A Guinea-Bissau passport needs a UAE visa arranged before you fly. There is no visa on arrival and no visa-free entry for it, so an approved e-visa is what airlines expect to see at check-in and what immigration checks when you land in Dubai. The decision in front of you is a practical one: how many days you want, whether you will leave the UAE and come back, and whether Dubai is your destination or only a connection. Match those three things to one of the visa options and the rest is preparation.
The UAE's official entry list is organised by nationality, and Guinea-Bissau, written there as the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, appears on its visa-required side. That entry is the same whichever airline you fly with or city you leave from, so the useful work lies in choosing the right permit and getting its details right.
Match the visa to the shape of your trip
Start from the trip you actually have rather than from product names. Stay length and entry type come with the option you select, so have your itinerary in front of you as you choose. Common plans, and the permit that usually fits each:
| Your plan | Option to look at | Detail that decides it |
|---|
| A holiday or family visit of up to a month, leaving the UAE once, at the end | 30-day single entry | The permit is used up on exit, even with days left, so a side trip out of the UAE needs a different option. |
| Up to a month, with a short trip out of the UAE and back | 30-day multiple entry | Coming back in does not automatically restart the 30 days; the issued permit shows what applies. |
| One stay of five or six weeks, no exits | 60-day single entry | One permit covers the whole stay, which spares you an extension request mid-trip. |
| A long stay with planned exits and returns | 60-day multiple entry | The same reading of dates applies: trust the issued permit, not an assumption about resetting. |
| Dubai is a connection and you want a few days outside the airport | 48-hour or 96-hour transit | A confirmed onward ticket is part of the application, and neither permit can be extended. |
Try it with your own dates. Say you land on 6 March, plan a day trip out of the UAE on 20 March, and fly home on 28 March. That is 23 days in the country, comfortably inside 30, but the exit on the 20th spends a single-entry permit, so the multiple-entry version is the one to take. A short business visit has its own 14-day option among the visa cards, and it follows the same logic: match the days to the meetings, then read its checklist. If your flights are not fixed, leave a few spare days. A permit that covers a delayed return is easier to live with than a rushed extension.
Two dates that run on different clocks
Every visit permit carries two separate dates, and keeping them apart makes planning easy. The first is the enter-by date: the last day you can arrive in the UAE for the first time. For visit permits this window is usually 60 days from the day the permit is issued, and for transit permits it is usually 30 days, though the date printed on your permit is the one that counts. The second clock is the permitted stay, which starts on the day you actually enter.
Here is how that looks in practice. A permit issued on 12 January with a 60-day window needs to be used by about 13 March. If you land on 1 March, a 30-day stay runs to roughly 30 March, however early in January the permit was approved. Land on 1 April instead and the permit has lapsed unused, so a new application is needed.
The same arithmetic tells you when to apply. A trip more than two months away is too far out for a permit with a 60-day window, because the window starts at issue, not at departure. Aim to have the permit issued a few weeks before you fly. That leaves room for a postponed flight and still keeps your arrival date comfortably inside the window.
Flights do move. UAE rules allow the enter-by window to be extended once, for the same length of time, as long as you have not yet arrived. If your date shifts, tell our support team as soon as you know rather than waiting for the deadline. When your date is already close, the express visa service is worth comparing with the regular route.
Counting days before you choose
Count generously. Write down the day you expect to land and the day you expect to leave, then work out the total. Say you arrive on 3 April and fly out on 14 May: that is 42 days. A 30-day permit would leave the last 12 days needing an extension, while a 60-day permit covers the whole stay with 18 days to spare. Spare days also absorb a delayed flight home. If your count lands on 29, 30 or 31, take the longer permit rather than testing the limit.
Living abroad does not change the passport rule
Plenty of travellers start from a country other than the one on their passport, and that raises a fair question: does a residence permit there open a simpler route? For this passport, it does not. The UAE offers a 60-day entry permit to people living abroad, but only to a short list of named nationalities, and Guinea-Bissau is not on it.
In practice you apply for an ordinary visit visa, whichever city you fly from. On the application form, choose Guinea-Bissau as your citizenship and the country your journey starts in as the place you are travelling from. Being away from Guinea-Bissau when you apply is not an obstacle, because the application is made online and your documents are files you upload.
Three Guineas, one right choice
Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea are three countries with three different passports. The UAE's entry list currently places all three on the visa-required side, so the rule is the same, but the file has to carry the nationality your passport actually shows. Choose Guinea-Bissau only if that name is on your passport cover and bio page. A mismatch between the form and the document can slow a file down or send it back for correction.
Getting your file ready
Preparation is short, and most of it means checking things you already own.
- Passport validity. UAE rules ask for at least six months of validity as of your travel date. Look at the expiry date today, and renew first if it falls inside that window.
- Passport scan. Capture the whole bio page in one frame, with no finger, paper edge or glare over any detail. Lay the passport flat in daylight, and a steady phone photo usually works.
- Photograph. One recent colour photo for each traveller, on a plain light background, your face fully in view. Black-and-white images are turned away.
- Names. Type every name exactly as it is printed in the passport, including the spelling of any middle name.
Each option also has its own checklist, and some ask for extras such as health insurance valid in the UAE or an onward ticket. Read the checklist of the option you picked before you pay, so you know exactly what to have in hand when you start.
What the permit covers
A UAE visit permit is valid across all seven emirates, so one visa takes you to Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It is a visiting permit, not a work permit, which means paid employment needs a different visa category altogether. Because UAE visit visas are issued through a sponsor, our team acts as sponsor and submits your file, then keeps you informed until immigration decides.
A stopover instead of a holiday
If Dubai is a connection on the way to somewhere else, the transit permits are built for you. A 48-hour permit suits a layover of up to two days, and the 96-hour permit allows up to four. Both are single entry, both need a confirmed ticket that continues your journey, and neither can be extended. Their enter-by window is also shorter than a visit permit's, usually 30 days from issue, so time the application to your flight.
Measure the layover from landing to departure. A connection that lands at 10 pm on 6 March and leaves at 2 am on 9 March spans 52 hours, which is too long for a 48-hour permit and calls for the 96-hour one. If there is any chance your plans will grow beyond four days, a 30-day visit permit gives you more room from the start.
Not every connection involves entering the UAE at all. If you stay airside and your airline checks your bags through to the final destination, you may not need an entry permit for that connection. Ask the airline, because it knows whether your two flights sit on one booking and which rules apply to your passport.
Staying longer once you are in the UAE
Tourist-type visit permits can be extended by the UAE authorities one or more times, as long as the total stay remains within 120 days. That ceiling is easy to work out: a 60-day permit plus a 60-day extension lands exactly on it, while a 30-day permit leaves room for more steps, each one a fresh request that immigration decides on its own. Extensions depend on the permit you hold and your current status, so check eligibility first.
Timing matters more than anything else here. Ask for the extra days while your permit is still running, because once the permitted stay ends the UAE charges a fine of AED 50 for each day of overstay. The UAE's own visa extension service description sets out the conditions in full. If you would like the paperwork handled for you, our team arranges 30-day extensions without leaving the UAE and also offers a 60-day version.
Travelling as a family or group
Each person needs a passport scan and a photograph of their own, even when you are travelling together. Families and groups can be filed together. Collect everyone's documents first, and compare each name with its passport so one typing slip does not hold up the whole group.
Check each person's own passport, too. Entry rules follow the passport, not the group, so a friend travelling on a different passport may enter the UAE on terms that differ from yours. Look up that person's status before anyone pays for an application they may not need.
After you submit
Your file is checked before it reaches immigration, and you can follow its progress through the visa status service at any time. We are a private visa service, not a government office, so the decision itself belongs to UAE immigration authorities, who may also ask for further documents. Keep your phone and email within reach while the file is open. If a document is queried, replace it with a clearer scan straight away, since a quick reply usually keeps a file moving.
When the e-visa arrives, read it slowly. Compare the spelling of your name and your passport number with the passport itself, then note the enter-by date and the permitted stay and check both against your flights. Keep a saved copy and a printed copy for the journey. Travel on the same passport you applied with. If you replace it after approval, tell our team before you fly, because the permit carries your passport details. It is far easier to correct a detail before departure than at the airport.
Ready to choose? Open the visa cards and pick the permit that fits your days and entries, then continue from there. If your situation has a wrinkle, such as a tight date, an unusual passport history or a group with different plans, talk to our team before you pay.
PRESS 
