A UAE residence visa is cancelled by whoever sponsors it: your employer, your own company, or the relative who sponsors you. On a private-sector job the work permit is cancelled first, then the residence: in Dubai GDRFA charges AED 100 plus two dirham levies and takes about 48 hours, and in the other emirates ICP charges AED 50 plus a AED 100 smart services fee. From then a grace period runs, 30 to 180 days depending on the visa, and after it ICP fines AED 50 for every day you stay. Inside it you can leave, or move to a new visa without leaving the country.
Who Cancels a UAE Residence Visa
- An employment visa: the employer. For private-sector staff, GDRFA wants MOHRE's work permit cancellation before it cancels the residence, so the labour file closes first and the immigration file second.
- A free zone visa: the zone, through the company. In RAKEZ, for example, RAKEZ is the sponsor and applies for its companies' visas itself.
- A family visa: the family sponsor. ICP requires family members' permits to be cancelled before the sponsor's own, unless they are kept with a guarantee (below).
- An investor or partner visa: the owner, with the company's papers. ICP asks for a certificate that the commercial licence was cancelled or waived. Closing the company itself is in trade licence cancellation.
What a Visa Cancellation Costs
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| GDRFA Dubai, residence cancellation | AED 100, plus the Knowledge and Innovation Dirhams, AED 10 each |
| ICP (the other emirates), residence cancellation | AED 50 application fee, plus AED 100 smart services fee |
| ICP, exceptional cancellation (a dispute, or the sponsor's death) | AED 100 |
| ICP, cancelling the sponsor's residence but keeping the family's | AED 5,000 guarantee |
| Each day in the UAE after the grace period | AED 50 fine |
GDRFA lists 48 hours to complete a cancellation, online with UAE Pass or at an Amer centre. MOHRE's work permit cancellation comes before it for private-sector staff.
The Grace Period After a Visa Is Cancelled
GDRFA Dubai's cancellation page gives a grace period of 60 days after a residence permit is cancelled or expires. ICP's page sets the period by the kind of residence:
| Residence (ICP) | Grace period after cancellation or expiry |
|---|---|
| Golden, Green and Blue residence holders and their families; widows and divorced women of residents; students after their studies; foreign-passport relatives of UAE citizens | 180 days |
| Skilled workers at levels 1 to 3; property owners | 90 days |
| Residence issued with a guarantor or host | 60 days |
| Every other category | 30 days |
One more line matters if you were employed in Dubai: GDRFA's legal awareness page tells employers that staff whose residence they cancel must leave the country within 30 days at most, and that the employer must prove the departure. So plan to the earlier date unless your next visa is already moving. The AED 50 daily fine starts the day after the grace period ends.
Your Emirates ID and Your Family's Visas
ICP cancels the Emirates ID linked to the residence together with the residence itself.
Family visas hang on yours. ICP requires them to be cancelled before the sponsor's residence, or placed on hold for a limited period with fees. Keeping them while your own is cancelled takes a AED 5,000 guarantee, which ICP accepts when you have approval to move to a new employer, meet the salary and occupation conditions for every family member, still hold a valid residence or are inside its grace period, and the family's permits have at least three months left.
Leaving, or Staying on a New Visa
Inside the grace period you can leave without a fine, or move to a new visa without leaving the UAE. Once the new visa is issued, the change of status costs AED 500 at GDRFA, plus the two dirham levies, or AED 500 at ICP. GDRFA's conditions are a new visa and the previous permit cancelled. The ways to stay:
- A new job. The new employer applies for your permit and visa and pays for them: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, Article 6, bars employers from charging workers the costs of recruitment and employment. The employment visa cost guide has every government line.
- Your husband's or wife's sponsorship. GDRFA asks a resident sponsor for a salary of AED 4,000 a month, or AED 3,000 with housing; family sponsorship has the documents and fees.
- Your own company. The company sponsors your residence as its owner. Through us, a RAKEZ licence with one residence visa starts at AED 6,499, with health insurance from AED 500, WPI at AED 300 and visa typing at AED 200 on top. RAKEZ asks every investor, partner and manager, of every nationality, for pre-approval before the company or the visa.
- A residence that sponsors itself, such as the green visa for freelancers and investors or the remote work visa, if you qualify: own visa in Dubai sets out GDRFA's conditions for each.
If your own company is the plan, start in the first week of the grace period, not the last: the licence, the company's establishment card and your entry permit all come before the change of status, and each waits for the one before it.
When Your Company Is the One Cancelling
For a company we set up, staff visa cancellations go through the same channel as its new visas: we prepare the request, the authority's fee is billed at cost, and the date is planned against the employee's grace period rather than discovered afterwards. Staff who sponsor family need those visas cancelled first, or the guarantee budgeted. Our visa and immigration services page has what we charge per person for new visas.
UAE visa cancellation questions
AED 100 in Dubai, plus AED 10 each for the Knowledge and Innovation Dirhams (GDRFA). In the other emirates ICP charges a AED 50 application fee plus a AED 100 smart services fee. For private-sector staff, MOHRE's work permit cancellation comes first.
60 days on GDRFA Dubai's cancellation page. ICP sets it by category: 180 days for Golden, Green and Blue residence holders and their families, 90 for skilled workers at levels 1 to 3 and property owners, 60 for residence issued with a guarantor or host, and 30 for everyone else. GDRFA also tells employers that cancelled staff must leave within 30 days.
AED 50 a day, from the day after the grace period ends, on ICP's page.
Yes. Within the grace period you can leave with no overstay fine; after it, ICP's daily fine applies for every day you stayed.
No. ICP cancels the Emirates ID linked to the residence when it cancels the residence.
Yes. Once the new visa is issued, the change of status inside the country costs AED 500 at GDRFA or AED 500 at ICP, and the previous permit has to be cancelled first.
They are cancelled before yours, unless you keep them with a AED 5,000 guarantee, which ICP accepts when you are moving to a new employer, meet the salary conditions and the family's permits have at least three months left.
The employer, as the sponsor; in a free zone, the zone through the company. GDRFA asks for MOHRE's work permit cancellation before it cancels a private-sector employee's residence.
Sources
- Cancellation of all types of residence permits, GDRFA Dubai: requirements including MOHRE's work permit cancellation, fees, 48 hours, the 60-day grace period. Read 3 November 2026.
- Status amendment, GDRFA Dubai: fee and conditions for a change of status inside the country. Read 3 November 2026.
- Legal awareness, GDRFA Dubai: cancelled staff to leave within 30 days, with proof of departure. Read 3 November 2026.
- Cancellation of residency permits, ICP: grace periods by category, the daily fine, the Emirates ID, family members and the guarantee, fees, documents for investors and partners. Read 3 November 2026.
- Issuing residency permit, ICP: the change of status fee inside the country. Read 3 November 2026.
- Family sponsorship, GDRFA Dubai: the sponsor's salary rule. Read 3 November 2026.
- Frequently asked questions, RAKEZ: RAKEZ applies for its companies' visas as the sponsor; pre-approval for investors, partners and managers of all nationalities; Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, Article 6. Read 3 November 2026.
