What are the options when my UAE visa was issued one day short of intended trip duration?

Question

Some Indian friends of mine are planning a trip to Dubai for just over a week (Saturday arrival, Sunday departure the week after). There were various airline options available, both direct and indirect, but they opted to pay a small premium to go with Emirates as then be able to use the Emirates Visa Services to apply for a UAE visa online and without needing letters of invitation etc.

They made independent bookings for the same Emirates flights, then both logged into the Emirates "Manage my Booking", and from there followed the link to apply for a visa. Both uploaded the required documents, paid the fee etc. All of the details of when they would be in Dubai for were automatically transferred over from Emirates, and were correct

The problem comes now that the visas are issued. One friend got a visa for the dates on their ticket, Saturday to Sunday after. The other got a visa for Saturday to Saturday, ending one day before their flight home!

Normally, one might be inclined to say "you must've filled the form in wrong". In this case though, we know that isn't the case, as all the flight details were automatically sent over from Emirates, and were correct when the visa application was submitted.

My friend with the incorrect visa tried ringing Emirates, who despite the fancy page on their website about their visa services, and despite the application having started on their website, said "nothing to do with us". My friend then rang the UAE embassy in their Indian city, who said "we don't deal with online applications, email about that". They emailed the VFS help email address for online applications, and got no response...

In this situation, what does my friend with the one-day-short UAE visa need to do to get the visa corrected to the dates of their flight & visa application?

Answer 1

Emirates oursources their visa services to VFS Global (which is why you are not getting any help from them).

To contact VFS Global directly about your application use this form on their website.

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Once you arrive at Dubai and descend into the immigration hall - veer to the right and you'll see the immigration officer's counter.

Simply approach them and explain your situation (they are well aware of the glitches in the online system); they will either extend your visa; or invalidate it and issue you a new one with the correct dates.

Since you have applied for a visa from Emirates you can also check with Emirates Holidays (counter is on the left once you descend to the immigration hall); however they most likely will point you to the immigration help desk.

If the visa needs to be re-issued or extended, the entire process takes at a maximum 30 minutes. You can use this time to relax from your flight or grab some refreshments (there is a Dubai Duty Free kiosk at the far end of the hall, opposite the elevators).

As your visa is valid - you can pass through immigration successfully . Do not do this as overstaying in UAE has hefty fines and you may be barred from applying online (and will have to resort to booking hotels and using their visa services).