Manama: Dubai has implemented a new procedure for visitors from five countries. According to the new rule, visit and tourist visa holders from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bangladesh must hold a valid round trip ticket for entry into Dubai International Airport (DXB) and Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC).
Visitors from these five countries must hold a valid round trip ticket for entry into Dubai International Airport (DXB) and Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC), local media reported. Travellers not complying with the regulations will be sent back to the same destination where they came from on the expenses of the airlines concerned, it said.
Airlines and travel agents in the emirate have been asked to implement the new procedures strictly. The move came after hundreds of Indian and Pakistani passengers stranded at Dubai International Airport since Tuesday were flown back to their countries.
Following this, Indian carriers such as Air India Express and IndiGo issued travel updates for passengers travelling to Dubai on tourist/ visit visas. Air India Express announced that all tourist/visit visa holders to Dubai must hold a valid return ticket to be accepted for travel.
IndiGo announced that passengers who don’t have a valid return ticket will be denied entry and shall be deported at their own cost. Travel agents said they have also been informed that these passengers should have a minimum of Dh2,000 with them.
Meanwhile, Indian and Pakistani missions in Dubai confirmed that hundreds of passengers from their countries, who were denied entry for non-compliance of regulations for visit/tourist visa holders, were flown back home, Gulf News reported.
Of around 200 Indian passengers who were stranded at the airport, 120 were flown back home, embassy sources said. Airline sources had earlier said that there were hundreds of passengers of different nationalities, mainly from the labour-sending Asian and African countries, who were denied entry.
