UAE launches hotline for residents who are overseas following entry suspension

The UAE has launched a new hotline to assist residence visa holders who are currently outside the country.

The move comes after the UAE suspended entry of all its valid visa holders, including residents who are currently abroad, for a renewable period of two weeks, beginning at 12pm on Thursday, March 19, as a means to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has established a round-the-clock helpline to facilitate procedures, it said in a statement.

Holders of valid residence permits overseas and their family members and first-degree relatives in the UAE can call the helpline 0097124965228 for enquiries and assistance for humanitarian and emergency cases to ensure their safe return to the UAE, the ministry said.

Due to a high volume of calls, the ministry later added a second hotline number.

Due to high volume of calls, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs allocates additional hotline +97192083344
to help holders of valid residence permits abroad.

— وزارة الخارجية والتعاون الدولي (@MoFAICUAE) March 19, 2020

The UAE has already announced that it suspending the issuing of visas on arrival for all nationalities, except for diplomatic passport holders.

Read: UAE to suspend visas on arrival from March 19 

On Thursday, the UAE announced 27 new coronavirus cases in the country, to take the total number of those infected to 140, of whom 31 patients are said to have fully recovered.