Visa requirements for Emirati citizens

Emirati citizens can enter all 29 Schengen states without a visa, for up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole area.

Of the 198 countries whose entry rules are known in both directions, the United Arab Emirates and 91 of them let each other’s citizens in without a visa obtained in advance (visa-free, on arrival or with an ETA; an e-visa counts as a visa).

2 countries ask holders of the Emirati passport for a visa beforehand, although their own citizens enter the United Arab Emirates without one: Australia and United States.

The reverse holds for 78 countries: holders of the Emirati passport get in without a visa obtained in advance, but their citizens need one for the United Arab Emirates (Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Botswana and 73 others).

11 countries ask holders of the Emirati passport for a visa obtained before travel from an embassy, a consulate or a visa centre. 4 of them have an embassy or consulate on record in the United Arab Emirates.

7 countries have no embassy or career consulate on record in the United Arab Emirates, so the application usually goes to one of their posts in another country. Counting the post an official diplomatic list names for the United Arab Emirates, or else the nearest one within 2,000 km, those posts are most often in Saudi Arabia (2).

The United States refused 2.2% of visitor-visa (B1/B2) applications from citizens of the United Arab Emirates in fiscal year 2025, by the State Department’s adjusted refusal rate. 3 of the 197 nationalities with a published rate had a lower one and 193 a higher one; the middle value was 32%.

Schengen consulates in the United Arab Emirates refused 24% of short-stay visa applications in 2025 (all Schengen consulates worldwide: 15%). Among the 74 countries where they received at least 10,000 applications, that is the 29th highest rate. The figure counts every nationality applying there, not only citizens.

Visa-free travel with the Emirati passport

By continent, the Emirati passport is visa-free in 45 countries in Europe, 29 countries in Asia, 27 countries in the Americas, 19 countries in Africa and 7 countries in Oceania. The longest visa-free stays for Emirati citizens are allowed in Armenia (180 days), Costa Rica (180 days), Dominica (180 days), Egypt (180 days), Lebanon (180 days) and Mexico (180 days).

Visa on arrival

Emirati citizens can get a visa at the airport or land border of Bangladesh, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, the Central African Republic, the Comoros, Djibouti and 28 others.

E-Visa and electronic travel authorisation

An e-Visa, applied for online before the trip, is how Emirati citizens enter Australia, Benin, Bhutan, Cameroon, DR Congo, Gabon, Liberia and 11 others. Canada, Israel, Ivory Coast, Kenya, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname and the United Kingdom ask instead for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a lighter online check than a visa.

The United Arab Emirates’ neighbours

Saudi Arabia and Oman admit Emirati citizens without a visa.

How the passport compares

Among neighbouring passports, the Saudi passport ranks 99th (87 destinations) and the Omani passport ranks 105th (83 destinations). Of the 198 passports in the data, 93 can enter visa-free and 105 need an e-Visa for the United Arab Emirates.