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اApna Ghar

Visas & Documents

How to check UAE visa status online with a passport number

Use ICP or GDRFA Dubai yourself. A screenshot from an agent is not proof of a visa file.

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You can check a UAE visa status online with your passport number on the official ICP service, and on GDRFA Dubai if the file was issued in Dubai. You do not need to pay a stranger to see the system. Any charge that is not on the ICP or GDRFA page is not a government status fee. A demand for money, an OTP, or your passport kept overnight is the warning, not the service. Pakistani applicants should do this check before they buy a non-refundable ticket, and again if an agent sends a screenshot that looks a little too neat.

How to check, without handing over the OTP

  1. Open ICP at icp.gov.ae and look for visa status or file validity. Have the passport number and nationality ready. Select Pakistan if the form asks for a country. Use the passport you applied with.
  2. If the sponsor, the airline or the typing centre said the file is Dubai, also try GDRFA Dubai at gdrfad.gov.ae. ICP is the federal authority. GDRFA handles many Dubai-issued residence and entry files. If one site is blank, try the other before you panic.
  3. Match the name letter by letter with the passport. A missing space, an extra surname, or Muhammad spelled a different way is a common miss. If you renewed the passport, try the number that was on the application as well as the new number.
  4. If the form asks for a file number or an application number, copy it from the email or the entry permit. Do not guess.
  5. Save the result yourself. A screenshot sent by an agent can be edited. They can sit with you while you check. They do not need your one-time password, and they do not need to keep the passport.
  6. If the site is down, try again later or use the authority's own app if they offer one. Do not pay a third party who claims to have a private login.

What the result means before you fly

If the status says nothing, you may not have a file yet. That is useful information. It means you should not book a non-refundable ticket and you should not resign. See fake offer letters if the only proof of the job was a PDF. Approved in a chat is not the same as an entry permit the airline will accept. Read the dates on the permit: when it was issued, when you must enter, and how long you may stay.

  • An old cancelled file can still appear. Read the dates and the status word. The latest entry permit, with dates that cover your flight, is the one that matters.
  • Cancelled, expired, used and under process are different words. If you do not understand the word on the screen, use the authority's explanation. Do not pay someone to translate a screenshot.
  • A visit file and a residence file are different. Visit versus work explains why a visit approval is not permission to start a job.
  • For a renewal, check the new expiry after the sponsor says it is done. The old date remaining on the screen means it is not done. See UAE visa renewal.
  • Family members are separate files. A husband's approved status does not prove his wife's. Check each passport.
  • Once you are actually employed, use the salary converter and AED to PKR for the wage in the contract. Do not use those tools to justify paying a shop to read a screen you can open on ICP or GDRFA.

When an agent insists on checking it for you

Let them watch. Type the passport number yourself. If they ask for the OTP, refuse. That code is a login. Sending it is how accounts are taken over. If they ask you to transfer dirhams so their man inside can see a file the public page already shows, stop. The complaint path, if you already paid, is in how to report visa fraud and, where a promoter's licence is involved, the Bureau of Emigration.

Checked on 9 October 2026: ICP and GDRFA Dubai are still the places to read a UAE visa file. Apna Ghar is not stating a status-check fee, a visit fee, or an overstay fine. Those amounts, when they exist, are on the official payment screen.

Parents, spouses and children sponsored for residence are easy to mix up with visit files. If you are checking a family residence, the salary rule is a different question from the status screen. Checked on 9 October 2026, u.ae still publishes AED 4,000 a month, or AED 3,000 plus accommodation, for a spouse, unmarried daughters, sons under 25, and children with special needs. That is not a parent figure. Parent files in Dubai are read on GDRFA Dubai, and this page states no dirham or rupee amount for them. The residence rule itself is explained in family sponsorship.

Fees, fines and salary thresholds change. If a number is not written on the official page linked below, treat a WhatsApp figure as unchecked.

Common questions

Is a passport number enough?

Often yes, together with nationality and sometimes a file or application number. The form tells you which fields are required. If the passport was renewed after the application, try the number printed on the application. Match the name to the passport, including spaces.

Why do ICP and GDRFA both exist?

ICP is the federal authority for identity, citizenship and many visas. GDRFA Dubai handles many Dubai-issued residence and entry files. If one site is blank, try the other before you assume the visa is fake or cancelled.

Can my agent check it for me?

They can sit with you while you check it. Do not give them your one-time password or your passport to keep. A screenshot they send later can be edited. The result on the official site, saved by you, is the one to trust.

The status says approved. Can I fly?

Take the entry permit the airline will ask for, and read the dates on it. Approved in a chat is not the same as an entry permit in your email or on the official screen. Check that the name matches the passport you will carry.

The site is down. What then?

Try again later, or use the authority's app if they offer one. Do not pay a third party who claims to have a private login. A short outage is not a reason to hand over the OTP.

The page is blank. Does that mean the visa is refused?

Not always. It can mean the file was never opened, the file is with the other authority, or the passport number is wrong. Try ICP and GDRFA, check the spelling, and only then treat a missing file as a reason not to fly. See the fake-offer guide if someone already took a fee.

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