This will be the longest weekend yet for residents, likely to span over six days from Tuesday, June 27 to Sunday, July 2, depending on the moon sighting
UAE residents are expected to have the next long weekend on the occasion of Eid Al Adha in the last week of June.
This will be the longest weekend for UAE residents, likely to span over six days from Tuesday, June 27 to Sunday, July 2, depending on the moon sighting. The first long four-day break of the year was marked this month on the occasion of Eid Al Fitr.
A large number of expatriates and citizens travel to different tourist-friendly countries around the world during long breaks. Among the expat community, Indian and Pakistani nationals account for more than half of the UAE’s population. They are the two largest expat communities, accounting for nearly 36 per cent and 17 per cent of the total population. There are approximately 3.5 million Indians and 1.7 million Pakistanis nationals living and working in the UAE.
UAE residents who hold Pakistani passports can travel to 32 visa-free countries across Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Caribbean regions, according to Henley & Partners Passport Index.
Ranked 105th in 2023, Pakistani passport holders have mostly visa-free entry to African countries as well as some highly popular tourist destinations such as Maldives and Seychelles.
Meanwhile, Indian nationals can get access to 60 visa-free destinations around the world, including popular destinations such as Thailand, Maldives, Qatar, Oman, Jordan and Sri Lanka, etc. The Indian passport is ranked 81st in Henley and Partners’ Passport Index, which compares the visa-free access of 199 different passports to 227 travel destinations. The top-ranking Japanese passport gives visa-free access to 193.
As reported by Khaleej Times earlier, UAE nationals can get visa-free or visa-on-arrival in 178 countries, as the Emirates passport is among the strongest in the world.
Source: Henley & Partners
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Waheed Abbas is Assistant Editor, covering real estate, aviation and other business stories that directly affect the lives of UAE consumers. He frequently reports human interest stories, too.