UAE tourists holding a visit visa can now extend their visas within the country, a Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Ports Security (ICP) agent confirmed to Arabian Business.

However, the tourist must enter the country with 60 days from the date of issuance, and the validity of the entry permit will be 30 days or 60 days, depending on the type of visa.

The tourist must leave the UAE at the last date of their visa’s validity or extend their visa before its expiry, or a fine will be imposed.

Fines vary from emirate to emirate, to which the ICP agent advised checking with the sponsoring travel agent.

In Dubai, the visit visa holder will be charged AED250 for the first day, and AED50 per day after the first day.

Last year, the UAE introduced major reforms to visa procedures. One of the reforms allowed tourists to obtain a visit visa for either 30 or 60 days, after which a 10-day grace period was allowed to them for exiting the country.

However, in a recent development, the 10-day grace period has been scrapped and the visa holder must exit the country on or before the last day of their visa validity.