UAE suspends visit visas for 12 countries including Pakistan

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has temporarily suspended the issuance of new visit visas to visitors from 12 countries including Pakistan until further notice. The news was confirmed by Pakistan's Foreign Office on November 18, 2020.

Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said in a statement that UAE has temporarily suspended the issuance of new visit visas for Pakistan and 11 other countries. He said that the decision by the UAE authorities is believed to be related to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

UAE has suspended the issuance of visit visas to nations including Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and Kenya.

Key Details

•UAE's move of suspending visit visas from 12 nations comes in the wake of a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country. Pakistan has recorded 2000 new cases for almost a week. The overall tally of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan so far stands at 363,380 cases including 30,362 active cases and 7230 deaths. 

•The suspension, however, will not apply to visas that have already been issued.

•UAE has also not confirmed how many categories of visas will be affected by the suspension, as UAE has different visit visas including tourist, transit, student and business. 

•UAE's Emirates had previously in June announced a temporary suspension of passenger services to Pakistan, when cases were on a rise there. 

Background

In June 2020, UAE airline Emirates had announced a temporary suspension of its passenger services from Pakistan till July 3. The decision was taken after around 30 Pakistanis who arrived in Hong Kong aboard an Emirates flight tested positive for the virus. The airline had resumed its flights in July.

Similarly in August, Kuwait's aviation had banned commercial flights to Pakistan and 30 other countries that it regarded as ''high risk'' due to the spread of the coronavirus.

Pakistani authorities declared recently that the country was witnessing the second wave of COVID-19, as there has been a steady rise in the number of COVID-19 infections in the nation. The positivity rate of the infection has spiked in major cities of Pakistan including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad and Hyderabad.