My Amman Life

If you are planning on visiting Jordan for tourism, you most likely will be able to obtain a 2-week tourist visa upon arrival (check if your country is eligible here).  As of May 2018, the price of the tourist visa was 40 JD (single entry).

Extending a visa 1-3 months

If you plan on staying longer than your visa allows for, after 1 month you need to visit the police station closest to your temporary residence to extend it to 3 months (free of charge). You will need to provide basic information about yourself and where you will be staying during your remaining time in Jordan. You also need to provide a reason for your visa extension with proof. For example, your apartment lease, a letter from your Arabic school, etc.

To go about extending my own tourism visa, I went to the police station in my district (find the police department closest to you on this website.). The first step was to fill out papers with my passport and visa information (don’t forget to bring it as well as photocopies), my mother’s information (a bit odd) and my temporary address in Amman.

Tip #1: Bring someone who knows Arabic, just in case.

Then, I went to a separate part of the police station to get fingerprinted and have my papers signed by the officer during the fingerprinting.

Tip #2: Bring wet wipes because there is no bathroom to wash the black ink off your fingers and you end up walking around trying not to touch anything like this…

After you have been fingerprinted, you head back to the original place you filled out the papers to hand in the papers and you’re done!

It’s a relatively smooth process, but as everything in Jordan, it definitely helps to know someone. So that’s where my final tip comes in…

Tip #3: bring along an ex-police officer to translate and skip a few lines. Ask a Jordanian friend for a contact, most likely they know someone who can help out. Do know, you will have to “tip” this person for their services.

Extending a visa 3-6 months

If you have already extended your visa to 3 months using the process above, you can get a further extension to up to 6 months at the Management of Residence and Borders office (called Al-Iqama wal Hudood in Arabic) off Wasfi Al Tall Street in Khalda (map).

At the Management of Residence and Borders office you will need to fill out an application, provide copies of your passport and visa page (no photocopy available on-site) and pay a fee of 1 JD. Once you submit your application you have to return in 2 weeks to see if the extension was approved.

If you overstay your visa

There is a penalty is 1.5 JD for each overstayed day. Basically, this means you’ll be charged 45 JD for each month you pass the visa limit.