People usually send documents, clothes, gifts and small electronics to the UAE with a traveler. Gifts, perfume and personal luggage are duty-free if their total value is no more than 3,000 dirhams and the quantity is small. The strictest area in the UAE is medicines: medicines with narcotic or controlled substances come in only with a prescription and a medical report, and they must always be declared.
What you can usually send
You can send items of a personal nature in non-commercial quantities. UAE customs does not grant the exemption to someone who regularly brings in goods.
- Documents: certificates, powers of attorney, original papers.
- Clothes, jewelry, gifts: together with perfume and personal luggage, up to 3,000 dirhams.
- Phone, laptop, camera: as the traveler's personal belongings; electronics given as a gift count toward the 3,000-dirham allowance.
- Medicines without narcotic or psychotropic substances: can come in for personal treatment without prior approval.
What you cannot send or should avoid
The UAE ban list is wider than in many countries: besides drugs and counterfeits, it includes things that are ordinary at home.
- Drugs and controlled substances: banned.
- Medicines with narcotic or controlled substances: only enough for up to three months of treatment. At the border they are declared together with a prescription issued within the last three months and a medical report issued within the last year. The documents must be certified by the health authority where the person is treated. A Ministry of Health permit can be obtained in advance: it is free and takes one working day. The allowance is based on the passenger's own treatment, so do not send such medicines with a traveler.
- Prescription medicines: no more than six months of treatment.
- Gambling tools and machines, items for witchcraft and magic: banned.
- Publications and images that contradict Islamic values, obscene materials: banned.
- Counterfeit goods, pirated content, counterfeit money: banned.
- Naswar and betel leaves (paan): banned.
- Food and consumer goods in commercial quantities: a traveler cannot bring them in under an individual's name. Seedlings with soil are not allowed.
- Animals, plants, weapons, drones, wireless devices, cosmetics, e-cigarettes: need a permit from the relevant authority.
- Power banks and spare batteries: on a plane, carry-on only, never in checked baggage. Under the IATA 2026 guidance, you can take no more than two power banks, each up to 100 Wh; larger ones are forbidden, and you can't charge them from the aircraft power supply. Spare batteries for devices: up to 100 Wh without approval, 100 to 160 Wh with the airline's approval and no more than two per device, over 160 Wh not allowed. Airlines may set stricter rules.
- Someone else's cash: under our rules, you cannot send any cash that belongs to another person.
Duty-free allowances
Passengers under 18 cannot bring in tobacco or alcohol. Above the allowances, customs duty and VAT apply, and excess alcohol is confiscated.
- Gifts, perfume and personal luggage: up to 3,000 dirhams in total.
- Alcohol: up to 4 liters or 2 cartons of beer of 24 cans up to 355 ml each.
- Tobacco: 200 cigarettes, or 50 cigars, or 500 g of tobacco, including hookah tobacco.
- Cash: amounts over 60,000 dirhams, or the equivalent in other currencies, financial instruments, precious metals and stones, must be declared. You can do it in advance on the website or in the Afseh app. Amounts carried by children under 18 are added to the parent's or companion's total.
How to pack and what to check at handover
The traveler should see everything they carry. So the parcel is packed in front of them, not handed over as a closed box.
- Show every item at the meeting. The traveler does not take anything sealed.
- Add a receipt if the item is new: it makes the value easier to confirm.
- Check books, discs and printed materials: the UAE has strict rules for them.
- Medicines: only over-the-counter or regular prescription medicines for personal treatment, in original packaging.
- Take photos of the contents and of the packed parcel, and share the recipient's contacts.
Who is responsible at the border
The person carrying the parcel is responsible. A verbal, written or electronic declaration, as well as passing through the green or red channel, counts as the passenger's customs declaration. If the luggage contains a prohibited item, the traveler answers for it.
The customs area starts right after passport control. A traveler can refuse an item if they are not sure it can be brought in.
Find a traveler to the UAE
Trips to the UAE are collected on route pages, for example Moscow → Dubai. All directions are on the routes page.
If there is no suitable trip, post a request: travelers on your route will see it and respond. The price calculator suggests how much to offer for delivery.
Sources
- Official UAE portal: customs clearance
- Dubai Customs: passenger customs guide (2025)
- Dubai Customs: prohibited and restricted goods
- UAE ICP: declaring cash
- UAE Ministry of Health: permit to import medicines for personal use
- IATA: passengers travelling with lithium batteries
- Parcelane: prohibited and restricted items
Checked: November 2026. Rules change, so check the official UAE portal and the customs website before the trip.