Moving to the UAE from India: visas, attestation and the routes that fit

This page is for Indian nationals planning a trip, a move, a family reunion, an investment or a company in the UAE, and for their families in India helping with documents. The visa and residence rules are almost entirely the same for every nationality; what is genuinely India-specific is the entry route, the way Indian certificates must be attested before they work in the UAE, the driving-licence position and the double-tax agreement. Those four things are covered here in detail, with links to the general guides for everything else. One point up front, because it is the most common misunderstanding: there is no general UAE visa on arrival for an ordinary Indian passport — the conditional entry visa below depends on a residence permit or visa you already hold from another country.

The UAE Government portal does not publish the visa-on-arrival country list itself; it says the lists "may vary from time to time" and to check with the UAE embassy. The two UAE airlines that do publish the tiers, Emirates and flydubai, list a 30-day free tier, a 90-day multiple-entry tier and a 180-day entry for Mexico. India is in none of them, and flydubai states that "passport holders of all other countries need to have pre-arranged visas". So the starting position for an Indian passport is a pre-arranged visa. Separately, ICP operates an Entry Visa for Nationals of Certain Countries, and its June 2026 update kept India on the eligible-nationality list; the condition is a residence permit from a qualifying country. Airlines and GDRFA Dubai describe the 14-day version as a "visa on arrival" while ICP calls it a pre-issued entry visa — the same document set from different channels.

Indian certificates — marriage certificates, birth certificates, degrees — are not accepted in the UAE on their own. India joined the Hague Apostille Convention in 2005, but the UAE is not a party (the HCCH status table shows no UAE entry), so an Indian apostille by itself is not a UAE-recognised attestation; the UAE embassy and UAE MOFA steps still apply. The table shows the chain the two governments describe.

Most enquiries from India are really about one of five goals. Use this table to jump to the right guide; the visa and residence rules on those pages are nationality-neutral, and the India-specific attestation above feeds into all of them.

Driving licence. India is not among Dubai RTA's 20 "exception countries" whose licences any nationality can exchange. RTA recognises a wider set of countries for nationals-only exchange, but that list did not render as readable country names on the page, so whether an Indian licence can be exchanged in Dubai is not confirmed on the pages we read. Expect to open a traffic file and take the tests unless RTA's own country selector shows India. The Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi does attest Indian driving licences (state Home Department authentication plus a sworn affidavit) for use in the UAE.

Double taxation. The Income Tax Department of India records a comprehensive India–UAE agreement for the avoidance of double taxation, signed in 1993 and in force since 22 September 1993, with later protocols. India-side rules on non-resident status and the day-count tests are set by Indian law and are not covered here; check the Income Tax Department before relying on your residency position.

If you are not sure which route applies, start with the visa guide for Indian citizens for a trip, or the eligibility checker for long-term residency. If you already know you are moving, read UAE residence visa and get your India-issued certificates into the attestation chain early — it is the step that most often delays a family file.