The photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

The UAE Digital Government has set five procedures for cancelling residence visas in the UAE, stressing that if you a have a residence visa sponsored either by a family member or by your employer and you decide to leave the country permanently, your residence visa must be cancelled officially.

Normally, only the sponsor can cancel your residence visa. You cannot process the application on your own.

If a company decides to cancel an employment visa of its employee, it must first approach Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) with an application to cancel the employee’s labour contract and labour card.

The employee must also sign this application. Then, the employer should apply to ICP for visa cancellation.

The company must also cancel the work permit. For this, it must submit a letter signed by the employee stating that he has already received all his wages and end of services benefits to the MoHRE.

An individual sponsoring his/her spouse, children and other dependents must cancel the dependents’ visas before he cancels his/her own.

There are two ways to cancel your visa. You can do it either through a registered typing centre or online. The sponsor may visit any typing office registered by ICP in the respective emirate. The typing office will fill the cancellation form on your behalf and process it online through ICP. Alternatively, the sponsor may process the cancellation online through the ICP website https://icp.gov.ae or the ICP application Google Play or App Store UAEICP.

Your sponsor must renew your residence visa before it expires. A renewed visa will let you continue living legally in the UAE without incurring fines or facing legal consequences for the same. UAE residents are granted longer flexible grace periods that reach up to 6 months (according to resident cateogry) to stay in the country after the residence permit is cancelled or expired.

The ICP has standardised the overstaying fines in the UAE. According to the new rules, visit, tourist and residence visa overstaying fees have standardised at Dhs50 per day. Those overstaying on a residency visa will have to pay Dhs50 each day.

When the visa expires, your Emirates ID card issued by the ICP also expires. If there is a need to renew your residence visa a few months earlier (one to six months) for travelling reasons, you must first take special permission and approval from ICP.