One of the flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates has announced a partnership with VFS Global, which will enable Indian passport holders to travel to the country with a pre-approved visa, which applies to specific categories and can last for stays of up to 14 days.
Indian nationals who have a valid six-month visa for the US, EU Residency, UK Residency, or US Green Card will be allowed to come to the country with a pre-approved visa-on-arrival, considering they fly with the Emirates, VisaGuide.World reports.
The service is exclusively available to Indian passport holders who have a valid six-month visa for the US, US Green Card, EU Residency, or UK Residency. The issuance of visas remains at the absolute discretion of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs.
There is quite a large Indian community in Dubai, and it also serves as a very popular tourist destination for Indian nationals. In 2023, some two million overnight stays were spent by Indian nationals in Dubai.
Since its first flight in 1985, Emirates currently has 167 weekly flights to India and offers air transport to and from nine destinations, including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata and Thiruvananthapuram.
The pre-approved 14-day single-entry visa is facilitated by the Dubai Visa Processing Centre (DVPC), and it will allow customers to skip queues after they arrive in the city without having to spend too much time dealing with process time.
Travelers can conveniently book their flights via the Emirates website, where they can access the ‘manage an existing booking’ feature, leading them to the ‘apply for a UAE visa’ section. After being redirected to the online UAE Visa application portal managed by VFS Global Services, all necessary terms and conditions for visa processing are provided transparently.
However, Indian tourists are changing their destination, with Bangkok becoming a top destination, especially compared to Dubai, as the digital travel platform Agoda reveals.
The recent findings of Agoda show that the decision of Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia’s governments to ease their visa policies for travelers from India has prompted an increase in booking trends. In addition to Bangkok, Dubai, Pattaya, Singapore, and Bali are the top emerging markets for Indians in 2024.
According to Visa Guide Passport Checker, Indian passport holders are able to travel to 29 countries without a visa, another three with an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA), and passport-free to two nations. In addition, the Indian passport, which ranks 132nd globally, allows entry to 35 countries with an eVisa, while a visa is required for travel to 130 countries.