Germany’s Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) has issued a fresh update to its United-Arab-Emirates (UAE) travel and security advice, dated 29 July 2026. The bulletin clarifies that holders of UAE residence visas (Emirates ID) who attempt to leave the country on temporary travel documents – such as a German Reiseausweis als Passersatz or a provisional passport – will be turned away unless they have first cancelled their residence status with the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) in the relevant emirate. Cancellation cannot be done at the airport and takes **at least 24 hours**, meaning last-minute travellers risk fines, detention or missed flights if they arrive at passport control without the correct paperwork. The ministry notes that UAE immigration officers increasingly enforce the rule as part of tighter biometrics and exit-control procedures introduced after this year’s regional security scares. Travellers who hold more than one nationality are also reminded that they must exit on the same passport with which they entered. The advisory reiterates that overstays incur heavy daily penalties and that exit bans remain possible where unpaid fines or civil claims exist. For German companies moving staff out of the Emirates, the guidance means mobility managers should build at least a two-day buffer into repatriation timelines when emergency passports are involved, and should keep HR files ready to demonstrate that residence visas have been cancelled in the ICA/ICP system. Airlines have likewise begun warning passengers at check-in and may deny boarding if cancellation receipts are missing. While the update is aimed at German nationals, the requirement applies to **all foreign residents** of the UAE. Employers are therefore urged to brief their international assignees, especially those whose regular passports are lost, damaged or expired, to avoid costly disruptions at departure.
