Oman Visa for UAE Residents: Eligibility, Fees and How to Apply

Who Qualifies for the Oman Visa for UAE Residents

Oman’s Royal Oman Police runs the eVisa system, and its portal lists four visa types that can be arranged online: an unsponsored tourist visa, a sponsored tourist visa, an express visa and a tourist visa for GCC residents. For an expatriate holding a UAE residence visa, that last one is the GCC Resident Tourist Visa.

It has two versions. Visa Type 29A is for the main traveller and requires an approved profession. Visa Type 29B is for a companion of that main traveller. ROP uses the pair in its own answer about travelling from Dubai to Oman, and Oman’s government service portal — which lists the service under the Royal Oman Police — describes it as a tourist visa for approved professionals residing in GCC countries, and their companions.

Gov.om lists three special conditions. The passport must be valid for at least six months, the same minimum ROP states for entry to Oman. The applicant must hold a valid GCC residency ‘for no less than 3 months’, in gov.om’s wording — a phrase that does not say whether the three months means time already held or remaining validity, so confirm the position with ROP if your UAE residence is new or close to expiry. Employment by any institution is the third condition.

The profession test is separate. ROP’s eligibility wizard asks which GCC country you live in — Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia or the UAE — and its Allowed Occupation List opens as a pop-up from the same eligibility wizard. Doctor, accountant, engineer, project manager and general manager or deputy are examples on it, not the complete list, and ROP does not say whether the profession is read from the residence visa or the Emirates ID. Check your own title through the wizard rather than assuming a managerial-sounding job qualifies.

Citizens of GCC states, including the UAE, do not need a visa to enter Oman. That exemption follows the passport, not the residence permit, so an expatriate living in Dubai or Abu Dhabi does not inherit it.

The 14-Day Visa-Free Alternative

Depending on your passport, you may not need that visa at all. Oman’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says visitors from more than 100 countries and regions, divided into two groups, are exempt from entry visas for stays of up to 14 days. The exemption is nationality-based and conditional.

The passport must be valid for at least six months. Travellers also need a return ticket, a confirmed hotel reservation, health insurance and enough money to cover the stay. Second-group nationals face a further test: they must be resident in, or hold a valid entry visa for, the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, a Schengen country or Japan, or be GCC residents whose profession is among those eligible for the resident visa. A spouse and children can use the exemption even if they are not nationals of that country.

The 14 days cannot be extended or converted into any type of residence visa, which rules the route out for a longer holiday or a stay that may run over.

Two official lists assign nationalities to the two groups differently. Albania and Armenia, for example, are in the MFA’s first group but in the Tourism Ministry’s second, conditional list, while India is in the second group in both. Because the lists conflict, check your own passport with ROP’s eligibility wizard rather than relying on a published table. MFA does not name the professions that satisfy its GCC-residence clause, and it is not stated whether they match ROP’s Allowed Occupation List.

Applying on the Oman e Visa Portal

The application is made on the Royal Oman Police’s Oman e visa portal at evisa.rop.gov.om, the same site that carries the four online visa types. Apply before travelling rather than at the border.

Three documents are listed for the GCC resident visa: a copy of the passport, a personal photo and a copy of the residence card. Passport and photo uploads are capped at 512 KB, so resize both files before you start.

The fee shown on gov.om for issuing the visa is OMR 5, described as a fixed cost. The official pages do not state which payment methods are accepted or whether the fee is refundable. The steps gov.om lists are to submit the request, have it reviewed and, if approved, have the visa issued.

ROP gives no fixed processing time. Complete applications are processed “within the shortest possible time”, and because processing varies by application ROP recommends applying at least four days before travel. That is a recommendation, not a promised turnaround. Once an application is paid, submitted and approved, the electronic visa is emailed to the registered address. Paying does not guarantee that a visa will be issued.

Land Border or Airport: What Changes

Road and air travellers use the same visa. ROP’s guidance for road travel is to apply for a tourist visa on the eVisa site and then enter through any legal border. It names no specific crossing and gives no opening hours or crossing-specific rules.

The border is not a dependable place to start an application. Asked whether paper applications are available at Oman’s border posts with the UAE, ROP answers that the eVisa is the gateway to a visa, while a paper form is available for exceptional cases “especially in this early stage”. The wording dates from the launch or transition period, does not define exceptional cases and does not say whether those forms are still offered. Treat a form at the border as a fallback you cannot plan around.

Airports are not clearly different. In an answer about the transitional period, ROP says an office at the airport will process visa applications. It does not say whether that office still operates, which airports have one, or whether it handles GCC resident visas.

The Tourism Ministry’s visitor page adds that “in most situations” a tourist visa can be obtained on arrival, though getting it before travel is preferable. That is a general statement for visitors, not a rule for UAE residents or land borders, and ROP’s road guidance assumes an online application. For a UAE resident, visa on arrival is unconfirmed. Applying online before setting out removes the question at the counter.

If you are only changing planes in Muscat rather than visiting, our Muscat long layover guide covers the entry checks to make before going landside.

How Long the Visa Lets You Stay

Oman’s official visa guidance does not specify the permitted stay for the GCC Resident Tourist Visa, and it publishes no extension rule or overstay penalty for it. That matters if your plans depend on a fixed number of days.

The one stay rule official sources state for this audience is the visa-free limit: 14 days, with no extension and no conversion to a residence visa. If your plans depend on a longer or extendable stay, confirm the stay allowed on your specific approval with ROP before booking anything that relies on it.

Visa Check in Oman: Track Your Application

ROP’s public Track Your Application page asks for the Visa Application Number, the Travel Document Number, the document’s nationality and a captcha.

For payment problems or anything else the tracker cannot answer, ROP’s eVisa call centre is 80080011 toll-free inside Oman and +968 22848200 from outside, with email Info-OmaneVisa@rop.gov.om. Office hours are 07:00–21:00 GMT+4.