Registration opens for Indians in the UAE seeking to return home

Indian missions in the UAE have opened online registrations for Indians in the UAE who wish to return back home, the announced on Wednesday.

The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General of India in Dubai have started creating an online database on their respective websites.

“The data to be entered is simple and does not require any uploading of documents,” a statement posted on Twitter said.

Details such as passport number, mobile number and address in India will need to be submitted. In case of families and companies, a separate form will needs to be filled for each individual, the statement clarified.

1/2 Registration in database of Indian nationals wishing to travel back to India under Covid 19 situations pic.twitter.com/0iN3w311Rh

— India in Dubai (@cgidubai) April 29, 2020

Officials also stressed that the registration “will not entitle automatic allocation of a seat on a flight to India”.

“The decision on resumption of passenger flights to India will be taken in due course,” the statement said.

“The main objective of the database is to estimate the number of people who wish to travel to different parts of the country so that appropriate planning could be done to receive them in India.”

The conditions for travelling on flights will also be notified later.

“All rules and regulations of the government of UAE on departure and government of India on arrival will need to be strictly followed, especially those related to Covid-19,” the statement added.

2/2) People wishing to register may follow the link https://t.co/BqTnl786qA, pls bear with us if it takes some time for the page to load due to high traffic.

— India in Dubai (@cgidubai) April 29, 2020

India shut its borders on March 22 as it enforced a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19. However, Indian media reports indicated that the country was planning to organise special flights to bring back Indians stranded abroad.

State governments in the country have reportedly been urged to arrange for hospital beds and quarantine zones for returning Indian nationals.

The lockdown in India is slated to end on May 3, although the country is anticipated to reopen in a phased manner.