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🇦🇪 Business visa guide

UAE Business Visa from Pakistan: Visit, Events and Investor Routes

UAE business visas from Pakistan: the visit visa for meetings, the events visa for trade fairs, the visa to explore investment, documents and pitfalls.

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Last checked against official sources on 25 September 2026

QUICK ANSWER

How much does a UAE business visa cost from Pakistan, and how long does it take?

In Dubai, the visit visa to explore business opportunities costs AED 200 for 60 days, AED 300 for 90 and AED 400 for 120, plus 5% VAT and a refundable AED 1,000 security deposit, and GDRFA Dubai aims to complete it within 48 hours. For meetings, a UAE airline, hotel or licensed travel agent arranges a visit visa, and ICP sets its own fees for the other emirates; allow 1–2 weeks before travel.

Checked on the official sites on 13 October 2026. Fees and times change, so confirm them on the linked page before you pay. Visa centre charges and any consultant's fee are extra.

Business visit visa
AED 200
Dubai, 60 days; AED 300 for 90, AED 400 for 120, plus 5% VAT
GDRFA Dubai ↗
Security deposit
AED 1,000
refundable, plus small service and refund fees
GDRFA Dubai ↗
Processing time
48 hours
GDRFA Dubai's expected completion time
GDRFA Dubai ↗

At a glance

What you are applying for

In the United Arab Emirates, a business trip for meetings or buying runs on a visit visa. Two visit visas are built for business: the events visit visa for exhibitions and conferences, and the visit visa to explore investment opportunities. All of them are issued by the UAE authorities — the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP), or the General Directorate of Identity and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) for Dubai — not by UAE embassies.

What goes wrong is rarely the business case. It is the detail: a name that does not match the passport character for character, an old overstay on the system, or a visit visa used for work. A visit visa does not allow work of any kind, including a short job for a UAE client.

Most refusals come down to one of four

  1. Details that match the passport
  2. A clean UAE record
  3. A photo that meets the spec
  4. Security clearance
Burj Khalifa, Dubai
United Arab Emirates · Business visa
Who issues it
ICP, or GDRFA for Dubai — not UAE embassies
Meetings and buying trips
A visit visa arranged through a UAE airline, hotel or licensed travel agent
Trade fairs and conferences
The events visit visa, sponsored by the host organisation
Exploring investment
No sponsor needed; single entry, valid for 60, 90 or 120 days
Frequent visitors
A five-year multiple-entry tourist visa, up to 90 days per visit
Work
Not allowed on any visit visa

Is this the right guide?

Who it is for

Applying on the wrong visa is one of the quickest ways to a refusal, so read both lists before anything else.

You’re in the right place if you are

  • A trader or buyer on a short trip

    Traders and buyers making short trips to Dubai, Sharjah or Abu Dhabi for meetings, sourcing and negotiations.

  • Exhibiting at or attending an event

    Exhibitors and delegates at UAE exhibitions and conferences, with the organiser as sponsor.

  • Researching a company set-up

    Investors and professionals researching a company set-up in the UAE.

  • A frequent visitor

    Frequent visitors who want a five-year multiple-entry visa that needs no sponsor.

Document checklist

Documents you will need

The base list for this visa. Your own checklist is built around your case — a salaried applicant and a business owner do not submit the same file.

0 / 11ready in your file

Tick as you gather — saved on this device.

Get my checklist on WhatsApp

Everyone

Your company in Pakistan

For an exhibition or conference

To explore investment

Step by step · with timings

How to apply, and how long it takes

In the order it happens. Each stage waits on the one before it, so the date you start decides the date you finish. Ranges, not promises — the mission owns the clock.

START TO FINISH1–2 weeksbefore travel
  1. First

    Choose the route

    For meetings and buying, a visit visa through a UAE airline, hotel or licensed travel agent. For an exhibition or conference, the events visit visa through the organiser. For researching a company set-up, the visit visa to explore investment opportunities, which needs no sponsor. If you visit often, consider the five-year multiple-entry visa.

  2. 1–5 days

    Check every detail against the passport

    The application must match your passport exactly, character for character, and the photograph must meet the specification. Most avoidable UAE refusals start here.

  3. 3–7 working days

    Apply through the right channel

    UAE embassies do not issue these visas. Apply through the airline, hotel or agent, through the event organiser, or on the ICP or GDRFA website or app. GDRFA Dubai gives a service time of 48 hours for its visa to explore business opportunities.

  4. Before you leave Pakistan

    FIA immigration at the airport can ask why you are travelling. Carry the visa, your return ticket, the hotel booking and your company letter.

  5. In the UAE

    Approval is not entry — the officer at the airport still decides. Keep to the permitted stay: overstaying is fined for every day, and the record follows you into later applications.

Rather have it handled?Meetings, conferences and trade delegations — filed on a verifiable invitation.Our Business Visa service

Money

What it costs

The official figures are in the quick answer at the top, as checked on 13 October 2026. They change without notice, so each line here says what a cost depends on and where the current figure is published.

  • Paid with the application

    Visa fees

    Visa fees are set by ICP and GDRFA and depend on the type of visa, its length and the number of entries. The current figures are on their websites and apps.

    FIGUREICP and GDRFA
  • On top of the fee

    The investment visa deposit

    The visa to explore investment opportunities also needs a security deposit on top of the fee, at the level the authorities set.

    FIGUREICP and GDRFA
  • Paid to third parties

    Service charges

    Airlines, hotels, travel agents and typing centres add their own service charges.

    FIGUREEach provider
  • Shown, not paid

    Five-year visa requirements

    The five-year multiple-entry visa requires a bank balance at the level ICP sets, held over the last six months, health insurance valid in the UAE and a return or onward ticket.

    FIGUREICP

Where the current rules and figures are published

LAST CHECKED 25 SEP 2026

This is general guidance. Rules change, sometimes without notice, and your case will have specifics this page cannot know about. Check anything decisive on the official pages, or send us your situation and we will tell you where you actually stand.

Read before you apply

Why UAE business visa applications are refused

The grounds that come up most on files from Pakistan. Most of them can be dealt with before you submit.

  • Details that differ from the passport

    Name or passport details that differ from the passport, however slightly.

  • A past overstay, absconding or ban

    A previous overstay, absconding case or labour ban in the UAE.

  • A photo or scan that fails

    A photograph or passport scan that fails the specification.

  • A security check that does not clear

    A security check that does not clear. The reason is rarely given.

  • No evidence of standing

    For the investment route, no evidence of solvency, qualifications or standing in the business you plan.

  • Repeated long visits

    A history of long, repeated visits that looks like living or working in the UAE on visit visas.

  • Already been refused?

    Send us the refusal letter before you do anything else. It states the grounds, and they decide whether applying again is worth it or would just cost you the fee a second time.

    Send the letter

Start here

Ask us about your case

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YOUR MESSAGE PREVIEW

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Straight answers

UAE business visa questions

What people ask us before they apply.

Ask us something else

Not for meetings. Business visitors normally use a visit visa; the UAE adds the events visit visa for exhibitions and conferences and a visit visa to explore investment opportunities. The Golden visa and other residence visas are for people moving to the UAE, not visiting it.

RANKED · PK → AE

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