Step by Step, from A to A

As you may know, you cannot stay in the UAE longer than your current tourist visa validity allows you to. Extending the duration of your stay is commonly referred to as a ‘UAE visa change’; that is because you definitely need to exit the country in order to apply for a new visa.

The simplest visa change method is an A to A. Let us walk you through it from the A to  A.

The first thing you need to know is that both A’s stand for ‘Airport’ and the process is exactly as it sounds.

What is Airport to Airport visa change?

The general idea is that you exit the UAE from either Sharjah International Airport or Dubai International Airport to a nearby country. In that country, you do not leave the airport you just board the next flight to bring you back to the airport you exited from. You wait for your new visa and voila! You are free to keep exploring any of the seven awesome Emirates.

Here is how it works.

Step-by-step breakdown

·         You book an airport visa change package with your preferred travel agent, which will include your round-trip flight and your new UAE visa.

·         You head to the airport on the day you need to exit the UAE – either Dubai or Sharjah airport.

·         The moment you get your exit stamp at the immigration section, before boarding the exiting flight, you send the exit stamp to your agent.

·         Your agent then starts the application process for your new UAE tourist visa.

·         You land in the country you excited to (be it Oman, Bahrain or any other), and you wait for the boarding of your next flight which brings you back to either Dubai or Sharjah airport – the one you exited from.

·         Once you are back on UAE grounds, you wait in the airport for your agent to inform you that your new visa is approved and ready.

·         You then head to the Hala section in Sharjah airport, or Marhaba (in Dubai airport) to collect your new visa.

·         You can then pas the immigration section to re-enter the UAE freely and continue having a great time with the ones you care about in the country you love!

This goes without saying, but you need to do all this and exit before your visa expires. In other words, do not exceed the validity period of your current visa in order to avoid fines at the airport.

You are all set now. Good luck!