India / UAE suspends visa-on-arrival service for passengers arriving from India

UAE authorities have temporarily suspended issuing visa-on-arrival for passengers who're arriving from or been in India in the past 14 days, Etihad Airways said. The airline didn't state any reason for the suspension. Last week, Etihad had announced that Indians with a visa or residence permit issued by US, UK or an EU member state are eligible for UAE visas.

Vikrant Shekhawat : Aug 25, 2021, 08:07 AM

Abu Dhabi: 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 Etihad Airways said on Monday.

Taking to Twitter, Etihad Airways said, "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."

On August 3, the UAE lifted the ban for transit travellers for six countries including India.

Besides India, the ban was lifted for Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Nigeria and Uganda.

In a tweet, UAE's National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority (NCEMA) had said, "These categories include those with valid residency permits who have received full vaccination doses in the UAE and 14 days have passed since receiving the second dose and who have vaccination certificates approved by the official authorities in the country."

The NCEMA is the nodal agency in the UAE, which looks after the COVID-19 related relaxations in case of travel from other countries and informs the passengers about the travel criteria.

The UAE is a major transit hub for travellers as it connects the USA, Europe and African countries but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was suspended for several months.