Simple tips for UAE eVisa application for GCC residents

Visiting neighboring countries of Saudi Arabia would be in our to-do list, if ever we had one. As long as visiting other countries won't cost us a fortune, we are glad to take that adventure.

Last 2016, we toured around Bahrain for two days and traveled by road through the King Fahd Causeway. It was definitely a long drive but we loved that experience. And this year, we carefully allotted some funds to travel to the UAE - by road! We planned to go there during the Christmas weekend.

Like some GCC residents planning to visit UAE, one of the first questions asked was the need to secure an eVisa prior to arriving in UAE. Since 2016, expatriates living in the GCC will need to get an online e-visa before arriving in the UAE. You can read it here. So upon confirming that information, we went ahead and found out how to apply online for the eVisa and how much it costs.

To apply for online eVisa, you have to create an account in the online portal of UAE Ministry of Interior (MOI) here. The website looks like as follows:

Upon creating and logging in your account, a pop-up window will appear. Read them carefully and take note of the important conditions. You can explore first the other options in the site and read the FAQs to learn more about the online eVisa.

  

Once you are confident that you understand the process, you can then proceed to apply for the eVisa under the GCC residents tab. Based on our experience, I believe the following simple tips helped us in securing eVisa, quick and easy.

∎ Provide the required information and double-check if they are spelled and entered correctly, especially the names (We have read in some forums that someone ticked a different gender for his dependent and noticed it only after the application was filed, so be careful.)

∎ Make sure that the information matched the ones written in your official documents (e.g. dates of issue and expiration of your passport, profession in your residence card.)

∎ Keep the required documents in one folder for easy access and uploading.

∎ Scanned copies of your documents should be clear. For example, no parts of your residence card should be covered. In our experience, my husband's residence card had a sticker when it was scanned; he was notified to upload an ID after submitting the application.

∎ Follow the size requirements of photo and documents.

∎ Use a credit card that works in online payment. The first credit card that we used had problems in online purchasing, good thing we had another one that works properly.

∎ Wait patiently and don't stress out on checking the status of your application ;)

My husband's eVisa came after a few hours. Two days after that, we applied for my eVisa and it came within that day!

I believe the website for online eVisa application still needs some improvement but it works fine, and you can always refund a fraction of the fees if ever your application gets rejected (still better than nothing.)☺

UPDATE: Last July 2018, a new website was launched for the eVisa application, you may go to this link. The tips I mentioned above still apply.