Dubai: Cruise tourists, property owners and their families, businessmen and professional can now get multiple visit visas to the UAE.
The move came after Lt. General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior issued Ministerial Decree No. 418 yesterday for the year 2012 amending some provisions of the Regulations to the law of entry and residence of foreigners to the UAE.
According to the ministerial decree issued, cruise tourists will be able to get three months multiple tourist visa and stay maximum of 14 days during each visit. Earlier, they were given only single entry tourist visa.
Those eligible for the multiple entry visas include businessmen, property owners and their families, and cruise tourists. Rest of the categories remained unchanged. The move aims at further facilitating tourists, investors and businessmen coming to the UAE.
The decree further stipulates that businessmen and professionals abroad, who are dealing with a public or private institution or a company in the UAE, and who require frequent visits, are eligible for multiple entries for six months. They can enter the country as many times during this period.
Multiple entry visas can be issued by any of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in the country and the UAE’s mission abroad when necessary the foreigner wishing to enter the country for the following purposes.
Also, wife and children of the foreigners who own property in the UAE are also eligible for the multiple six months visit visa.
Specific conditions need to be met to be eligible for the six month multiple visas.
Business visitors, who get multiple entries visas for six month should not stay more than 30 days during each visit.
If the visitors own a property in the country, the visa will allow them to enter the country several times during the six months from the date of issuance of the visa and allow them to stay as long as the visa is valid.
In case the purpose for visiting the country is tourism and the visitor is coming on board one of the cruises, the entry permit allow the tourist to enter the country several times during the three months from the date of issuance of the visa and stay a maximum of 14 days each time from date of entry.
According to Article 44 (repeated) 9 the UAE’s ambassadorial and consular mission abroad can also issue a ‘special visa’ to specific categories of visitors.
The UAE mission aboard are allowed to issue visit visas exempt from the requirement of a sponsor.
Holders of diplomatic and United Nations passports can be given multiple entry visas for three months by UAE missions abroad.
These visas allow entry to the UAE for multiple times during three months from the date of the issuance. It also allows the holder to stay during each of the visit for not more than 30 days from the date of entry as long as the visa is valid.
The new rules will take effect from the date of issuance.
