• Home
• /
• UAE

Visit visa rules in spotlight as man tests HIV positive

The issue of allowing foreign nationals on visit visas enter the country without medical clearance has cropped up again,

With the detention of an Indian on a visit visa after he tested HIV positive.

As the rules for entering the country on a visit visa do not insist on a mandatory medical clearance, many people are entering the UAE with communicable diseases, including Aids, Khaleej Times, has learnt.

The latest in this series was reported in Sharjah when 38-year-old Vadla G., a native of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, was diagnosed as HIV positive a month ago.

According to a source at the Kuwaiti Hospital — where the patient has been admitted and kept in an isolated room — Vadla is “suffering from Aids and TB, and he is in a pathetic condition”. Charity associations have urged the Indian mission to help in the repatriation of Vadla as early as possible.

When Khaleej Times visited Vadla at the hospital, the teary-eyed man said he came on a visit visa provided by an agent back in India in October.

“I paid Rs75,000 to an agent in India to obtain the visa. I have three children and a wife back home who are relying on me. I don’t know how I got the disease. I am worried what will happen to my family.”

He expressed hope to see his family again, but is not very sure about it in this condition.

“He was brought in by some people who found him at the airport shivering and crying. When we checked him, he was diagnosed as HIV-positive. Since he suffers from TB also, we cannot send him to jail and repatriate him,” said the source at the hospital, adding that as his immune system is very weak, there is only a rare chance for him to recover from TB.

‘Khaleej Times’ had reported earlier about a bogus visa racket which sends people from Andhra Pradesh (AP) in India to the UAE, charging a big amount. Indian missions in the UAE have already informed the state government of AP about the issue. An official from the Indian Consulate told ‘Khaleej Times’ earlier that they are looking into the issue and measures will be taken to curb this malpractice.

Meanwhile, charity associations urged the Indian mission to help in the repatriation of Vadla as early as possible. According to a charity worker, Indian missions should take up the issue and make sure that he is repatriated to a rehabilitation centre in India.

• UAE
• UAE