Medical
Visit-Visa Medical Insurance in the UAE: Rules, Cover and Cost
By Khatija BegumPublished Updated 
If you are applying for a UAE visit visa, or sponsoring someone who is, medical insurance is part of the paperwork. On most routes it is either a required document or a fee bundled into the application itself, and on the five-year multiple-entry tourist visa the policy has to be issued inside the UAE.
This guide covers which visa routes require cover, what a compliant policy has to include, what it costs (government insurance fees and private policy premiums are two different things, and mixing them up is easy), and how to buy something the ICP or GDRFA portal will accept.
Is medical insurance mandatory for a UAE visit visa?
In practice, yes on most routes, though how the requirement is applied depends on which visa you are applying for and which authority issues it.
Entry permits and visit visas are processed either by the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP), which covers Abu Dhabi and the Northern Emirates, or by the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) in Dubai. Both build medical cover into the process, but they do it differently:
On GDRFA relative and friend visit visas, medical insurance appears as a mandatory line item in the published fee schedule, charged alongside the visa fee itself.
On the ICP five-year multiple-entry tourist visa, the conditions state plainly that the health insurance must be issued within the UAE and valid for 180 days.
On short-term tourist visas issued through airlines, hotels and travel agents, cover is expected to match the length of stay, and the issuing agent will usually require it as part of the file.
The underlying framework is Cabinet Decision No. 65 of 2022, which governs entry and residence, with the specific insurance conditions published by ICP and GDRFA on their own service pages.
Travellers eligible for visa-on-arrival are a partial exception. Border officers may not check cover on entry. That does not make it a good idea to travel without it, for the reason below.
What happens if you arrive without cover
There are two separate risks here and they are worth keeping apart.
Before you travel: if your visa route requires an insurance document and you do not supply one, the application does not complete. This is an administrative delay rather than a rejection, but it can cost you your travel dates.
After you arrive: if you enter on a valid visa but your policy has lapsed or never existed, you are not usually turned around at the airport. The exposure is financial. Healthcare in the UAE is predominantly private and billed at private rates, and an uninsured hospital admission is paid out of pocket, in full, before discharge.
Requirements by route: GDRFA Dubai and ICP
Health cover is required across all seven emirates, but the two issuing authorities administer it differently, and the requirement attaches to the visa route rather than to the emirate you happen to be visiting. Check the route you are actually applying on.
Short-term tourist and visit visas
30-day, 60-day and 90-day tourist visas, single or multiple entry, need cover that is valid inside the UAE and that spans the full length of the intended stay. A policy that expires mid-trip is not compliant, even if it was valid on the day of application.
Relative and friend visit visas
If a UAE resident is sponsoring the visitor, GDRFA charges the medical insurance as part of the service fee schedule rather than asking the sponsor to source a policy separately. The amounts are set by duration and are listed in the cost section below.
The five-year multiple-entry tourist visa
This route has the strictest and most frequently misunderstood insurance rules:
The policy must be issued within the UAE. A home-country or third-country policy is not accepted on this route, regardless of its coverage level.
It must be valid for 180 days.
Cover is required for every entry, not only at the point of application. ICP’s position is that holders need valid UAE-approved health insurance for each trip, covering themselves and any accompanying family members for their whole stay. This is the detail that catches people out on their second or third visit.
The visa itself allows stays of up to 90 days per visit, extendable once by a further 90 days, with a hard annual cap of 180 days in the country. Unused days do not carry into the following year.
What your policy has to cover
A compliant policy should include:
Emergency medical treatment and emergency hospital care, including ICU;
Outpatient emergency services, diagnostic tests and prescribed medicines;
Emergency ground ambulance transport;
Repatriation of remains to the policyholder’s home country.
What is usually excluded. Most visitor policies will not cover pre-existing chronic conditions, routine maternity, non-emergency dental work, incidents involving alcohol, or self-inflicted injury. Adventure activities are also commonly excluded, so if the trip involves skydiving, jet skiing or dune bashing, check whether the plan offers an adventure sports rider and add it before you travel rather than after.
If you are a UAE resident sponsoring a visitor and comparing longer-term options at the same time, it is worth comparing health insurance in the UAE alongside the short-term visitor plan.
What visit visa medical insurance costs in the UAE
There are two different costs here and they are easy to confuse. One is a government fee charged inside the visa application. The other is a policy you buy on the open market. They are not alternatives to each other, and which one applies depends on your visa route.
Government insurance fees
For GDRFA relative and friend visit visas, medical insurance is a published line item in the fee schedule:
Visa duration | Insurance fee |
|---|---|
30 days | AED 40 |
60 days | AED 60 |
90 days | AED 90 |
These sit alongside the visa fee itself (AED 200, AED 300 and AED 400 respectively for single entry, before VAT), a refundable security deposit, and small service charges. Source: GDRFA Dubai service pages.
Private policy premiums
If you are buying a policy on the open market rather than paying a bundled government fee, the premium depends on:
Age of the traveller. Premiums step up noticeably above 60.
Length of stay. A 30-day plan and a 60-day plan are priced very differently.
Benefit tier. Basic plans meet the minimum. Comprehensive plans raise medical limits and add benefits.
Number of travellers. Family floater plans cover a group under one policy and usually cost less than separate policies.
Add-ons. Adventure sports riders and higher medical limits both carry a premium.
The practical advice: comparing tiers rather than defaulting to the cheapest plan matters most for senior travellers, families and anyone staying longer than a month, because the bare-minimum policy is the one most likely to leave a gap when it is actually needed.
Premiums move with age, trip length and cover level. Compare visitor and travel insurance plans for your exact travel dates to see your own price.
If you are sponsoring a visitor
A large share of UAE visit visas are sponsored by residents bringing in family or friends, and the requirements attach to the sponsor as well as the visitor.
GDRFA sets a minimum monthly salary for the sponsor, scaled by how close the relationship is:
Relationship | Minimum monthly salary |
|---|---|
First-degree relatives (parents, spouse, children) | AED 4,000 |
Second and third-degree relatives (siblings, grandparents, cousins) | AED 8,000 |
Friends | AED 15,000 |
You will also post a refundable security deposit, currently AED 1,000 for a single-entry visit visa and AED 2,000 for multiple entry, returned once the visitor leaves the country within the visa’s validity.
Sponsors should budget for the visa fee, the insurance fee, the deposit and the small service charges as one total rather than the headline visa fee alone.
How to buy a policy the visa portal will accept
You can buy cover through an online comparison platform, directly from a UAE-licensed insurer such as Sukoon, Orient, GIG Gulf or ADNIC, or through the visa processing agent handling the application.
Comparing first is worth the few minutes it takes, because visitor plans vary more on exclusions and medical limits than they do on price. On YallaCompare you can compare UAE-compliant visitor plans side by side, filter by price, duration and medical limit, and check the policy wording before you commit.
Once you buy, the digital policy certificate is issued instantly, carrying a unique verifiable policy number, and can be uploaded straight to the ICP or GDRFA portal.
Three things to check on the certificate before you upload it:
The traveller’s name and passport number match the passport exactly.
The cover dates span the full intended stay, not just the arrival date.
The territory explicitly includes the UAE.
Can you use an overseas policy?
Sometimes, and it depends entirely on the route.
For most short-term visit visas, a home-country or international travel policy can be accepted if it explicitly covers the UAE, meets the required medical limit, and is issued by an insurer recognised by UAE authorities. Plenty of international policies fail the first test, because “worldwide” cover sometimes carves out the region or caps it separately.
For the five-year multiple-entry tourist visa, foreign policies are not accepted at all. ICP requires the policy to be issued within the UAE. There is no workaround on this route.
Need a UAE-issued policy instead? Compare compliant visitor plans and download your certificate the same day.
Frequently asked questions
Is medical insurance mandatory for a UAE visit visa?
On most routes, yes. GDRFA charges medical insurance as a mandatory line item on relative and friend visit visas, and ICP requires a UAE-issued policy valid for 180 days on the five-year multiple-entry tourist visa. Short-term tourist visas need cover that spans the full length of stay. Travellers eligible for visa-on-arrival may not have cover checked at the border, but they carry the full financial risk of any medical treatment they need.
How much does visit visa medical insurance cost in the UAE?
There are two separate costs. On GDRFA relative and friend visit visas, the insurance fee is set by the government fee schedule at AED 40 for 30 days, AED 60 for 60 days and AED 90 for 90 days. If you are buying a policy on the open market instead, the premium depends on the traveller’s age, the length of stay, the benefit tier and the number of people covered, so comparing quotes for your actual dates is the only way to get a real figure.
What is the AED 3,000 rule for UAE tourist visas?
AED 3,000 is the refundable financial guarantee required on the ICP five-year multiple-entry tourist visa. It sits alongside the application fee, the visa issuance fee and a smart service fee, and it is returned subject to compliance with the visa’s conditions. Separately, applicants for that visa must show a bank balance of at least USD 4,000 (or the equivalent) across the six months before applying. The AED 3,000 guarantee should not be confused with the AED 1,000 or AED 2,000 security deposit on sponsored visit visas, which is a different route.
Can I use my home country’s travel insurance for a UAE visit visa?
For most short-term visit visas, yes, provided the policy explicitly covers the UAE, meets the required medical limit, and comes from an insurer recognised by UAE authorities. Check the territory wording carefully, because some international policies exclude or separately cap the region. For the five-year multiple-entry tourist visa the answer is no: ICP requires the policy to be issued inside the UAE.
Does a five-year tourist visa holder need insurance for every trip?
Yes. The insurance requirement is not a one-time condition satisfied at application. ICP requires holders to have valid UAE-approved health cover for each entry, covering the holder and any accompanying family members for the whole of that stay. This is the most commonly missed condition on the route, because the visa itself remains valid for five years while the policy behind it does not.
What does visit visa medical insurance not cover?
Visitor policies are built around emergencies, so most exclude pre-existing chronic conditions, routine maternity, non-emergency dental treatment, alcohol-related incidents and self-inflicted injury. Adventure activities such as skydiving, jet skiing and dune bashing are usually excluded unless you add an adventure sports rider. Read the exclusions before you buy rather than at the point of claim.