UAE authorities have temporarily suspended issuing visas on arrival for Indian nationals with a visa or residence permit issued by the US, UK or an EU Member State, Etihad Airways said on Monday. However, no reason has been provided for the suspension.
The UAE has temporarily suspended visa-on-arrival for travelers from India who have been in India in 14 days before arriving there, according to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad airline.
We’re working to update our website,” Etihad’s official guest relations Twitter account said Monday. please keep an eye on https://bit.ly/TravelGuideEN for the latest regulations,” Etihad Help tweeted.
“If you are an Indian citizen, you are now eligible to apply for a visa when you arrive in the UAE, including Abu Dhabi. To qualify, you must have a US visitor visa or green card, or holding a UK or EU residence valid for at least six months. And your passport must have at least six months validity,” the national carrier had said in a statement.
Earlier, United Arab Emirates (UAE) has allowed passengers holding passports of several SAARC countries including India to enter the country on a tourist visa provided they haven’t visited or been in these countries in the last 14 days.
In addition to India, the facility will also be extended to citizens of Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Uganda. This comes as the UAE is looking to slowly ease travel restrictions.
As per the new guidelines, all flyers will be required to undergo a Polymerase Chain Reaction test on the day of arrival and nine days after that as well.
Presently, only its citizens and transit passengers are allowed to fly to the UAE.
The coronavirus death toll has reached 2,018 in UAE and the cumulative tally reached 708,302, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The fresh guidelines come a day after the UAE on Saturday said that Indian passengers can take a rapid PCR test six hours before their departure instead of four hours now. The UAE has made this test mandatory for passengers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Uganda.
