UAE to approve tourist visas for Indian passport holders as Covid cases fall

The UAE has decided to allow only those Indian passport holders to obtain tourists visas who have not been to the country in the last 14 days.

In the wake of a fall in coronavirus cases, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to allow Indian passport holders, who have not been to the country in the last 14 days, to obtain tourist visas.

The UAE flag flies over a boat at Dubai Marina. (REUTERS)

Besides India, the facility has been extended to Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Uganda, according to a media report on Sunday.

At present, only citizens of the UAE and transit passengers are allowed to fly to the UAE, a measure the administration took earlier this year to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. The country is now slowly opening up its arrivals as the situation improves.

However, all flyers would have to undergo a Polymerase Chain Reaction test on the day of arrival and on the ninth day after arrival in the UAE.

Meanwhile, the UAE has said it will accept passengers from Pakistani airports Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. Earlier, arrivals from Pakistan were only allowed to transit passengers.

The coronavirus has claimed 2,018 lives along with 708,302 confirmed infections in the UAE, according to Johns Hopkins University.

(With agency inputs)