I wanted to share my first-hand experience paying an overstay fine for a family member on a visit visa in the UAE.
Towards the end of the summer, one of the Expat Flyer grandmothers arrived for a month-long visit. It was a genuine but helpful coincidence that the visit overlapped with our housekeeper’s annual leave.
A few days before she was due to return home, Nana became a little poorly. She clearly wasn’t in a fit state to fly home comfortably. I rebooked her to leave later in the month.
Opps – we have an overstay situation
As her new departure date approached, I realised she had overstayed the 30 days permitted on her visit visa. With all of the focus on changing her flights and getting her better, it had completely slipped my mind.
The internet did not have a clear answer
Having never been in this situation previously, I was a little anxious and immediately did a bit of googling and searched a few UAE expat forums. Not a helpful move. There was a lot of conflicting advice on the best course of action in this situation and how much it would cost.
The advice ranged from sorting it out online to visiting an immigration office in person or alternatively handling it at the airport. Regarding the overstay penalty, there were both old and new costs mentioned, questions about whether the grace period still existed and the need to pay for an outpass in addition to the fine.
What did we decide to do?
Ultimately, we decided to pursue the airport option as it presented the least hassle.
Nana flew out of Dubai Airport Terminal 1. She’s a big fan of the British Airways Club Suite, which is onboard most British Airways flights between Dubai and London Heathrow.
How did it go?
After checking in, we proceeded to the immigration control. There is an immigration window just before the boarding pass check. We mentioned to the officer that we needed to pay an overstay fine for my mother. He indicated we needed to go to a small office in the left-hand corner of the immigration hall. Even though I did not have a boarding pass I was allowed to accompany her.
The office is well signposted with a sign saying something like ‘Visa violation payments‘. Inside the tiny office are two desks. One with an immigration officer and the second with an assistant who takes payment.
I handed over the passport and boarding pass. The officer scanned the passport. He did a little tapping on his calculator and printed a form listing the overstay penalty fine we needed to pay.
I handed the form over to the assistant on the payments desk. Unfortunately, his card reader was not working and needed to be reset. Luckily, I had enough cash, so I paid with AED. He returned the form to me, and then I retrieved my Mum’s passport and boarding pass, which had now both been stamped.
The process could not have taken more than 3-4 minutes to complete.
What did it cost?
The overstay fine appeared to have been calculated on the basis of AED 50 per day of overstay plus AED 250+VAT for the outpass.
Interestingly, my mother was travelling on a UK passport. The overstay fine also appeared to be calculated from the end of the 10-day grace period. I had read in several places that the 10-day grace period had been abolished earlier this year, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Caveat – this is simply my impression and I could be totally wrong.
Conclusion
Although I was a little nervous, resolving this was incredibly easy and efficient. If you find yourself in a similar situation. Don’t sweat. Just head to the airport. The whole experience was quick and painless.