{"schemaVersion":1,"source":"live","checkedAt":"2026-10-08T03:06:05.901Z","passport":{"code":"ZA","name":"South Africa","slug":"south-africa"},"destination":{"code":"AE","name":"United Arab Emirates"},"status":"evisa","evidenceLevel":"exact","supportsCurrentStatus":true,"reviewedAt":"2026-08-20","allowedStays":[],"policies":[{"id":"uae-mofa-named-visa-required-ordinary-passports","title":"MOFA named ordinary passports: advance electronic tourist visa","summary":"MOFA marks these nationalities Visa Required rather than Visa Free. The UAE’s all-nationalities self-sponsored five-year tourist visa is applied for and issued electronically, so the nationality-wide least-onerous advance route is normalized as evisa.","status":"evisa","conditions":["MOFA's Visa Required label establishes that no visa-free nationality default applies. UAE Government guidance makes a self-sponsored five-year tourist visa available to all nationalities, and ICP states that the visa is received by email and downloadable electronically; this supports evisa, not visa_on_arrival or traditional visa_required, under the project taxonomy.","The five-year route has material eligibility conditions, including the stated funds, UAE-valid health insurance and onward/return ticket. Approval and border admission remain discretionary; it does not establish a no-document or no-fee route.","The ICP 25 June 2026 announcement creates a separate residence-conditioned 14- or 60-day entry-visa option for India, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Thailand, the Philippines, Kenya, and South Africa. It does not replace the nationality-wide electronic tourist-visa route.","For that conditional route, the qualifying residence permit must be from the US, an EU Member State, UK, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand or Canada; accompanying family members must meet the stated nationality and relationship conditions.","No conclusion is drawn about residence, work, study, transit, diplomatic, official, service, emergency, refugee, stateless, travel-document, or other special-document routes."],"sourceIds":["uae-mofa-current-visa-exemption-schedule","uae-government-tourist-visa","uae-icp-visa-digital-issuance-faq","uae-icp-2026-residence-conditioned-entry-visa"],"application":{"url":"https://icp.gov.ae/en/services-details/?serviceid=64afe3c1035448005bd52e60","label":"ICP Issuance of a Visa","steps":["Select the suitable tourism/visit visa category on ICP Smart Services or the ICP Smart App.","Submit the application, required passport and supporting documents, and pay the applicable fees.","After approval, download the electronically issued visa received by email and carry the required supporting documents for border inspection."]}}],"conditional":[],"sources":[{"id":"uae-mofa-current-visa-exemption-schedule","title":"Visa Exemptions for Non-Citizens","url":"https://www.mofa.gov.ae/en/Visa-Exemptions-For-Non-Citizen","publisher":"Ministry of Foreign Affairs","jurisdiction":"United Arab Emirates","kind":"government-guidance","language":"English","reviewedAt":"2026-08-20"},{"id":"uae-government-tourist-visa","title":"Tourist visa","url":"https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/visa-and-emirates-id/tourist-visa","publisher":"The Official Platform of the UAE Government","jurisdiction":"United Arab Emirates","kind":"government-guidance","language":"English","reviewedAt":"2026-08-20"},{"id":"uae-icp-visa-digital-issuance-faq","title":"ICP FAQ: Tourist Visa Application and Receipt","url":"https://icp.gov.ae/en/faq/","publisher":"Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security","jurisdiction":"United Arab Emirates","kind":"government-guidance","language":"English","reviewedAt":"2026-08-20"},{"id":"uae-icp-2026-residence-conditioned-entry-visa","title":"Six New Nationalities and Six Additional Countries of Residence Added to Eligibility Criteria","url":"https://icp.gov.ae/en/media-center/icp-expands-eligibility-for-uae-entry-visa-for-nationals-of-certain-countries/","publisher":"Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security","jurisdiction":"United Arab Emirates","kind":"government-guidance","language":"English","reviewedAt":"2026-08-20"}]}