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On February 28, 2026, airspace over the region closed. Thousands of UAE residents who had travelled for a sick parent, a child's studies, an ordinary trip home were suddenly stuck on the wrong side of a border — watching their residence visas run down with no flight back. Here are three of them, in their own words.
The father caring for his family
At least now we know she can return without complications within this month.
Amr Hasan, an Egyptian resident of Sharjah, sent his wife and two children to Alexandria to care for his father-in-law after heart surgery. Then the airspace closed at the end of February — and her residence visa was running down on the wrong side of a border she couldn't cross.
Read the story — Khaleej TimesThe son studying abroad
With only a few days left before the visa expires, we were really anxious that he might face fines and lose his residency status.
Faisal Nasser's 21-year-old son was studying in Malaysia when the flights stopped. His residence visa was days from expiring — and the family could do nothing but watch the clock run out.
Read the story — Khaleej TimesThe technician who flew home for his father
My visa was expiring in about one and a half months. When I heard about the grace period, it was a big relief.
Maviya Shilur, a Dubai mobile technician, rushed to India when his father was hospitalised. He didn't plan to be stuck abroad — nobody does. The closure made the difference between a visit and a trap.
Read the story — Khaleej TimesAll three got home. Not because they planned for this — because the UAE granted a one-time grace period for stranded residents, and they happened to be inside the window. That mercy was real. It was also temporary.
From April 1, standard entry rules resumed. No grace period, no waved fines. Let a residence visa lapse now and the documented consequences are real: overstay fines that accrue daily, an exit ban until they're cleared, future visa applications blocked — and, at the gate, being denied boarding on the flight home. The rescue was an exception, not a safety net. The next person caught out won't get one.
You can't control a closed border. You can control whether you saw the date coming.