UAE Visa Update: Visa And Return Tickets Not Enough, Travellers Must Have Dh3,000

The United Arab Emirates provides individuals with a Visit Visa. Visit Visa is provided so that people can visit the country for various reasons like meeting family, seeking job opportunities, and other reasons. Now as per the latest reports, the immigration authorities at the UAE airports have suspected that many individuals are arriving in the country on visit visas to seek employment.

Passengers From Kerala Detained At The Airport

As per the reports, some travellers from Kerala’s Idukki and Kottayam districts were detained at the airport because they were not having the proper documentation. The checking was done at the Kozhikode and Kochi airports in Kerala. These inspections started after some travellers were detained in the UAE. 20 passengers recently were not allowed to board in their flights from Cochin airport.

Each day almost 5 people are stopped from travelling at the Calicut International Airport because of which almost 30 passengers in Kozhikode had to cancel their trips to UAE.

Airlines Strictly Enforcing Rules

Currently, the airlines have strictly enforced rules for passengers travelling to the UAE. The airlines are inspecting that the passengers along with the visa should have their hotel booking papers and 5,000 dirhams (Rs.1.3 Lakhs) for expenses. The passengers who have only visas and flight tickets are not allowed to board flights. Even if the passengers give a visa number or information about their relatives living in the UAE the passengers are still not allowed to board flights. The passengers whose trips got cancelled due to the inspections received no refunds or did not get any chance to reschedule their flights and had to stand in long queues before returning home.

Guidelines Issued by Dubai Immigration Authorities For Visitors

1) During inspections the officials had to ask about accommodation plans, objectives of the visit, and funds for expenses to the passengers. If the responses of the passengers are not sufficient then the passenger might get detained.

2)Visitors on tourist visas will not be allowed to work. Travel and employment providing agencies are not allowed to offer jobs to visitors.

3)Visitors who are visiting the country on an employment visa are bound to complete visa procedures immediately after their arrival to be allowed to work legally.

4)Passengers who are travelling should have hotel bookings, funds, and return tickets with them.

5)Passengers who are going to visit their relatives may have to submit contact information, visas, and passports of their relatives.

An airline official said that the airlines have received instructions to ensure that the passengers have hotel bookings and funds of 5000 dirhams along with visas and tickets. It is now the responsibility of the airline to ensure that passengers are travelling with proper documentation, otherwise the airline will face a fine of 5000 dirhams per passenger. As per the new measures the passengers have to carry with them 3000 dirhams (Rs.68,000) for a month’s visa and for long stays the passengers must have 5,000 dirhams.