Al Awir Immigration Office in Dubai: What It Handles, Who Is Sent There and What Families Can Do

Direct answer. "Al Awir immigration office" is the everyday name for the facilities that Dubai's residency authority runs in the Al Awir area. GDRFA Dubai lists a branch there called the Public Services Section (Al Awir Center), which handles services for residency violators: departure permits, fine waiver requests and absconding reports. In the same area, its Iwaa centre houses people who cannot yet travel home, until their exit paperwork is complete. Both belong to GDRFA Dubai, the General Directorate of Identity and Foreigners Affairs, still widely known by its older name, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs. Both operate under Federal Decree-Law No. 29 of 2021 on the Entry and Residence of Foreigners. Dubai's prisons are a different system, run by Dubai Police. This guide explains what happens at Al Awir, who ends up there and why, and what a family can do. It also shows how Al Awir differs from the prison and from GDRFA's main building in Al Jafiliya.

Al Awir immigration at a glance

Al Awir hosts GDRFA's services for residency violators, not general visa services.

Several different places get called "Al Awir immigration", and they do different jobs. The table below sorts them by who runs them and what each is for.

If you are trying to renew a family visa or an Emirates ID, Al Awir is usually not where you need to be. If you or a relative has overstayed, has an absconding report, or faces deportation, Al Awir is often where the file ends up.

What the Al Awir centre handles: al awir immigration services

GDRFA's own service pages name Al Awir as a channel for violator services.

Each GDRFA service page lists where you can apply for it. Al Awir appears on the pages below, which we checked on 31 October 2026. Fees and steps change, so open the page itself before you go.

Departure permits for violators

A departure permit, often called an outpass, lets a foreigner in the UAE leave the country. GDRFA's departure permit service page lists the Public Services Section in Al Aweer among its channels, alongside Terminal 3, Amer centres and Hatta land port. The same page says:

• the person must leave within 7 days of the permit being issued, and the ticket must show a departure date within that window;
• a regular exit permit requires all outstanding fines to be paid first;
• if the fines are not paid, an IRIS eye-print is taken "with permanent deprivation", and then the permit is issued;
• an unused permit lapses, and a new application is needed.

The page does not define "permanent deprivation". Treat it as a warning that leaving without paying may affect whether you can come back, and get advice before you choose that route. Our outpass guide covers the fee, the processing time and the other channels. If the passport is missing, our guide to a lost passport in the UAE covers the police report and the consular travel document.

Fine waivers and fine payment

Overstay fines can be paid, or a waiver can be requested. GDRFA's fine exemption service lets a person ask for the fine to be waived or reduced. It is listed at the Al Aweer Center. The page asks for:

• a copy of the violator's passport;
• a letter stating the reasons for the violation and the inability to pay;
• any other documents the Fines Committee requests.

Paying is a separate service. The fine collection service is available online at any time and at Amer centres, with no service fee beyond the fines. To find out what you owe first, see our guide to checking and paying overstay fines.

Absconding reports filed by individual sponsors

An individual sponsor can file an absconding report at the Al Awir public services section. GDRFA calls this an "escape report". Its service page covers a person sponsored by a UAE citizen, a GCC citizen or a UAE resident. The listed channels are the Public Services Section in Al Aweer, the Terminal 3 service centre and Amer centres. The fee shown was AED 141 plus AED 241 in deportation fees, with an extra AED 100 at Amer centres.

Removing such a report is a different service, called lifting a circular. Its service page lists the website, the main building, the "Center for Sheltering Violators", the Al Aweer Center, Hatta, Terminal 3 and Amer centres. Company absconding reports follow a different route. Our guide on how to check and remove an absconding report explains both.

The Iwaa centre: where people wait to leave

The Iwaa centre in Al Awir houses people who cannot yet travel home.

"Iwaa" is the Arabic word for shelter. On 29 July 2026 the state news agency WAM reported a media tour of the centre, organised by GDRFA Dubai. WAM's English report calls it the "Centre for harbouring". WAM placed the centre in the Al Awir area. It described it as caring for people who could not travel to their home countries for various reasons, until their departure procedures are complete.

According to that report, the centre offers nine main services:

• medical clinics;
• social and humanitarian care;
• personal care;
• safekeeping of valuables and personal belongings;
• security services;
• awareness and recreational programmes;
• housing and meals;
• coordination with embassies and consulates to issue travel documents and departure permits;
• work with specialised companies to complete travel steps, issue tickets and arrange transport out of the country.

WAM also gave figures for the first half of 2026. The centre served 11,696 people and issued 11,696 travel tickets. It coordinated with consulates on 4,568 travel documents. It carried out 11,696 initial medical checks and arranged 1,906 specialist medical visits. GDRFA's Assistant Director-General for Violators and Foreigners Follow-up said teams follow each case from the moment it enters the centre until the person leaves the UAE.

The federal identity authority, ICP, gives a further detail. In a 2022 news item, it called the facility the "Center for Sheltering Foreign Violators in Al Awir area". It said the procedures there include steps for filing complaints and for submitting cases to the prosecution and transferring them to court. So a stay at Al Awir does not always end with a simple flight home. Some files go on to the public prosecution.

Who is sent to Al Awir, and why

Official descriptions point to residence status, not crime, as the usual reason.

The official sources point to three broad groups.

• People without a valid residence status. Article 18(2) of Federal Decree-Law No. 29 of 2021 says a foreigner can be expelled by order of the federal identity authority (ICP) if they have no residence permit, or if it has expired or been cancelled. This is subject to Articles 11 and 12 of the same law. It applies after the grace period for leaving has passed, and it comes on top of daily overstay fines. Overstaying a visit visa or a cancelled residence visa falls here.
• People under a deportation order. Article 15 lets the Federal Public Prosecutor or the ICP chairman order deportation, even of someone holding a valid visa. The grounds are public interest, public security, public morals, public health, or having no apparent means of subsistence. The order can include family members the person supports.
• People who need documents before they can leave. WAM's report shows that many residents need a travel document from their consulate or a ticket before they can go.

Absconding reports can bring a person into any of these groups. Our deportation guide explains the two kinds of deportation and how an appeal works. For a short answer on the difference, see administrative vs judicial deportation.

Detention before deportation: what the law allows

Federal law caps detention to carry out a deportation order at 30 days, extendable once.

Under Article 15(3) of the decree-law, the ICP chairman or his representative may detain a person whose deportation order has been issued. This needs the approval of the Federal Public Prosecutor. The detention may not exceed 30 days. It can be extended for a similar period if that is necessary to carry out the order.

Three other articles matter to families:

GDRFA's description of the Iwaa centre focuses on care and departure. It does not say which legal basis applies to each resident. If your relative is held, ask which order applies to them, and when it was issued.

What a family can do: a step-by-step plan

Families can usually help most with documents, money questions and a lawyer when needed.

1. Find out where the person is held, and by which authority. For an immigration file, call GDRFA's Amer call centre on 8005111, which GDRFA says is available 24/7. If police arrested the person in a criminal matter, the file sits with Dubai Police and the prosecution instead. Our guide to being detained in Dubai covers that route.
2. Locate the passport. If it is lost or held elsewhere, the person's consulate can issue a travel document. WAM's report says the centre coordinates with consulates on this.
3. Check the fines. Decide whether to pay them or to file a waiver request with a letter explaining the reasons and the inability to pay.
4. Ask about the ticket. Ask the centre whether a ticket booked by the family is accepted, and in what form. The general departure permit expects a departure date within 7 days of issue.
5. Settle what is owed. Article 17 allows time to settle interests in the UAE after a guarantee. Unpaid salary is a separate claim: see how to file a labour complaint with MOHRE. Ask how to collect any valuables kept in safekeeping.
6. Ask whether there is a criminal case or a travel ban. Either one can stop a departure. Our dictionary entry on a travel ban explains the term.
7. Get legal advice early if the facts are disputed. This applies to a wrongful absconding report, a deportation order you want to challenge, or a pending criminal case.

Documents worth having ready

GDRFA does not publish one checklist for families. These items help with most of the services above:

• the person's full name exactly as it appears in the passport, with nationality and date of birth;
• a copy of the passport and of any old visa or Emirates ID;
• any GDRFA or MOHRE reference number you know of;
• the consulate's contact details, and any travel document it has issued;
• a ticket booking, if the centre confirms it can use one;
• any fine notice, waiver request or court paper already received.

Al Awir vs Dubai Central Jail

The Iwaa centre is an immigration facility run by GDRFA; prisons belong to Dubai Police.

People often mix the two up. Dubai Police runs the emirate's prisons through its General Department of Punitive and Correctional Establishments. A Dubai Government Media Office release names three of them: the Central Prison, the Women's Prison and the Misdemeanours and Minor Offences Prison. Some people assume the Central Prison and the Iwaa centre are the same place because both are linked with the Al Awir name. Dubai Police does not give the prison's address in the release above, so confirm any address with Dubai Police directly.

Dubai Police publishes its own services for visiting detainees and inmates. Check the current rules on its website or app before you go.

Al Awir vs GDRFA Al Jafiliya

GDRFA's headquarters in Al Jafiliya serves the general public; Al Awir specialises in violators.

GDRFA's headquarters page gives the main building's address as Al Jafiliya, behind Jafiliya Police Station, Bur Dubai. Some violator services are offered at both places. For example, lifting an absconding circular is listed at the main building as well as at Al Awir. The two locations share the same PO Box and phone numbers on GDRFA's site.

If your matter is an ordinary renewal, start with GDRFA's online services or an Amer centre. If it involves an overstay, an absconding report or an exit procedure, ask Amer whether Al Awir is the right counter before travelling.

Al Aweer immigration location, hours and contact

GDRFA lists the branch simply as "Al Awir", without a street address.

These are the details on GDRFA's Al Awir branch page:

• Branch name: Public Services Section (Al Awir Center)
• Location given: Al Awir
• Post: PO Box 4333, Dubai
• Phone: 8005111, or +971 4 3139999 from abroad
• Email: amer@gdrfad.gov.ae

The page publishes opening hours, but the English and Arabic versions do not match. Hours also change on public holidays. During Eid Al Adha in 2023, for example, GDRFA announced that the Al Aweer centre would open from 6 am to 10 pm every day. Call 8005111 to confirm the hours, and the right counter, on the day you plan to go.

Amnesty periods and Al Awir

During the 2024 amnesty, Al Awir handled fingerprinting and departure permits for people leaving.

GDRFA said on the first day of the 2024 programme that it had designated a centre at Al Awir for people choosing to leave. Its Al Awir Centre for changing the status of violators would take fingerprints and issue departure permits. A later GDRFA notice said the grace period ran until 31 December 2024. That programme has ended. Our amnesty guide covers what it offered and what overstayers can do now. Before relying on any amnesty terms, check ICP and GDRFA for a new official announcement.

Leaving through Al Awir: what it means for coming back

How you leave can affect whether, and how, you can return.

Under Article 18(1), a person who has been deported needs the ICP chairman's permission to come back. Separately, the departure permit page warns that leaving without paying fines involves an eye-print "with permanent deprivation". Not every departure from Al Awir is a deportation, though. Someone who pays their fines and leaves on a regular permit is in a different position from someone deported by order.

Before you return, find out which applies to you. Our guide to immigration ban removal explains the main ban types and how they are checked. For a short answer on overstays, see whether you can be deported for overstaying. Our dictionary entry on deportation defines the term.

When to get legal help

Many Al Awir files end with a simple departure, but some need a lawyer.

Consider advice if:

• there is a criminal case, a court judgment or a travel ban;
• you want to challenge a deportation order or ask for it to be lifted;
• an absconding report is wrong, or you have evidence against it;
• wages, end-of-service pay or property are still owed in the UAE;
• children or a spouse are affected by the order.

If you need advice on your own facts, you can find an immigration lawyer on LEXAI and contact them directly.

This is general legal information, not legal advice. Your own facts may change the answer. Confirm current services, fees and hours with GDRFA Dubai before you act.