Travelling to Dubai with little ones? The most important thing to know is also the most misunderstood: every child — including newborn babies — needs their own individual UAE visa. There is no shortcut for adding a child to a parent's passport or visa.
One child, one visa
It doesn't matter if the baby is three months old or the child is three years old: UAE immigration treats each traveller as an individual, and each one needs their own visa. Budget and plan for every member of the family, including infants who aren't taking up a seat on the plane.
Documents for a child's visa
The list mirrors the adult one: the child's own passport (valid for at least six months), a recent passport-style photograph of the child, and sometimes the birth certificate — especially for infants, where the family relationship needs to be clear. A phone photo of the baby against a plain light background works; we'll check it before it's used. As always, the name spelling must match the passport exactly.
Fees are the same as adults
There's no child discount on UAE visa fees, and no infant exemption — the fee is per visa, not per age. Our assisted fees are the same for children as for adults: a 30-day single-entry tourist visa is AED 470, and the full price list is on our visa types page. Plan the family budget with every head counted.
Apply for the whole family together
Submitting the family's applications together keeps everything aligned — same travel dates, same visa type, same point of contact. It also means one conversation with us instead of five. Send all the documents in one WhatsApp thread and we'll organise them.
Travelling with one parent or a guardian
If a child is travelling with only one parent, a relative, or a guardian, carry documentation showing the relationship and the other parent's awareness — a birth certificate at minimum. Requirements vary by nationality and situation, so check with your airline before you fly; being asked at check-in is far better than being asked at the gate.
Photo tips for babies and toddlers
The hardest document in a family application is usually the baby photo: eyes open, facing the camera, plain background, no toys or hands in frame. Lay the baby on a white sheet in daylight and shoot from directly above — it takes ten tries and thirty seconds, and one of them will be perfect.
Applying for the family, step by step
The process is the same as an adult application, repeated per child: a clear passport scan, a compliant photo, and the application details matching the passport exactly. The practical difference is volume — a family of four means four sets of documents — so organisation matters. Name your files clearly (child's full name, document type), keep everything in one folder, and send it all in a single WhatsApp thread so nothing gets separated. We check each set before filing, because a retake requested now costs you a day, while a rejection costs you much more.
After the visas are issued
When the visas come back, verify each one against its passport — name, number, dates — just as carefully as you would an adult's. Print or save offline copies of every family member's visa, and keep the children's documents with your own travel folder rather than scattered across bags. At the airport, have the whole family's documents in one place; immigration processes families together and it keeps things smooth. Then the only thing left to organise is who carries the snacks.
A note on passports for the youngest travellers
Infants need their own individual passport — they can't travel on a parent's document, and the UAE won't issue a visa without one. If your baby doesn't have a passport yet, start there; passport issuance for newborns takes its own processing time in most countries, and the visa application can only begin once the passport exists. It's the longest lead-time item in a family application, so handle it first.