Late March 2020, as CoronaVirus was declared a pandemic, various nations took actions to protect their borders from importing the Virus. As a part of these moves, the UAE suspended Visa on Arrival and then on March 25, stopped the entry of everyone excluding Emirati citizens. This included foreign residence visa holders, who might have been on a trip abroad and could not make it back in time to the country before border closure.

The good news is, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the UAE is now planning to modify the emergency actions, to allow expat residents of the UAE to be back in the country. In a press release issued today, they said

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) and the Federal Authority For Identity and Citizenship (ICA) Monday said foreign nationals holding valid residence visa can return to the UAE starting June 1st.

MoFAIC and ICA in a joint statement today said the decision stems from the UAE’s keenness to enable those holding valid residence visas to get reunited with their families after having been affected by the precautionary measures taken under the current exceptional circumstances to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the meantime, ICA called on those holding valid residence visas and wishing to return to the UAE to register in the service entitled ” Residents’ Entry Permit”, via its website: smartservices.ica.gov.ae.

This should be good news for those who were stuck in India and would like to head back to the UAE to be with their families, as the UAE visa residents can now be allowed back in the country, and I assume, Air India will be able to sell them tickets on the empty repatriation flights going out.