Passengers from these countries can travel to Dubai despite entry visa suspension

On Saturday, March 14, the UAE announced that it would suspend the issuance of all visas to foreigners with effect from Tuesday, March 17, as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Read: UAE suspends issuance of all visas, bans travel to Italy, Turkey, among others

However, on March 15, Dubai Airports issued a statement on its website clarifying that there will be exemptions to the rule.

Latest update on visas on arrival @DXB. Passengers with passports from select countries will continue to get visas on arrival at Dubai International. https://t.co/vCAecuYDtn https://t.co/bKj7qy1ztI

— Emirates Airline (@emirates) March 15, 2020

It said that the issuance of entry visas will not be suspended for the passport holders of the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy (from Rome only), Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Vatican, United Kingdom and The United States of America.

Read: People returning to the UAE from these countries must self-isolate for 14 days

The suspension of entry visas also does not apply to diplomatic passport holders or those who have had visas issued prior to March 17.

Eligible passengers can continue to travel to and from the UAE, though may be subject to additional screening.

Read: Emirates to suspend all Italy flights, conduct thermal screening on US-bound flights

The statement said that all passengers arriving at Dubai International airport (DXB) would be subject to non-intrusive thermal scanning, although those arriving from Italy (Rome), Lebanon, China (Beijing), Syria and Thailand would be subject to additional thermal screenings and nasal swabs, carried out by the Dubai Health Authority.

The statement added that all scheduled passenger flights to and from the following countries from Dubai have been temporarily suspended until further notice:

• Bahrain
• Iraq (effective as of March 17)
• Islamic Republic of Iran
• Italy, except for Rome
• Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• Kuwait
• Lebanon (effective as of March 17)
• People’s Republic of China, except for Beijing
• Syria (effective as of March 17)
• Turkey (effective as of March 17)

All passengers departing on passenger flights from DXB bound for destinations in the United States will also undergo thermal screening.

Emirates confirms that there is no truth to the rumors circulating on social media that the airline will be suspending all flights on 17 March. For latest flight updates please visit https://t.co/qZ7DQK19YZ

— Emirates Airline (@emirates) March 15, 2020

Emirates Airline who tweeted the statement from Dubai Airports regarding the exemptions to the visa ban, also refuted claims on social media that it was planning to stop all flights from March 17.

Read: Saudi Arabia suspends all international flights for two weeks

Saudi Arabia has suspended all international flights to and from the kingdom from March 15 for a period of two weeks.

Read: Kuwait suspends all flights from March 13, Qatar reports over 230 new coronavirus cases

Kuwait too initiated the suspension of all commercial flights from March 13 for a period of two weeks.