Dubai flights: Flydubai issues travel rules for visit visa, entry permit holders

Dubai - UAE authorities announced the resumption of visit visas for all from August 30.

By Yousuf Saifuddin Kapadia

Published: Mon 30 Aug 2021, 9:46 PM

Last updated: Mon 30 Aug 2021, 10:38 PM

Dubai-based budget carrier, flydubai, has issued guidelines for UAE visit visa and entry permit holders for all passengers, including from previously restricted countries, on Monday.

The new rules come after UAE authorities on Saturday announced that the country would resume issuing tourist visas. Application for tourist visas is open to people from all countries starting today, August 30.

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According to a fresh travel update on the airline's website on Monday, passengers from 15 countries including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh can now fly to the UAE on 'any type of visa'.

Procedures for UAE residents and visitors arriving in Dubai

- From 12:01am on August 30, 2021, passengers with any type of visa and/or entry permission granted by the appropriate authority in the UAE will be allowed to travel to Dubai from Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Indonesia, Liberia, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia

Emirates says no approval needed for visit visa, entry permit holders

Entry requirements for travellers:

- Passengers, who are UAE resident visa holders, must have an approval granted by the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) or an approval granted by the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs for Dubai residency visa holders - to return to the UAE

- Passengers must be able to present a printed copy of a negative Covid-19 PCR test result (displaying a QR code) in English or Arabic from a test taken in the country of departure by an approved health service no more than 48 hours prior to the departure of their inbound flight to Dubai

UAE: Tourist visa applications, ticket demand quadruple

- Passengers must undergo a rapid PCR test (based on molecular diagnostic testing intended for the qualitative detection of nucleic acid for SARS-COV-2 viral RNA) at the departure airport within six hours of boarding the aircraft (the test report must display a QR code)

On arrival in Dubai

- Passengers must undergo a PCR test on arrival in Dubai.

- If you are a UAE resident 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).

Exemptions

UAE nationals are not required to take a PCR test before returning to Dubai, regardless of the destination they are coming from and the time spent there. UAE nationals will be tested on arrival in Dubai.

This exemption from the requirement to be PCR-tested before arriving in Dubai also applies to the following categories for passengers:

- Inbound passengers accompanying the first-degree relative of a UAE national; domestic workers being accompanied by a UAE national sponsor.

These exempted passengers must be travelling on the same flight as the relative or sponsor.