United Arab Emirates to United States visa requirements

UAE ordinary passport holders need a B-1/B-2 visitor visa to enter the United States for tourism. The UAE is not a Visa Waiver Program country, so ESTA is not available. As of 19 June 2026, holders of an ordinary United Arab Emirates passport require a U.S. nonimmigrant visitor visa (B-2 for tourism, or the combined B-1/B-2) to travel to the United States for short visits. The UAE is not a member of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP), so UAE citizens cannot use the ESTA online authorization and must apply for a visa in advance through a U.S. Embassy or Consulate. The application involves completing Form DS-160, paying the $185 MRV application fee, and attending an in-person interview (with fingerprinting) at the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi or the Consulate General in Dubai. The State Department reciprocity schedule for the UAE lists B-1, B-2 and B-1/B-2 visas with no issuance (reciprocity) fee, multiple entries, and 120 months of validity. Each U.S. entry permits the period admitted by the CBP officer at the port of entry, often up to 6 months for visitor admission. Do not add a visa-bond amount to the UAE cost estimate: the State Department's Countries Subject to Visa Bonds page was last updated on 13 May 2026 and does not list the United Arab Emirates. A Visa Integrity Fee was created by HR-1, but the Federal Register notice published on 22 July 2025 says that fee requires cross-agency coordination and will be implemented in a future publication, so it should be treated as a future/implementation-dependent cost rather than part of the current payable total.