UAE further relaxes visa rules for Indian nationals

The UAE cabinet approved a decision on Wednesday to grant visas on arrival to Indian passport holders who have UK and European Union residence visas, local media reported.

The decision is aimed at improving the long-term strategic partnership between the UAE and India and promoting political, economic and trade interests between the two countries.

The latest move comes after the UAE began granting visas on arrival to Indian nationals with a valid US visa or a green card from May 1.

The only condition is that the validity of the passport and well as the US visa or green card must be for at least for six months.

The on-arrival visa costs Dhs100 for a period of 14 days, and can be renewed for a similar period for the same cost.

Read more: UAE begins granting visas on arrival to Indians with US visas

The UAE is looking to grow tourist numbers from India – which has been named the largest growing outbound tourism market in percentage terms. The UNWTO predicts that 50 million Indians will travel overseas annually by 2020.

Dubai’s tourism agency welcomed about 1.6 million Indians last year – making the country the emirate’s largest source market for the first time. This represented an increase of 26 per cent year-on-year.

For Abu Dhabi as well, India emerged as the largest overseas market for tourism last year, with visitor numbers reaching 323,300 – up 15 per cent year-on-year.