Dubai has launched a visa-on-arrival facility for Indian nationals who have a valid United States visa or a green card, Khaleej Times reported. The first Indian to use the scheme arrived in Dubai on Monday.
Earlier in March, the United Arab Emirates Cabinet had approved the decision to grant Indian passport holders with either a valid United States visa or a green card a visa-on-arrival from May 1. The circular was given to the country’s border points, including airports and ports. Under the new move, ordinary passport holders from India who have a US visa or a green card valid for at least six months can enter the country from any point of entry for 14 days, with an option for a one-time extension of the same period.
India is the UAE’s second-largest partner, and trade between the two countries reach $60 billion a year, with the UAE exports to India amounting to $27 billion a year, while Indian exports to the UAE are valued at $33 billion.
There are around 143 daily flights between cities in both countries, one flight every 10 minutes, or 1,000 flights per week. The number of Indian tourists coming to the UAE in 2016 reached about 1.6 million Indian tourists, and there were about 50,000 UAE tourists who visited India in the same year.
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