The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced a five-year multiple-entry visa scheme for all nationalities, in a move that is geared towards promoting tourism in the country.

What is UAE’s new visa scheme?

• According to the Dubai-based Gulf News, prior to this, tourists could get single or multiple-entry visas for a duration of 30 or 90 days.
• In the new five-year multiple-entry system, visa holders may be allowed to stay for six months at a stretch.
• The details of the scheme are yet to be announced. The country’s Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship will be implementing the decision.
• Travellers from Africa, some South American countries, Arab states outside the Gulf, and European states from outside the European Union and the former Soviet Union previously needed visas.
• The UAE currently receives more 2.1 crore tourists annually, and has recently increased its pace of rolling out policies to boost its trade and tourism sectors.

Other reforms

• In July 2019, the UAE allowed women employed in the country to sponsor work permits for their husbands, fathers, and adult children, and reduced the fees for obtaining work permits by 50 per cent to 94 per cent for 145 services and transactions.
• In the same month, the Emirate of Dubai said it would accept the Indian rupee (INR) for transactions at duty-free stores.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now