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Layover guideDubai · DXB · DWC

Staying connected in Dubai

A visitor SIM is registered against your passport and capped at two per network, and an unregistered line is cut off rather than warned.

Tony Webster / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
All of Dubai

The rules are federal, not local, so they are the same as Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. The UAE telecoms regulator, TDRA, allows visitors to register a SIM on a passport, or on a GCC national ID for citizens of Gulf Cooperation Council states. Residents register on an Emirates ID.

Visitors are limited to two SIM cards per service provider. Residents are allowed five.

The registration requirement is enforced. If a visitor does not submit valid registration information within 48 hours of the subscription expiring, the provider must disconnect the SIM and all associated services, with 24 hours notice given first. On a short layover that mostly means having your passport in hand at the point of sale.

Free arrival SIMs and eSIMs at DXB are advertised widely, including data allowances and where the counters are. No page published by Dubai Airports or by either operator was found stating those offers, and every source describing them sells connectivity, so none of it is repeated here. Assume you are buying, and treat anything free as a bonus.

  1. TDRA (UAE Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority): consumer FAQs · checked 2026-08-17

The rest of Dubai

The whole guide
Getting out of the airportMetered RTA taxis from the rank, or the Metro Red Line straight out of Terminals 1 and 3.Ride-hailingCareem and Uber both operate legally.Local laws that catch crew outDrinking in public, kissing in public and swearing are all criminal offences, including online.WeatherThe number that matters is the overnight low: about 29.7C in summer, so the night never cools down.Eating near the crew hotelsAlcohol is legal in licensed venues and illegal everywhere else, and in Ramadan the daytime rules extend to your car.What to buyVAT is 5% and refundable over AED 250, and the authority's own refund terms are better than the government portal still says.TippingNo authority publishes a tipping norm for Dubai, and the percentages already on your bill are not tips.