what you need before applying, what leaves your account on the day, what can be charged later, and what comes back.

Before you apply money you need but don't spend

The six-month bank balance

You'll be asked to show a bank statement carrying a balance of approximately USD 4,000, held across the six months before you apply. In rupees that's somewhere around the ₹3.5 lakh mark, depending on the rate on the day.

Nobody takes this money. It stays in your account. What matters is that it sat there over time, because a balance topped up last week reads as exactly that.

Health insurance

Cover valid inside the UAE is part of the document set, with the portal expecting a validity window of roughly 180 days. Premiums vary by age and cover, but this is usually a few thousand rupees rather than tens of thousands.

Planning to apply in a few months? DU Digital Global will tell you the earliest date your bank statement actually qualifies, so you don't spend a fee on an application that was always going to be early.

On the day what the portal charges

Two authorities issue this visa and their totals sit close together. Dubai applications go through GDRFA the federal route and other emirates go through ICP.

Through GDRFA the total lands at approximately AED 3,715. Through ICP it comes to roughly AED 3,775. At current rates both sit near ₹95,000 to ₹97,000, which is the number that scares people off.

What that total is made of

Strip it apart and the shape becomes obvious.

• An application charge of approximately AED 100.

• An issuance charge of approximately AED 500.

• Assorted administrative, smart services and e-service charges totalling roughly AED 100 to AED 150 between them.

• A refundable security deposit of approximately AED 3,000, which is the overwhelming bulk of the bill.

In other words, around four-fifths of what you pay on the day isn't a fee. It's a deposit.

The deposit, and the conditions attached to it

This is the part worth understanding properly before you travel, not after.

The deposit sits with the authority as security against overstaying or breaching the conditions of the visa. Stay within your permitted days and leave when you should, and the money is released. Break the terms, and the published position is unambiguous fines are collected at the departure port and the security amount is forfeited.

Refunds go back to the card used for payment, generally within around 180 days. After that the amount can still be claimed by cheque or transfer for up to roughly five years, though the process is slower, so keep that card active.

So what does the visa really cost?

Set the deposit aside and your actual outlay is somewhere in the region of AED 700, or roughly ₹18,000, for five years of entries. Spread across a visa that permits unlimited trips, that figure looks very different from the one in the headline.

Most of what you pay on day one is refundable, and most of what gets forfeited is avoidable. DU Digital Global explains exactly which conditions put your deposit at risk before you travel.

Charges that can appear later

Extending a stay

Each entry permits up to approximately 90 days, extendable once by a similar period from inside the country. The base charge runs around AED 500 to AED 600 depending on the authority, with an all-in cost usually between roughly AED 1,000 and AED 1,200 once processing and tax are added.

Overstaying

The expensive one. Fines run at approximately AED 50 for every day beyond your permitted stay, and the grace period that used to soften this no longer applies. A fortnight of inattention costs around AED 700, roughly what the visa itself costs you, and it puts the deposit at risk on top.

The quiet ones

Paying a dirham fee from an Indian card carries a forex markup and a cross-border charge. Small, but it's why your statement rarely matches the portal.

Is it worth it against a short tourist visa?

Short visit visas run from roughly AED 200 to AED 500 depending on duration and entry type, plus tax, and you buy a new one each time.

Across a few trips the five-year visa overtakes them at around the third or fourth journey, before counting the applications you skip, the approvals you don't wait for, and the trips you can book at short notice.

FAQs

Is the whole fee refundable?

No. The deposit of approximately AED 3,000 is refundable. The application, issuance and administrative charges are not.

What happens to the deposit if I'm rejected?

The security amount is refundable on rejection, cancellation or expiry. The service charges attached to the application are not returned.

Do I have to keep USD 4,000 in my account for five years?

No. The requirement applies to the six months before you apply.

Is there a cheaper authority to apply through?

The difference between the two is minor. Choose based on which emirate you're entering through, not on a few dirhams.

Before you pay anything

Fees, deposits and refund timelines on this visa have been revised before and will be again, and the figures here are approximate by design. 

Fees change, and so do the conditions attached to the deposit. DU Digital Global confirms the current numbers for your route before you pay, not after.