While airlines battled schedule chaos, the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security (ICP) mounted its own surge operation inside UAE terminals. In a statement released on 3 March 2026, the authority said its front-line teams completed entry, transit and exit formalities for 30,913 passengers across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah airports during the previous 24 hours. Crucially, officers issued 15,327 short-stay entry visas to travellers who found themselves stranded after missed onward connections. The documents allow legal stay of up to 14 days and can be converted to standard visit visas online if the disruption drags on.
![UAE issues 15,000 emergency visas and processes 30,913 travellers in single day to ease airport backlog]()
For stranded passengers who decide to arrange a longer-term solution themselves, services such as VisaHQ can help streamline the process. Through its dedicated UAE page (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/), the platform guides applicants through requirements, uploads paperwork, and tracks approvals in real time—handy insurance against further schedule surprises.
ICP also confirmed that over-stay fines will be waived for those affected, provided they depart within seven days of their re-scheduled flight. The rapid visa programme relied on the authority’s fully digital back-end, rolled out in 2025, which lets officers capture biometrics with handheld tablets and auto-populate visa files from passport chips. Airport operators provided makeshift hospitality lounges and hotel shuttles, costs underwritten by an emergency aviation solidarity fund established after the 2020 pandemic. For global-mobility managers, the move removes a critical compliance headache: stranded staff now have documented legal status, buying companies time to re-book. Employers are nevertheless advised to update assignment letters noting the exceptional visa class and to remind travelling staff that local health-insurance cover starts only after a residence visa is stamped. ICP says its business-continuity plan will stay activated until flight volumes reach at least 70 % of normal levels. The authority urged companies and travellers alike to rely solely on official channels for immigration updates, warning of scammers selling fake ‘priority visas’ outside the terminals.
For stranded passengers who decide to arrange a longer-term solution themselves, services such as VisaHQ can help streamline the process. Through its dedicated UAE page (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/), the platform guides applicants through requirements, uploads paperwork, and tracks approvals in real time—handy insurance against further schedule surprises.
ICP also confirmed that over-stay fines will be waived for those affected, provided they depart within seven days of their re-scheduled flight. The rapid visa programme relied on the authority’s fully digital back-end, rolled out in 2025, which lets officers capture biometrics with handheld tablets and auto-populate visa files from passport chips. Airport operators provided makeshift hospitality lounges and hotel shuttles, costs underwritten by an emergency aviation solidarity fund established after the 2020 pandemic. For global-mobility managers, the move removes a critical compliance headache: stranded staff now have documented legal status, buying companies time to re-book. Employers are nevertheless advised to update assignment letters noting the exceptional visa class and to remind travelling staff that local health-insurance cover starts only after a residence visa is stamped. ICP says its business-continuity plan will stay activated until flight volumes reach at least 70 % of normal levels. The authority urged companies and travellers alike to rely solely on official channels for immigration updates, warning of scammers selling fake ‘priority visas’ outside the terminals.
