Réunion is a French department, so Réunionnais travel to Dubai on a French passport and need no visa. Immigration at Dubai airport stamps you in with a free permit lasting six months, and lets you spend a combined 90 days on UAE soil during that time, in one stay or spread over several. French citizens are among the nationalities cleared for entry on arrival, and a passport collected at a mairie in Saint-Denis or Saint-Pierre is no different from one issued in Paris.
Better still, Dubai keeps the same time as Réunion, and the journey usually involves one short hop to Mauritius before a single long-haul flight. Most of the preparation is about paperwork closer to home: the passport's expiry date, the French exit form for children travelling without a parent, and the passports of relatives who aren't French.
Getting There: The Mauritius Connection
No airline currently flies non-stop between Roland Garros and Dubai, so the usual route runs through Mauritius. Air Austral and Air Mauritius cover the hop across in under an hour, and Emirates leaves Mauritius for Dubai several times a day, so the whole trip can fit into a single day. Other options exist through the hubs on Air Austral's network:
| Via | From Réunion | French passport at the connection |
|---|
| Mauritius | Air Austral or Air Mauritius, under an hour | Free to stay over without a visa |
| Johannesburg | Air Austral | Visa-free for up to three months |
| Bangkok | Air Austral, on its current schedule | Visa-free short stays, plus an online arrival card to enter Thailand |
Mauritius is the obvious choice for most travellers, as the connection is short and the Emirates schedule gives several departure times. Try to book both legs together. When the island hop and the Emirates flight sit on one ticket, checked luggage follows you to Dubai, and a cyclone delay on the first sector becomes the airline's problem to solve. On separate tickets, leave a generous gap, or even a night in Mauritius, especially between January and March, when tropical storms can close Roland Garros at short notice.
Stopping Over in Mauritius
Many Réunionnais know Mauritius well, and a night there on the way out or back is easy to arrange. French passport holders enter without a visa, but you'll pass Mauritian immigration with your passport rather than an ID card, and you'll need your checked bags back if the two flights are on separate bookings. Staying airside between Air Austral or Air Mauritius and Emirates involves no formalities at all. Keep some rupees or euros for the airport, and allow for the drive if your hotel is on the north or west coast.
No Jet Lag to Worry About
Réunion and Dubai both sit four hours ahead of Greenwich, and neither shifts its clocks, so your watch never needs changing. That makes even a week in Dubai worthwhile: you land with the same body clock you left with, and children settle into hotel routines straight away.
A Triangle Trip With Mainland France
Families visiting relatives in mainland France, and students coming home from universities there, sometimes return through Dubai instead of flying straight back to Saint-Denis. Emirates connects Paris, Lyon and Nice with Dubai, and the Mauritius flights complete the loop. A short stay in the city breaks up the journey, and the arrival permit covers it automatically. Such a route often means separate tickets, so leave plenty of time between flights and check the baggage allowance on each airline.
Passports, Identity Cards and the Exit Form
Your carte nationale d'identité gets you to Paris or Mayotte, but not to Dubai, where only Gulf citizens may enter on an ID card. Bring the passport, and look at its expiry date early: the date printed on it should fall at least six months after you touch down in Dubai. Renewal follows the national procedure: start online at ANTS with your FranceConnect login, book a slot at any mairie on the island that takes passport applications, and pay with an electronic fiscal stamp. Mairie appointments can fill up ahead of the long holidays, so book well before you plan to fly.
Adults receive passports valid for ten years, children for five, which is why the youngest traveller is usually the one whose document lapses first. Every child needs a passport of their own.
Children Travelling Without Both Parents
Two different checks can apply. France requires an exit authorisation (autorisation de sortie du territoire, or AST) when a minor living in Réunion leaves French territory with no parent present, for example on a school trip or a holiday with grandparents. One parent fills in and signs the form, and the child carries it alongside the signing parent's ID (a copy is enough) and their own passport. Dubai has its own expectation when only one parent travels: bring an English-language note of consent from the parent at home, which immigration officers occasionally ask to see. Have everything ready before the trip, since airline staff at Roland Garros and in Mauritius may want to check it.
Planning Around Réunion's School Holidays
Réunion keeps its own school calendar, with the year starting in mid-August rather than September. The long austral summer holidays, running from just before Christmas to the end of January, line up neatly with Dubai's best weather: warm, dry days, cool evenings and comfortable conditions for the beach, the desert and the old souks. It's also the busiest period for flights out of Roland Garros, so reserve seats months ahead.
The austral winter holidays, from early July to mid-August, fall at the hottest point of Dubai's year, when daytime temperatures often pass 40°C. Families travelling then do well to plan sightseeing for early morning and evening, and lean on indoor attractions and water parks during the day. The shorter breaks in October, March and May offer something in between, with October and March generally warm but still pleasant, while May is noticeably hotter.
Arriving in Dubai
Emirates uses Terminal 3 at Dubai International, which has its own station on the metro's Red Line, alongside plentiful taxis and ride-hailing pick-ups. At passport control, an officer examines the passport and adds the entry stamp; no form needs filling in beforehand. Have your hotel name or your hosts' address ready in case you're asked where you're staying. The permit isn't limited to Dubai: a drive to Abu Dhabi to see the Louvre there or a weekend in the mountains of Ras Al Khaimah is covered too, and you may fly out from another emirate's airport.
Making the Most of the Six-Month Permit
The permit starts the day you first enter. For six months after that, each day you spend in the Emirates is subtracted from 90, and days back home don't count. Take a family who spends ten days in Dubai over the austral summer holidays and returns for a week during the March break: they've used 17 days, and the same permit still covers both trips. When the six months end, your next arrival opens a new permit. Anyone who reaches 90 days and wants to return before the period is over can obtain a separate visit visa as a French national, issued before the return flight. Each day of overstay is fined when you leave.
Relatives Whose Passports Aren't French
Réunion's families often link the island with Madagascar, the Comoros, Mauritius and India, and Dubai decides entry by the passport each person holds, not by where they live. Relatives from Mayotte are French citizens and follow your rules. For others, the position looks like this:
| Passport | Entering Dubai |
|---|
| Mauritian | 30 days on arrival |
| Malagasy or Comorian | Visa issued before travel |
| Indian, with a French residence permit | Possible 14-day arrival visa through the Indian route |
| South African or Filipino, with a French residence permit | Possible arrival visa, valid 14 or 60 days |
| Chinese | Free permit, 90 days in six months |
The residence-permit routes depend on the permit itself. Since Réunion is part of France and of the EU, a French titre de séjour held there should normally qualify, but airlines check these documents carefully, including how long they remain valid, so confirm with the carrier before relying on it. Our explainer on the Indian residence-permit route lists the accepted documents. Malagasy and Comorian relatives, by contrast, need a visa in advance whatever their residence.
Applying for a Relative's Visa
Relatives on a holiday of a few weeks generally opt for a 30-day single entry visa. If they're staying on with family in Dubai, the 60-day single entry visa may suit better, and if the plan includes a trip across the border to Oman and back, the 30-day multiple entry visa covers the return. Government fees are already part of our prices, and one application can cover several relatives.
Each relative's file needs a legible scan of the passport identity page, a passport photo taken within the last few months, and the address of the hotel or home where they'll stay. With flights in hand, send us the visa application and watch its status on our application tracker; the approved visa is emailed for printing. As unused visas expire after a fixed date, applying around three weeks before you fly works well. For nationalities missing from the table, try our visa eligibility checker.
Staying With Family Who Work in Dubai
Dubai has a sizeable French community, and some Réunionnais go to see a son, daughter or sibling who has moved there for work. Being hosted changes nothing for a French passport holder: no letter of invitation is required, though it's sensible to note your hosts' home address and mobile number for the arrival desk. A family member holding UAE residence may be allowed to sponsor a close relative's visit visa directly, subject to the country's rules; otherwise, our team can handle the whole application.
Trade Fairs, Training and Job Offers
If you're heading to one of Dubai's large exhibitions, the arrival permit covers trade fairs, meetings, training courses and conferences. Keep your registration or invitation handy in case the officer asks why you've come. Employment is a separate matter: interviews are fine on a visit, but before you start a job, the employer must secure your work permit and residency. Investors considering a longer stay can explore options such as the Golden Visa for long-term residents.
Euros, Cards and Health Cover
The dirham is pegged to the US dollar, so its value in euros moves with the euro-dollar rate. Euros change easily at Dubai's licensed exchange offices, and bank cards are accepted almost everywhere, though small traders in the souks may prefer cash. Let your bank know about the trip so a payment in Dubai isn't blocked as suspicious.
Outside the EU, the Assurance Maladie reimburses only urgent, unforeseen treatment, and only up to French tariffs, while private hospitals in Dubai charge considerably more. A travel insurance policy with medical cover and repatriation to Réunion is therefore worth having, and some bank cards include one, so check your card's conditions before buying extra cover. Medicines should stay in their original boxes, packed with the prescription; codeine-based painkillers and certain other controlled drugs need clearance from the UAE's health authorities before you arrive.
Support From French Consular Services
French diplomatic staff work from two bases in the country, the embassy in the capital and Dubai's French consulate general, and both help Réunionnais on the same terms as any other French national. Signing up on Ariane, the foreign ministry's travel alert service, means you'll receive security messages during your stay and can be contacted during a crisis there. Should the passport vanish, obtain a police report in Dubai, which the consulate needs before issuing a temporary document for the journey home.
Most trips from Réunion come together quickly: check every passport's expiry date, prepare the exit form if a child is travelling without you, and look at the rules for any relative who isn't French. If any traveller needs a visa or you have a question about timing, contact our visa specialists before booking.
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