UAE flights: How Indians, Pakistanis can enter Dubai with tourist visas

Dubai - Passengers will have to take a rapid PCR test at the airport six hours before the flight and then again at the arrival at Dubai International airport.

Passengers carrying passports issued by India, Pakistan, Nepal, Nigeria, Sri Lanka or Uganda can enter Dubai with tourist visas if they have not entered or been to these countries in the last 14 days, flydubai said on its website.

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The budget carrier said PCR test requirements will be based on the country of departure.

Travellers should have approval from the GDRFA (General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs) and also present a printed copy of a negative Covid-19 PCR test with a QR code in English or Arabic taken no more than 48 hours prior to the flight departure.

Passengers will also have to take a rapid PCR test at the airport six hours before the flight and then again at the arrival at Dubai International airport.

“If you are a UAE resident, GCC citizen or visitor arriving in Dubai, regardless of where your journey originated, you must be able to present a negative Covid-19 PCR test result (from a test taken in the country of departure no more than 72 hours prior to the departure of your inbound flight to Dubai),” it said.

Arriving passengers will also be required to undergo an additional PCR test when landing in Dubai.

It said the carriage of passengers travelling to Dubai from Bangladesh is suspended until further notice. The entry of passengers arriving from Afghanistan or Indonesia – or transiting through the two countries within the last 14 days – is also suspended.

However, this does not apply to members of diplomatic, economic and scientific missions, UAE nationals, holders of a UAE Golden Visa and those passengers exempted and/or granted permission to enter the UAE by the appropriate authorities.

In response to a query from a passenger, Emirates airline also said people who have stayed out of India during the last 14 days, can travel to Dubai on a visit visa.

Additionally, Indian nationals with a normal passport who are travelling to India via Dubai can also obtain a visa on arrival in Dubai for a maximum stay of 14 days provided they have a visitor visa or a green card issued by the US, or a residence visa issued by the UK or Europe union.

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The visa issued by United States, United Kingdom or Europe union has to be valid for a minimum of six months.

The UAE government has specified designated laboratories that travellers can use to get the Covid-19 RT-PCR test.

“If you are flying from India, Pakistan... you must get your certificate from one of the labs listed in the designated laboratories document to be accepted on the flight,” Emirates said.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com