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The Gulf Expat

How do I renew my Emirates ID and residence visa in the UAE?

Renew your Emirates ID after it expires, or from six months before it expires. Your sponsor must renew your residence visa before it expires, because the Emirates ID ends with the visa.

Checked 7 November 2026

Outside Dubai, ICP takes the Emirates ID renewal together with the residence application, on one unified form. In Dubai, GDRFA Dubai handles residence visas.

If this is you

You live in the UAE on an employer or family residence visa. The visa or the Emirates ID is close to its end date.

If you miss it

Once the visa ends, the Emirates ID ends with it, and fines start after your grace period. Outside Dubai, a late Emirates ID renewal also carries a fine: AED 20 a day, up to AED 1,000. u.ae says it starts one month after expiry. See my residence visa has expired.

Official page: ICP residence renewal service. In Dubai, residence visas go through GDRFA Dubai at gdrfad.gov.ae.

What to do now

  1. Read the expiry date on your Emirates ID and your residence visa. This page shows where to check it online.
  2. Ask your employer or sponsor to start the visa renewal before the visa expires.
  3. Check your passport is valid for at least 6 months. If not, renew the passport first.
  4. Book the medical exam. Then give fingerprints and a signature at an ICP service centre, if you are 15 or over.
  5. Keep the fee amounts from the renewal fees page in mind when you pay on the portal.

This also affects

Your two dates

Emirates ID: renew it after it expires, or from six months before it expires.

Residence visa: your sponsor must renew your residence visa before it expires.

Early visa renewal is a separate case: renewing one to six months early, for travel, needs permission from ICP first.

The ICP and GDRFA renewal cards do not say when the normal visa renewal window opens. Ask ICP or GDRFA before you plan around a date.

Renewing outside Dubai

  • How to apply: on the ICP Smart Services website or the ICP Smart App, signed in with UAE Pass.
  • Time shown on the ICP card: 2 days.
  • You need a medical exam with a fit result.
  • You give fingerprints and a signature at an ICP service centre, if you are 15 or over.

The ICP card gives these steps:

  1. send the application
  2. check the data the form fills in, and correct it if needed
  3. attach the documents if the system cannot fetch your data
  4. pay the fees
  5. finish the required procedure
  6. wait for the residence notice, then for your new Emirates ID card by courier

Renewing in Dubai

  • How to apply for a family member's residence: digitally with UAE Pass, at a Customer Happiness Center or at an Amer Service Center.
  • Time shown on the GDRFA card: 48 hours.

That is the GDRFA card for family residence. It does not cover an employer-sponsored renewal. Ask GDRFA which steps apply to you.

What to bring

Outside Dubai, the ICP renewal card lists, among others: passport, personal photo, water or electricity bill, lease agreement, proof of kinship, an employment certificate and valid health insurance.

It lists the same documents for a work residence, so it shows no separate employee list. Ask ICP which of these your case needs.

  • Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months.
  • For the Emirates ID you need a recent photo that differs from the one on your card.
  • In Dubai, GDRFA asks for a white-background photo, a copy of the passport and a medical exam if you are over 18.

How long the new visa lasts

A residence can run for 1, 2 or 3 years on a sponsored visa. A family member's visa cannot run past the sponsor's.