Come February and Dubai will introduce mobile visas wherein the applicant will get his visa in the form of a picture SMS.

In a move that is set to simplify visa procedures, the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department will introduce visit visas through this service, the fee for which has not been fixed yet.

"M-visas will be issued from February and all arrangements have been made for the new mechanism," Rahul Dalwale, system analyst at DNRD, told Khaleej Times on Tuesday.

The sponsor of the visa applicant will be able to apply for an M-visa at www.eform.ae by providing the details, including the mobile phone numbers of the applicant and the sponsor.

"Once the application is accepted, the sponsor has to provide the necessary documents to DNRD officials. Upon the approval of these, a picture SMS of the visa with a bar code will be sent to the mobile phones of the sponsor and the applicant abroad," he said.

After securing the visa, the visitor can arrive in the country and can show the SMS and his passport at a special counter at the airport.

Officials at the airport will check the passport and the visa using the barcode and let the person enter the country.

According to the report the advantages of this service are two-fold - avoiding long queues at the DNRD offices and no need to deposit the original visas at the airport.

DNRD is also in the process of installing around 50 ATM-like self-service kiosks to print visas and get information about the status of visa applications.

UAE nationals will also be able to renew their passports at these kiosks.