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UAE denies rumors of visa restrictions for uneducated tourists


Skift Take

A wayward official erroneously announced earlier this week that blue-collar tourists would need an university degree to get a visa in an effort, he said, to decrease crime and trafficking in his country.

A top UAE official denied Wednesday reports that the Gulf state had toughened visa rules for tourists from labour-exporting South Asians nations banning low-income visitors.

UAE - National Day

UAE nationals only make up around 11.5 percent of the country’s population. Photo by Nitin Badhwar.

General Nasser al-Menhali, assistant undersecretary for Nationality and Residency at the interior ministry said no changes have been made to the existing law for visas, WAM state news agency reported.

The Gulf News daily had reported Tuesday that tourists from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Philippines would need to have a university degree to get a visa to the UAE.

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