Combating coronavirus: Indians with visit visas start arriving in Dubai

Visit visa holders from India have been arriving in Dubai without any issues, a number of travellers and agents have said. Visas and air tickets are issued with no problems and trips have been seamless.

Afi Ahmed, managing director of Smart Travels, told Khaleej Times that a majority of visit visa holders they have assisted are students and families who are coming to Dubai to meet their loved ones. Many are university students flying to their second home.

"Dubai has started issuing tourist visas since July 6. I'm noticing that Sharjah and Abu Dhabi has also begun issuing visas since August 9. A visit visa passenger for whom I booked tickets from Kannur to Dubai on August 12 has arrived in Dubai without any issues at immigration," Ahmed said.

Najma Sadique, a student at Yenepoya Dental College in Mangalore, India, was able to come home to her parents in Dubai after being stranded for months.

"I arrived on a flydubai flight from Kannur to Dubai on August 12 on a visit visa. Everything went smoothly, and I faced no issues at either immigration counters," said Najma.

Similarly, Shradha Salla, a Dubai resident who has been stuck in Mumbai with her two daughters since March, was finally able to fly to Dubai aboard an Emirates flight on Thursday.

"We took visit visas for my daughters. I have a residence visa, and I got a GDRFA approval. Everything went very smoothly.The airline staff treated us very well, and safety procedures at the Mumbai Airport was very good. Each and every passenger was checked," she said.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com 

Dhanusha Gokulan

Originally from India, Dhanusha Gokulan has been working as a journalist for 10 years. She has a keen interest in writing about issues that plague the common person and will never turn down a human interest story. She completed her Bachelor in Arts in Journalism, Economics and English Literature from Mangalore University in 2008. In her spare time, she dabbles with some singing/songwriting, loves travelling and Audible is her favourite mobile application. Tweet at her @wordjunkie88