How to Apply for Dubai Visa in Nigeria via Emirates (2026)
Nigerian passports get no UAE visa on arrival. Emirates charges $90 for a 30-day tourist visa and takes applications through VFS Global in Lagos and Abuja.
A Dubai visa is a UAE visa, and a tourist one is never applied for at an embassy. The UAE government’s portal, u.ae, says on its tourist visa page that its embassies do not issue them. Someone based in the UAE has to apply to the immigration authorities for you: the airline you are flying with, a hotel, a licensed travel agency or a relative who lives there. From Nigeria, the route published in full is the one through Emirates, so the ticket comes first and the visa second.
Applying through Emirates and VFS
- Book a return Emirates flight in and out of Dubai on one ticket. Emirates sponsors visas only for its own passengers, and the ticket has to be issued before you can apply.
- Apply through “Manage your booking” on Emirates’ website, or take the application to VFS’s Dubai Visa Processing Centre. Emirates lists two: Purple Lekki, 2 Purple Way, Freedom Way, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, and the 3rd floor of Sterling Bank Plaza, Plot 1083, Mohammadu Buhari Way, Central Business District, Abuja. Both take visa applications from 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday.
- Pay the visa fee and VFS’s charge.
- Wait for the decision. An approved visa is issued electronically, and Emirates says the passport does not have to be submitted for stamping.
- Print the visa. Emirates says Dubai immigration runs random eye screening on arrival, and a visitor sent there without a printed copy pays AED 30 for one.
That order puts your money at risk: Emirates’ visa page does not say what happens to the fare if the visa is refused, so read the ticket’s refund rules before you pay for it.
VFS’s page gives 5 to 6 working days from submission, not counting Saturdays, Sundays and UAE holidays, and that is the figure that fits an application made in Lagos or Abuja. Emirates asks for an online application at least four international working days before you arrive, and quotes about 2 to 4 working days at its ticket offices in the UAE. GDRFA, Dubai’s immigration directorate, expects 48 hours for tourist and visit visas once the sponsor has applied.
Papers for a pre-arranged visa
Emirates lists these:
- a colour photograph on a plain, light background;
- a colour copy of your passport, which must be valid for at least six months, and of its outside cover;
- a confirmed hotel reservation for the whole stay, or the tenancy contract of the parent, brother or sister you are staying with;
- your return Emirates ticket, with dates that match the hotel booking;
- proof of relationship, such as a birth or marriage certificate, when applying for a family member.
VFS’s page for Nigeria adds a completed application form that gives an address, phone number and email for your stay in the UAE, a marriage certificate for couples and birth certificates for children. It says Emirates does not sponsor unaccompanied minors or students, and that a transit visa needs a valid visa for the country you are travelling on to.
The conditions on the service cards of GDRFA and of ICP, the federal immigration authority, are short: a passport valid for at least six months, a ticket out of the UAE and medical insurance that is valid there. Emirates and VFS both say the UAE authorities may ask for more.
VFS’s $10,000 bank statement rule
This is the one extra requirement published for applications made in Nigeria. VFS’s page for the Dubai Visa Processing Centre says applicants aged 18 to 41 must provide six months of bank statements showing a balance of at least $10,000, or the equivalent, in every month. A family travelling together can use a joint statement with at least $20,000 each month.
That wording, like the 5 to 6 working days above, is from the copy of VFS’s page the Internet Archive saved in October 2025. Check VFS’s page or ask at the centre before you rely on it. The UAE authorities themselves publish no rule aimed at Nigerians: the conditions on u.ae and on ICP’s and GDRFA’s pages are the general ones for every nationality that needs a visa.
Emirates’ prices and the government fees under them
These are the pre-arranged visas and prices on Emirates’ Nigerian website, including VAT.
| Visa | Use it within | Stay allowed | Emirates’ price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transit, 48 hours | 30 days of issue | 48 hours from arrival | $10 |
| Transit, 96 hours | 30 days of issue | 96 hours from arrival | $49 |
| Tourist, single entry, 30 days | 60 days of issue | 30 days from arrival | $90 |
| Tourist, multiple entry, 30 days | 60 days of issue | 30 days from first entry | $136 |
| Tourist, single entry, 60 days | 60 days of issue | 60 days from arrival | $177 |
| Tourist, multiple entry, 60 days | 60 days of issue | 60 days from first entry | $231 |
The transit visas cannot be extended. The tourist visas can, for $230, at Emirates’ office in Dubai airport only. Emirates says fees are not refunded once an application has been submitted and processed, and that VFS’s processing fee applies on top when you apply online.
In Nigeria the fee is paid to VFS in naira, with its service charge and tax added. The naira price moves with the exchange rate, so take it from VFS’s page for the UAE on the day you apply.
The government’s own fees are lower, because they leave out whatever the sponsor charges for its service. GDRFA’s service cards for visas issued in Dubai list:
| Visa | Who applies | Government fee | Deposit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tourist, single entry, 30 or 60 days | An accredited tourism company | AED 200 or AED 300, plus 5% VAT | None |
| Tourist, multiple entry, 30 or 60 days | An accredited tourism company | AED 300 or AED 500, plus 5% VAT | None |
| Visit to a relative or friend, single entry, 30, 60 or 90 days | The visitor, with proof of the relative or friend in the UAE | AED 200, AED 300 or AED 400, plus 5% VAT and AED 40 to AED 90 for insurance | AED 1,000, plus AED 60 in deposit fees |
| Tourist, multiple entry, five years | You | AED 713.50 in fees | AED 3,000 guarantee |
GDRFA puts the five-year visa’s total at AED 3,713 and says the guarantee is forfeited if the visa’s terms are broken. Every card carries a note that the total may vary with the applicant’s circumstances. For visas issued by the other emirates, ICP’s card lists an application fee of AED 100, an issuance fee of AED 100 for each month of a single-entry visit visa (AED 200 for multiple entry) and a smart service fee of AED 100, with a financial guarantee of AED 1,000 or AED 2,000 in the cases where one is required.
Sponsors other than Emirates
u.ae also names Etihad, flydubai and Air Arabia. Each sets its own conditions, and flying with that airline is one of them.
A hotel or licensed travel agency in the UAE applies through GDRFA’s website for Dubai or ICP’s for the other emirates. GDRFA says only accredited tourism offices can issue the ordinary tourist visa. u.ae says to check that an agent is genuine before you pay or send copies of your documents, and that the UAE embassy can help you verify one.
A relative or friend who lives in the UAE can start the application on the same two systems. ICP sets a minimum monthly salary for the resident: AED 4,000 to sponsor a parent, spouse or child, AED 8,000 for other relatives and AED 15,000 for a friend, with proof of the relationship. Emirates, which takes these applications at its ticket offices in the UAE, uses its own scale from AED 4,000 to AED 10,000.
The five-year tourist visa is the exception to the whole sponsor system. u.ae says this multiple-entry visa needs no sponsor and can be issued to all nationalities. It asks for a bank balance of $4,000 or the equivalent over the last six months, health insurance valid in the UAE and a ticket out, and it allows 90 days on each visit.
Visa on arrival and the UK residence scheme
Emirates’ visa requirements tool, which uses data from the International Air Transport Association, says a Nigerian passport holder must have a visa issued by the UAE before travelling. It lists no ban, age limit or transit restriction specific to Nigerians.
Nigeria is on none of Emirates’ lists of nationalities that get a visa at the airport. Living in the UK does not change that. The scheme for people who hold a residence permit from the UK, the US, an EU state and a few other countries is listed by Emirates for citizens of India, Indonesia, Kenya, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam only.
Press claims the official pages do not back
The rules for Nigerians have changed several times in recent years, and a lot of what is repeated online cannot be traced to any official page.
Press reports say tourists aged 18 to 45 cannot apply alone and that transit visas for Nigerians have been stopped. None of the official pages says either, and Emirates’ Nigerian page lists 48-hour and 96-hour transit visas. Other reports say the UAE has stopped refusing visas to Nigerians. No official page says so, and Emirates’ terms state that entry is subject to immigration approval.
Nigeria’s government says things have improved, without detail. In press release MFA/PR/2026/210, issued after the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs met the UAE ambassador in Abuja, the Ministry said the meeting “welcomed progress in resolving previous visa-related challenges”. It does not say what changed.
Checking a UAE visa is genuine
UAE embassies do not issue tourist visas: u.ae says tourist entry permits are issued through UAE-based airlines, licensed hotels and licensed travel agencies. A visa issued in Dubai can be verified on GDRFA’s website, and one issued in any other emirate on ICP’s eChannels platform. The government fees are published on GDRFA’s and ICP’s service cards, so you can see how much of a quoted price is the sponsor’s own charge.
None of the official pages offers a guaranteed visa. Emirates says entry is subject to immigration approval, and VFS says the fee is not refunded under any circumstances once paid.
A visit or tourist visa gives no right to work. The UAE government’s page on visa and job fraud says working on one brings fines and legal liability, that a real job offer comes as an offer letter issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, and that the employer pays the recruitment costs.
Our pages on the UK visitor visa and the Canadian visitor visa cover those two destinations.
