Planning a trip to the UAE?
The UAE’s Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) and the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) have announced that the UAE will once again be issuing tourist visas to travellers from all countries, provided they are fully vaccinated with one of the World Health Organisation (WHO)-approved COVID-19 vaccines.
The decision applies to citizens worldwide – including those arriving from the previously banned or red-listed nations – but all arrivals will still be subject to a mandatory PCR test on arrival.
Authorities also confirmed that all previous rules for unvaccinated travellers, including exempted categories, remain in place.
This includes quaratine protocols and additional testing as per the requirements of each emirate.
For a full list of what you need to be vaccinated to do in Dubai, click here. For the Abu Dhabi breakdown, click here.
As of now, WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines include Covishield, Johnson & Johnson (also known as Janssen), Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Sinopharm, and Sinovac-CoronaVac.
You might also like: UAE COVID-19 vaccine: where to get vaccinated in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah
Earlier this year passenger flights from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Nigeria were grounded as part of a strategy to limit the spread of the virus, but restrictions were eased this month allowing stranded UAE residents a way home.
Excemptions were only being afforded to those with a residency visa who were vaccinated here in the UAE, but protocol will change this week, with it now much easier to visit the UAE.
Tourist visas are valid for either 30 or 90 days, and the first will be signed off by officials from tomorrow.
The update comes into effect on Monday August 30 and travellers looking to receive the benefits provided to those who have been vaccinated here in the UAE must register their certificate via the ICA platform or the Al Hosn app.
For your up-to-the-minute guide on what’s happening in Dubai, head here.
For Abu Dhabi click here and for Sharjah click here.
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