Covid-19: UAE suspends visa-free travel agreement with Israel

The UAE has suspended its visa-free agreement with Israel till July 1, due to the spread of Covid-19.

The Foreign Ministry of Israel said their citizens travelling to the UAE will need to obtain a visa due to the suspension.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has also updated the travel requirements for Emiratis to Israel on their website and removed the country from the ‘visa not required’ category.

Israel is in its third lockdown and discussing the possibility of extending it beyond January 21 as the number of new cases remains high.

The UAE ratified the visa-free travel agreement with Israel last week and it was set to go into effect 30 days from then. The agreement follows a normalisation accord between the countries signed in September.