All you need to know about the UAE visa amnesty

Details have been revealed of who can take advantage of the two-month overstay visa amnesty that begins on Sunday in the UAE.
The amnesty allows people with expired documentation to change their status or leave the country without being fined.
Those who can apply for the amnesty include residents who stay illegally in the country after the expiry of their residency visa, visitors to the UAE who stayed in the country after their visit visa had ran out and children who were born in the UAE but whose parents did not apply for residency for them.
The amnesty will also be applicable to those who fled from their sponsors. Anyone who has entered the country illegally is not eligible to apply for amnesty.
The two-month grace period, which comes into effect from September 1, is being overseen by the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP), who announced details of the scheme at a press conference on Wednesday morning.
There are locations throughout the emirates where an application for amnesty can be processed.
In Abu Dhabi, people can apply at ICP centres in Al Dhafra, Suwaihan, Al Maqa and Al Shahama.
In Dubai, amnesty services will be provided at its Amer service centres, and the centre for immigration violators in Al Awir.
Amnesty applications can be made at ICP centres throughout the rest of the emirates.
The service centres will be operational throughout the amnesty from 8am until 8pm daily.
The amnesty is scheduled to continue until November 1. However, an earlier nationwide initiative that was to run for three months was extended by several weeks.
The ICP said that during the amnesty “violators can regularise their status or leave the country without incurring fines”.
The initiative in 2018 led to long queues at immigration centres as people looked to resolve their residency status.
Such amnesties provide a reprieve for those without valid documentation who could be reluctant to come forward due to concerns about potential fines or jail sentences.
This allows the government to ensure people are living in the Emirates legally, an important consideration against the backdrop of a population boom.
It is also a chance for many to grasp the chance of a fresh start – whether in the UAE or back in their home country.
Most residents living or working in the UAE would usually have a two or three-year visa in their passport. That has since been replaced with the Emirates ID.
In April 2022, visa changes were brought in by the UAE Cabinet and several more categories were added. This included an expansion of golden visas and the introduction of green visas, with several of the new categories aimed at self-employed people and business owners.
The new rules came into effect in September of that year.
The financial penalty has been standardised at Dh50 per day for tourists or residents who overstay their visas, following updates by the ICP in October 2022.
Residency visa holders are given six months to leave the country or change their status by finding a job once their visa expires or is cancelled.
The amnesty will support those who remain in the country illegally beyond this existing six-month grace period.
Ambassadors from countries with some of the largest expatriate populations in the UAE said their offices were filled with hundreds of people seeking more details about the amnesty after it was announced on August 1.
Some missions have opened on Saturdays. Others have sent officials to cities across the country, to inform people that they can return home or legitimately search for a job without being fined for expired visas.