With the announcement of resuming the visa issuance, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that fully vaccinated tourists across all countries could enter the country from August 30 onwards. The move came a month before delayed Dubai Expo 2020 starting from October 1, 2021, considering a significant drop in Covid-19 infections in the oil-rich Gulf country. UAE recorded less than 1,000 cases per day last week for the first time in months.
Confirming the news, the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority of UAE tweeted, “Starting from August 30, application for tourist visas will open to people from all countries, provided that they are fully vaccinated with one of the WHO-approved Covid-19 vaccines.”
The decision of reopening the UAE’s doors to international tourists was taken “to achieve sustainable recovery and economic growth,” news agency WAM reported.
The report clarifies citizens from previously banned countries can also enter UAE. However, there are specific rules and restrictions applied. Passengers arriving on tourist visas mandatorily take a PCR test upon arrival. The passengers will also have to register their vaccination status on the government’s health app, Al Hosn.
However, as per the new travel guideline issued by the UAE authorities, travel norms for unvaccinated travellers, including exempted categories, remain the same.
The country is gradually opening its doors to Indians after imposing travel restrictions from April 24 to curb the spread of the deadly second wave of Covid-19.
For the past few weeks, UAE has revised its travel guidelines, allowing more categories of passengers, especially from India.
Before planning a trip to the UAE, you need to get vaccinated by any WHO-approved vaccines, including Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, Sinopharm, and Sinovac. For Indians, AstraZeneca’s Covishield is acceptable; however, people inoculated with Covaxin are not allowed to visit the UAE and have to wait until WHO approves it.
