UAE 5 Years Multiple Entries Visa!

Received my UAE 5 Years Multiple Entries Visa in less than 42 minutes from time of submission!

A lot of people have been asking me about this visa since Varun Vagish, the famous Indian travel vlogger released his video and related blog post about the UAE 5 Years Multiple Entries Self-Sponsored visas couple of weeks back.

Following his post, I am sure a huge number of people have applied, but personal experience from a Bangladeshi national was no where to be found. Frankly even I was not very confident to apply for this visa as according to preliminary research the only supporting document seemed to be applicant's personal Bank Statement for 6 months with at least USD 4000/- or it's equivalent in one's account.

To tell the truth, even if the above condition may not be an issue for many, but for me my statement has few occasions when the balance fell below the required amount and it was never made clear whether ICA (UAE Authority) wants one's statement with continuous balance of USD 4000 or just end balance will do. Actually the former seems to make more sense to me, as they are solely deciding the outcome of this visa based on one's bank statement.

My UAE Multi Long Term Entry Permit for 5 Years

My Personal Experience:

I read Varun's post and watched his video a couple of times, even read the comments made below his post and got some important information w.r.t. the ever changing scenario for this visa.

All though primarily Bank Statement seemed to be the only supporting doc along with Photo, Passport and Insurance, people started writing that they have been asked to provide confirmed air ticket, hotel booking, change insurance policy, etc.

With lots of personal engagement over last few days, I was unable to find time to apply myself and find out what's the real deal here.

So, it was this morning after arriving at office a bit early and having some free time, I simply opened ICA's website: https://ica.gov.ae/ and simply filled out the details. You do need a UAE Mobile Number to proceed, I simply used one of my UAE business associate's.

I was also required to provide an address, for which I simply used a hotel's address.

Next step was to attach my documents and there were field to upload 4 documents, i.e.

1. Recent Photograph

2. Passport

3. Insurance (I got mine from a UAE based Insurance Company who sells inbound travel insurance for visitor to the UAE through one of my business partner, received my insurance copy in few minutes after asking him for it)

4. 6 Months Bank Statement with at least USD 4000/- or it's equivalent in local currency, which is approx. BDT 345,000/- to be exact going by today's official exchange rate.

Thankfully for tax submission, I had just picked up my bank statement for 1 year, so simply provided scan for the same, which had just over BDT 471,000 as closing balance.

Interestingly what I found below, were 5 field to upload additional documents, where going by what I read from comments on Varun's post or other related post on Tourist Helpline (Facebook Group), I simply made a hotel booking and an Air Ticket Booking too, which I uploaded in those field.

I still had 3 fields left, so I uploaded my Business Bank Statement, my Trade License (which was already translated & notarized) & my taxation documents (also translated and notarized).

My Visa Application Tracking Details

Visa Fees:

After all these was completed, called up my bank to open the payment gateway and paid the AED 660.29, which was exactly BDT 15,871/-. So my application was submitted at 10:52am Bangladesh time, i.e. 8:52am UAE time.

"What I did not know before and was not mentioned in any of the post I read either, is that AED 500/- (issue fee) is refundable in case one's application is rejected, which I feel is great for anyone wishing to apply for this visa."

Processing Time:

I received a payment confirmation and reference number immediately and expected to wait for 5 to 7 days as I have read from most people who posted or commented previously on facebook groups based in India.

Completely unexpected for me, but at 11:35am Bangladesh time, i.e. 9:35am UAE time, I received the email saying my application was approved.

The approval email from ICA

After that I simply went to application tracking and downloaded the "Multi L. Term Entry Permit Visit/Tourism \5 Years".

I guess I need to visit the UAE within next 60 days to ensure that my visa is activated.

That's all for today! I hope many of you will benefit from this post and obtain the 5 Years Multiple Entries Visa for the UAE which will make your life much easier specially if you are a frequent traveller.

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