Will UAE citizens now travel visa-free to Britain?

Highly placed sources have confirmed that the British government will shortly announce visa exemption rules for UAE nationals.

The exemption will affect “those UAE nationals requiring visa for medical and tourism purposes.”

The news, sources say. comes as a result of on going talks in Abu Dhabi with the British Ambassador to the UAE Dominique Jeremy, who had confirmed to the media in April that there were on-going discussions on facilitating visa procedures for Emiratis visiting the UK.

When Emirates 24|7 contacted the British Embassy, Dubai, a spokesperson issued an email statement that said: “Passport holders from all Gulf Arab States require a visa to visit the UK for any purpose. There is currently no change to these existing visa requirements.“

However, the plausibility of a change in the near future was also not denied.

The statement continued: “We keep all visa arrangements under constant review and we expect to announce changes to some visa regimes shortly.”

Earlier, this website had reported the British envoy stating that the visit of the UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to Britain at the invitation of UK’s Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II this year proved a significant milestone in the history of relations between the two countries.

Experts say this news could only strengthen the UAE’s bid to provide its citizens visa free access to the European Union, with the Civil Liberties Committee at the European Parliament voted Monday, to add the UAE to a list of countries whose nationals will not need a visa for a short stay of up to 90 days.

The move, if finalised next year, will allow UAE citizens visa-free access to the 26 countries that comprise the Schengen nations.

Meanwhile, the visa exemption appears not limited to the UAE alone.

Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Bu Said, secretary-general at Oman’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tweeted about a similar exemption to the UK for Omani citizens.

He wrote, when quizzed: “Yes, it is true but wait for the formal announcement by the British authority as there is a mechanism that will have to be followed.”

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