In a bid to contain the number of covid infections in the countries, several nations are ruling out new regulations every day. With India being one of the countries with the most cases in the world, restrictions have been placed against the entry of Indians in many nations. The UAE is the latest to join the list.
As per its most recent announcement, people who are in India or have stayed in the country in the last 14 days, and are heading for any city within the United Arab Emirates, will not be eligible for the visa-on-arrival option.
The update was shared via Twitter by the UAE’s national carrier, Etihad Airways, when the company was replying to a query asked by a user whose family members are Indian citizens and hold US Visa. He asked if they are permitted to go to Abu Dhabi and receive a visa-on-arrival and then leave for Dubai to stay there without quarantine.
The EA responded saying, “The UAE authorities have decided to temporarily suspend the visa-on-arrival facility for passengers who are arriving from or been in India in the past 14 days. We’re working to update our website, please keep an eye on https://bit.ly/TravelGuideEN for the latest regulations.”
The UAE authorities have decided to temporarily suspend the Visa-on-arrival facility for passengers who are arriving from or been in India in the past 14 days. We’re working to update our website, please keep an eye on https://t.co/hWA7ZGfiaF for latest regulations. *Ari
— Etihad Help (@EtihadHelp) August 23, 2021
Many countries fall under the same category as India where visa-on-arrival facility isn’t available for its citizens, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Uganda, South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria and others.
However, a mandatory negative PCR test report of covid-19, which is taken less than 6 hours before departing the flight to the UAE, is applicable for every passenger.
As per the UAE embassy’s website, people having Indian passports with US visas, US green cards, UK Resident Permits, or EU resident permits are permitted to get visa-on-arrival when they land in UAE. This will be valid for 14 days and is extendable once for the same period. However, this is valid only when the above-mentioned documents are valid for a minimum duration of 6 months from the date of arrival.
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With vaccinations in full swing in India, the nation aims to avoid the third wave of covid-19 which is predicted to hit the country in the next 1-2 months.
Other countries too have placed similar restrictions on travellers from India in the past with the US being one of them. However, the first world country eased the bans imposed on Indian passengers. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) placed India under the “Level 2: Moderate” category in its list of countries and the covid risk associated. The US State Department, meanwhile, lowered the rating to “Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution”.
The United Kingdom had made a similar move earlier in August, placing India from the “red” to the “amber” list.
