If you are moving out of the UAE permanently or applying for a new residence visa, such as a Golden Visa, your existing residence visa must first be cancelled.
In most cases, the visa sponsor is responsible for initiating the cancellation process. This means you cannot usually cancel the visa yourself unless you are the sponsor.
If you sponsor family members, their visas must be cancelled before your own residence visa can be cancelled.
Note: If you are sponsoring your family, you would first need to cancel their visa, which is under your sponsorship, before your visa cancellation process can be initiated
Employment visa
If you are on a visa sponsored by your employer, they will complete the visa cancellation process for you. To do so, the company must first approach the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) with an application to cancel the your labour contract and labour card. At this stage, you will also be required to sign this application.
The company must also cancel the work permit. For this, it must submit a letter signed by you stating that you have already received all your wages and end-of-services benefits. Make sure you only sign this document after you receive all your dues.
Once the labour contract and labour card are cancelled, the employer should apply to the Federal Authority for Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) for visa cancellation.
Once your visa is cancelled, your employer will provide you with a visa cancellation letter, which will clearly state the grace period you have within which you should either leave the country or get on a new residence visa.
Family visa
If you are sponsored by a family member, there are two ways to cancel your visa. You can do it either through a registered typing centre or online.
Registered Typing centres
Your sponsor will need to visit an Amer centre or a typing centre registered with the ICP, with the following documents:
- The original passport of the sponsor and the sponsored individual
- Original Emirates ID of both the sponsor and sponsored individual
The typing office will fill the cancellation form on your behalf and process it online through the ICP portal.
Online
Alternatively, you can also complete the process yourself through the following options:
- ICP website: https://icp.gov.ae/en/services-details/?serviceid=64afe3c1035448005bd52e63
- GDRFA Dubai website: https://gdrfad.gov.ae/en/services/0613ab0e-5858-11ea-0320-0050569629e8
- ICP smartphone application ‘UAEICP’, which is available for Apple and Android devices.
To use the online services, you must have a UAE PASS account.
Once you log in to the service with your account follow these steps:
- Start a new application to ‘cancel residency’ for the sponsored individual, who will show up as a ‘dependent’.
- Ensure your personal details are correct. You may be asked for a reason for visa cancellation, where you can select ‘Employer/Sponsor request’.
- Provide your email address and phone number. Your request will be validated through a one-time password (OTP) sent to the mobile number registered to your account.
- Once the number is validated, you can then proceed to the next step, which is the payment of the cancellation fee – AED 150.
- Once the payment is complete, your cancellation request will be processed.
You will receive a notification on your email and via SMS one the cancellation has been processed and the grace period within which the sponsored should either exit the country or ensure they are on a new residence visa. Any delay in processing a new visa will lead to overstay penalties being applied, which are AED 50 per day.