Guide · updated 08.09.2026 · 14 min read · Lucent Legal team

UAE Residence Visa Cancellation: Who Files It, What It Costs, How Long It Takes

A UAE residence visa is cancelled by the sponsor, not by the person holding it. The order is fixed: MOHRE first, then GDRFA in Dubai or ICP in the other emirates. Below are the fees, timelines and documents at each step.

Short answer

• You cannot file it yourself. The u.ae portal states it plainly: only the sponsor can cancel your residence visa.
• An employment visa is cancelled in two stages: MOHRE first, 2 working days, then the immigration authority of your emirate.
• Cancelling the work permit through the MOHRE website or app is free. Tasheel service centres add a commission capped at AED 72.
• GDRFA Dubai charges AED 120: a AED 100 fee plus AED 10 Knowledge Dirham and AED 10 Innovation Dirham. Stated completion time is 48 hours.
• ICP, which covers the other six emirates, charges AED 150: AED 50 for the application and AED 100 for the smart service. Stated completion time is 2 days.
• Dependants' visas go before the sponsor's. The reverse order costs an ICP guarantee of AED 5,000 plus a AED 20 deposit fee.
• There is no separate Emirates ID cancellation. ICP cancels the card in the same transaction as the residence permit.
• More than 180 consecutive days outside the UAE nullifies the residence visa on its own, with no application at all.

How many days you have to leave after cancellation is a separate subject: grace period after visa cancellation.

Who files the cancellation

The sponsor files it. For an employment visa that is the company; for a family visa the husband, wife or father. The visa holder submits nothing and cancels no work permit.

The employee's signature is still required. MOHRE treats it as confirmation of consent and of receipt of all labour dues, and without it the application will not go through. The ministry lists the exceptions: the worker is outside the country, deceased, has a contagious disease, or the permit was cancelled administratively after removal from the ICP system.

Self-sponsored visas work differently. Golden, investor, freelance and property-based permits sit with the holder. ICP's cancellation service has applicant categories for retiree, property owner and investor, and an investor or partner supplies a certificate cancelling the commercial licence. The resident files it himself.

Step 1. MOHRE: cancelling the work permit

The service is called Cancellation of Work Permits and Employment Contracts. Channels: the MOHRE website, the smart app, Tasheel centres and Tawseel. Stated completion time is 2 working days. Online it is free apart from federal fees, and service centres add a commission of up to AED 72, before tax and collection charges.

The ministry will not process the cancellation until two things are settled:

• company fines for late issuance or non-renewal of work permits;
• the final settlement. The establishment submits an official statement confirming the worker's rights, dues and entitlements were paid in full.

Article 53 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 gives the employer 14 days from the termination date to pay everything owed. No deadline for cancelling the visa itself appears in the MOHRE service description or on u.ae. Law firms quote 14 days in some articles and 30 in others, so treat any such figure with caution.

An absconding report is lifted through a separate MOHRE service, free, in 14 working days, and either party to the employment relationship can file it. While it is open, the cancellation will not proceed.

Step 2. GDRFA in Dubai, ICP everywhere else

GDRFA Dubai. The service is Cancellation of all types of residence permits. Its stated condition is a cancellation from MOHRE, so step one is not optional. The fee is AED 120 and the stated completion time is 48 hours. Channels: the GDRFA website and smart app through UAE Pass, around the clock, or an Amer service centre during opening hours.

ICP. The service is Cancellation of residency permits, code 377-006-003-006. The fee is AED 150 and the stated completion time is 2 days. ICP publishes five steps: submit the application, check the data pulled in automatically, attach documents if that retrieval fails, pay, and receive cancellation of the residence permit together with the linked Emirates ID card. Channels: the ICP website, the UAEICP app, Customer Happiness Centres and registered typing centres.

Neither authority requires the resident in person, only documents. Amer centres do ask for the original passport and Emirates ID, but that is counter practice, not a published rule.

Fees and timelines

With a complete document pack the cycle runs 3 to 5 working days. That is the sum of two authorities' published times, not a promise either makes.

Amer centres charge a package price with the government fee inside it. On the publication date of this guide, Amer247 listed AED 335.90 for an employment visa cancellation filed from inside the country and AED 435.90 from outside; a family visa was AED 298.90 and AED 398.90. Those prices get revised, so check on the day you apply.

Law firm articles often quote GDRFA fees of AED 190, AED 225 or AED 290, split by individual sponsor, company sponsor and outside-country filing. Those figures appear nowhere on the GDRFA website, which publishes AED 100 plus two AED 10 dirhams. Budget for the higher number if an Amer centre quotes it, but do not treat it as an official tariff.

Documents

The official lists from both authorities are short:

• the sponsor's passport and the sponsored person's passport;
• the MOHRE work permit cancellation extract, for private sector employees;
• the MOHRE cancellation form signed by the employee. For electronic work permits both parties sign it;
• the establishment's statement confirming full payment of salary and end-of-service benefits;
• a certificate cancelling or waiving the commercial licence, for an investor or partner;
• a death certificate, where the visa is being cancelled because the sponsor has died.

Cancelling a spouse's or children's visas

ICP states the rule without ambiguity. Residence permits held by family members under a foreign worker's sponsorship must be cancelled before his own, or placed on hold for a limited period with the applicable fees.

The second route keeps the family's visas alive while the sponsor's is cancelled. ICP charges a AED 5,000 guarantee plus a AED 20 deposit fee. The conditions are narrow: an approved transfer to another employer, a sponsor meeting the salary and occupation requirements for every family member, a sponsor permit that is valid or inside its grace period, and family visas with at least three months left.

In Dubai, GDRFA offers a family visa hold covering a job change. Law firms and Amer centres quote a refundable deposit of AED 2,500 per dependant, a non-refundable fee of AED 141 and a hold of up to 60 days. That service page could not be verified on the GDRFA website, so confirm the terms at an Amer centre before relying on the numbers.

Cancelling a UAE visa from outside the country

Cancellation works in absentia. MOHRE has a scenario for cancelling a worker outside the country: the signature is waived and the residence visa details are attached instead.

The sponsor still initiates it. A company that drags its feet leaves the person on its books as an employee, with the absconding risk and fines that follow.

The visa can also lapse on its own. More than 180 consecutive days outside the UAE nullifies it automatically, subject to the exceptions u.ae lists: foreign wives of UAE citizens, students enrolled abroad, residents sent for treatment with an approved medical report, public sector staff on postings, and investors. Returning then means an entry permit applied for from outside the country, with a stated reason and a fine of AED 100 for every 30 days spent outside. Once approved, you have 30 days to enter. Dubai residents are not covered, and Golden and Green visa holders do not need it.

What blocks a cancellation

• MOHRE fines against the company for late issuance or non-renewal of work permits.
• An unfinished final settlement. Without the statement on salary and end-of-service benefits, MOHRE will not accept the application.
• An open absconding report. Lifting it takes 14 working days.
• A missing licence cancellation certificate, for investors and partners.
• Traffic fines in Dubai. Since 23 July 2025 GDRFA has checked the Dubai Police fines database on visa renewals, cancellations and transfers. The pilot reportedly excludes free zone permits, the airport GDRFA centre and other emirates. No document setting out the rule appears on the GDRFA or Dubai Police sites, so this comes from industry publications, not a regulation.

Bank debt alone does not block the cancellation. A court-ordered travel ban does: travel ban over a debt.

Emirates ID, health insurance, bank and rent

The Emirates ID is not cancelled separately and is not handed back. ICP lists it as the fifth step of the same service: the permit and the linked card go together. The only UAE page requiring a physical return is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs one, and it covers diplomatic cards.

Health insurance has no single federal answer. Some sources say the employer may end cover on the cancellation date, others describe a 30-day practice in Dubai. Read your own policy, not a general rule.

A bank is under no obligation to close your account when the visa is cancelled. No such rule exists. A salary account usually converts to an ordinary one with a different minimum balance. Tenancy and Ejari are a separate process with no direct link to the cancellation. Electricity and water go through the DEWA move-out service, which produces the final bill and the deposit refund.

When a lawyer helps

Three situations from Lucent Legal's caseload:

1. The employer will not cancel the visa. The person has left, the company stalls for months, and the absconding and overstay risk grows. A labour complaint to MOHRE moves it.
2. An absconding report is already filed. Lifting it needs documents and an explanation, and a refusal has to be challenged.
3. The cancellation hits a case or a ban. An open enforcement file or travel ban surfaces at filing. The ban goes first, then the visa: how to lift a travel ban.

This material is for information only and is not legal advice. UAE law changes — a lawyer will assess how it applies to your situation.