LATEST: Canadians Still Require Visas To Enter UAE

Canadians still require visas to enter the UAE, since the visa waiver announced by the UAE government in April has not yet taken effect.

The UAE withdrew a visa waiver for Canadian citizens more than two years ago after a dispute over landing rights.

But on April 3, a reinstatement of the waiver was announced following a meeting between the UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan and his Canadian counterpart John Baird.

“Just over a year ago, we set out an agenda between our countries to strengthen and re-energise the Canada-UAE relationship…. [One of the goals is to] facilitate travel requirements to increase business, tourism and joint prosperity for our citizens, by restoring the visa regime,” the statement on official news agency WAM said.

However, when Maroun Hannoush, a Canadian living in Bahrain, arrived in Dubai’s airport on May 3, he was told that the waiver was not in place.

“I was quite surprised when I arrived in Dubai’s airport to find out that it hasn’t yet been implemented and no one in the airport had any information on the subject,” he told Gulf Business.

“Needless to say, I paid the Dhs390 required for my daughter and I to enter the UAE.”

The General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs-Dubai (DNRD) confirmed that Canadians still require getting visas to enter into the country.

On its website, the UAE Embassy in Canada has said :”Please kindly know that the new UAE visa regulations for Canadian passport holders is in process, and therefore a visa for the UAE is still required for Canadian passport holders. The embassy of the UAE will update the information on this website when any visa requirement change occurs.”

The Canadian consulate in Dubai verified that they are still unsure when the waiver will take effect.

“What was announced was only an initial plan, we are still waiting for details from the UAE government,” they said.