Dubai’s General Directorate of Identity and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA Dubai) launched a service called "Click and Travel" on 7 September 2026, and it inverts how an airport border check normally works. Instead of every passenger queueing at a fixed counter, an officer carrying a mobile device walks the terminal and completes the passport formality wherever the passenger is standing. GDRFA says a transaction takes about 12 to 15 seconds and describes it as the first mobile service of its kind in the world. Departing passengers of any status can use it. On arrival it is currently limited to UAE citizens and residents. It does not replace the counters; it runs alongside them.
How it works
The handheld unit combines the pieces normally bolted to a desk: an electronic passport reader, facial recognition, fingerprint capture and a secure connection back to GDRFA Dubai’s systems and databases. That connection is the reason the check can happen away from a booth at all, because the identity match and the watchlist screening run against the same records either way. Lieutenant General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director General of GDRFA Dubai, put the point plainly at the launch: "With Click and Travel, instead of passengers having to look for the service, the service comes to them." Major General Talal Al Shanqiti, Assistant Director General for Airports, described the mechanics the same way: "Usually, passengers go to the passport counters. With this new service, we are bringing the counter services to the passenger." GDRFA has also flagged peak travel periods, emergencies and situations needing a fast operational response as the cases it expects to use the service most.
The pilot behind it
This did not arrive cold. GDRFA ran a first trial from October 2025 at Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport, aimed initially at families, who are the group most likely to slow a fixed counter down. A second phase opened in May 2026 and extended the service across Dubai’s airport terminals and to more passenger categories. Between May and 31 August 2026 it processed 31,373 transactions, and that is the figure GDRFA used to justify moving from trial to full launch. Against the tens of millions of passengers who pass through Dubai each year, it is a small proving run.
Who can use it today
- Departing: UAE citizens, UAE residents and visitors, including GCC nationals
- Arriving: UAE citizens and residents only, with expansion to visitors on tourist visas planned but not dated
- Where: Dubai’s airport terminals, following the phase-two expansion beyond Terminal 3
- Alongside, not instead of: fixed passport counters and existing smart gates keep operating
What this means in practice
There is nothing to apply for and nothing to download. Officers approach passengers, so the practical preparation is to have your passport ready and, if you are a resident, your Emirates ID. The arrival and departure split is what decides whether this changes your day. Hold an Emirates ID and the service can reach you in both directions, which matters most on the return leg when arrival halls are busiest. Fly into Dubai as a visitor, on an interview trip, a look-around visit before a move, or a layover, and you should still plan for the normal arrival process. Do not build a tighter connection on the strength of the 15-second figure: that number covers the transaction, not the walk through the terminal, security or baggage. None of this changes what documents you need or who is allowed to enter, only where and how fast the check happens. If you are moving to the UAE rather than passing through, the residency and entry-permit steps that determine your status are set out in our United Arab Emirates country guide at /country-guides/united-arab-emirates.
When it takes effect
Launched 7 September 2026 by GDRFA Dubai and announced through WAM, the UAE state news agency. The preceding trial ran from October 2025 at Dubai International Terminal 3, expanded in May 2026, and recorded 31,373 transactions through 31 August 2026.
The arrivals limit is the catch
Some UAE coverage lists the service as available to nationals, residents, GCC nationals and visitors without separating arrival from departure, which reads as though anyone can be processed in either direction. GDRFA’s own eligibility breakdown is narrower: on arrival it covers citizens and residents, with tourist-visa holders named as a later phase and no date attached. If you are arriving as a visitor, assume the standard counters and smart gates until GDRFA says otherwise.
Key Takeaway
Leaving Dubai, any passenger can now be cleared by an officer with a handheld device in roughly 15 seconds; arriving, it is still a citizens-and-residents service.