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Emirati passport

The Emirati passport () is a travel document issued by the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to individuals holding any form of Emirati nationality. It grants the bearer international passage in accordance with visa requirements and serves as proof of UAE citizenship. It also facilitates access to consular assistance from the UAE embassies around the world.

According to the Passport Index 2025, the UAE passport ranks 1st globally in terms of mobility score, with access to 179 destinations without requiring a prior visa. That includes 46 visa on arrival, and 7 with electronic travel authorization.

History

Prior to the formation of the United Arab Emirates in 1971, each constituting emirate issued its own passports or travel documents. These documents were printed in both Arabic and English and often made a reference to the issuing emirate and its ruling sheikh.

Emirati passports issued since 11 December 2011 have been biometric passports. The UAE is the second GCC state (after Qatar) to issue such passports.

Types

Emirati passports types are indicated by Federal Law No.27 regarding Nationality and Passports issued in 1972:

  • Regular Passport (navy blue cover): issued to UAE citizens.
  • Special Passport (green cover): issued to members of the Federal National Council, retired high-ranking government officials and their families. The passport can also be issued by a federal decision from the Supreme Federal Council to Emirati state representatives. This passport has the same visa regime as the diplomatic passport.
  • Diplomatic Passport (red cover): issued to members of the Federal Supreme Council and diplomats serving in Emirati embassies abroad and to high-ranking officials from the executive branch and their families during their period of service.
  • Service or Temporary Passport (cyan cover): issued to citizens and non-citizens for a specific period of time to perform a service or a particular task of interest to the state. This passport if issued to non-citizens does not bestow a right of abode in the UAE.
  • Emergency Passport (grey cover): issued to citizens of the UAE who lost their passport abroad or lost their identity card in the GCC or their passport expired abroad or issued in times of a natural disaster or evacuation.

Physical appearance

The first and last pages are made of hard paper, thicker than that of the old design. The first page contains a watercolour outline of the outer frame of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and the last page contains a drawing of the actual mosque with domes and columns. The passport identity page has all the particulars printed and laminated. The new passports contain data to resolve name duplication, an issue that existed with old passports.

Like passports of other states whose official language is written from right-to-left, the Emirati passport is similarly opened from the left-hand side.

The cost of an Emirati passport in 2025 is as follows:

  • Fees for Issuing a new Passport for 5 years is 40 AED ();
  • Fees for Issuing a new Passport for 10 years is 90 AED (); and
  • Fees for Issuing a Replacement Passport is 40 AED ().

Generic design

On the front cover of the each passport type, there is a representation of the emblem of the United Arab Emirates in the centre. The emblem was modified in 2008, and passports issued afterwards incorporated the new design. "United Arab Emirates" (in (in Arabic calligraphy) and in English) appears above the coat of arms.

Regular passports have in Arabic calligraphy and "PASSPORT" in English below the coat of arms.

Special passports have in Arabic calligraphy and "SPECIAL PASSPORT" in English below the coat of arms.

Diplomatic passports have in Arabic calligraphy and "DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT" in English below the coat of arms.

A biometric passport has the biometric passport e-passport symbol at the bottom. There are 62 pages in all biometric passport, and the last page contains encrypted biometric data to prevent forgery.

Identity Information page

The second page of an Emirati passport is security laminated and includes the following data:

  • Photo of passport owner
  • Type of document (P = passport)
  • Code for issuing country (ARE = United Arab Emirates)
  • Passport number (9 alphanumeric digits, chosen from numerals 0–9 and letters C, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, T, V, W, X, Y, Z. Thus, "0" denotes the numeral, not the letter "O".)
  • Full Name
  • Date of birth
  • Sex
  • Nationality
  • Place of birth
  • Date of issue
  • Date of expiry
  • Authority that issued the passport
  • Owner's signature
  • ID Number

The page ends with a 2-line machine readable zone, according to ICAO standard 9303. The country code is ARE as is the standard country code for United Arab Emirates (according to ISO 3166-1 alpha-3).

Inside cover

UAE-issued Emirati passports contain on their inside cover the following words:

In Arabic:

In English:

Languages

The data/information page is printed bilingually in both Arabic and English in all fields except for a white label in the next-to-last page in the passport which contains the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Interior emblem and documents the citizen's military specific claim number and uniform number.

Visa requirements

Visa requirements for Emirati citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of the UAE.

, Emirati citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 184 countries and territories, ranking the Emirati passport 8th in the world in terms of travel freedom, tied with the Estonian passport, according to the Henley Passport Index.

The Emirati passport is one of five passports with the greatest improvement in visa-free rating in the 2006–2016 time period.

In 2017, The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation planned to make the UAE passport one of the five strongest passports in the world by 2021. According to The Passport Index, this goal was achieved by December 2018, ranking the Emirati passport as the strongest passport in the world with a visa-free score of 170.

The UAE, Albania and Kosovo are the only Muslim-majority countries where citizens have the right to travel to Israel without a pre-arranged travel visa.

UAE citizens can check visa requirements for their destination by visiting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

See also

References

External links