If you are reading about UAE overstay fines, check the date on what you are reading. On 11 February 2026 the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security replaced the entire fine structure, and a lot of guidance published since then still describes the old one.
What changed
One rate, everywhere. Overstay fines are now a flat AED 50 per day, applied identically to tourist visas, visit visas, residence visas and cancelled residence permits, in every emirate. The previous patchwork — different tariffs by visa category, Dubai's first-day surcharge, separate schedules in Abu Dhabi and the Northern Emirates — is gone.
The tourist grace period is gone. This is the part that catches people. Most tourist and visit visas previously carried a ten-day buffer after expiry. That buffer has been removed. Fines now begin accruing the day after your visa expires, with nothing in between.
You will still find widely-shared articles stating that fines start on the eleventh day. On a visit visa issued now, they do not.
Who still has a grace period
Not everyone lost one. The position now differs sharply by visa type:
| Visa type | Grace period |
|---|---|
| Tourist and visit visas | None |
| Prepaid or airline-issued visas | None |
| Cancelled residence permit | 30 to 180 days, by skill level |
| Golden Visa | Six months |
The cancelled-residence window is the one worth understanding properly, because it varies by occupational skill classification rather than being a single number. If your residence visa has been cancelled, confirm your specific window rather than assuming thirty days.
How the fine accrues
Automatically, and silently. The amount is recorded in real time in the ICP and GDRFA databases from the first day of overstay. No notification is sent to you. Many people discover the figure only when they try to leave, by which point it has been running for weeks.
There is no cap. Thirty days is AED 1,500, sixty days is AED 3,000, and it simply continues.
Beyond the daily fine, expect administrative charges for regularisation, and if you have overstayed by more than thirty days, an exit permit — an out-pass — costing roughly AED 250 to 300 before you can depart.
Enforcement is tighter than it was
Smart-gate systems at every airport and land border flag outstanding fines, so leaving quietly is not an option. Employers now receive automatic prompts to file absconding reports where a sponsored worker has not regularised their status, which converts an administrative problem into an employment one.
Fines can be settled through the ICP Smart Services portal, the GDRFA Dubai site, or the UAE Pass app. Officials advise paying at least 48 hours before departure — settling at the airport risks a technical block that stops you boarding even after payment.
What about amnesties and waivers
The UAE has periodically run amnesty programmes, including a substantial one in 2018 and another that ran to the end of 2024. A temporary waiver in March 2026 covered fines accrued from 28 February for travellers stranded by regional airspace disruption; the ICP confirmed on 21 April 2026 that it had closed, with standard fines resuming.
As things stand there is no active general amnesty. Do not plan around one being announced.
If you have already overstayed
Work out the amount before you go to an office, so you know whether the figure quoted matches. The Overstay Fine Calculator handles the daily accrual and the grace period that applies to your visa type.
Then act quickly — the arithmetic is linear and there is no ceiling, so every week of delay is another AED 350. If the underlying issue is a residence visa you intended to renew rather than a genuine overstay, the Visa Renewal Cost Calculator shows what renewal costs against what the fines are running to.
Rules here reflect the position following the February 2026 unification. Immigration policy changes frequently — confirm your own status through the ICP or GDRFA before acting.