FO says ‘no ban’ by UAE on visas for Pakistanis from specific cities

Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch on Monday confirmed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had not banned or blacklisted the issuance of visas to Pakistanis belonging to specific cities.

“We have seen the reports. We can confirm that no such ban is in place by UAE for the issuance of visas to Pakistani citizens,” said the spokesperson.

The response by the FO came in view of the queries by journalists on reports of blacklisting or ban by the UAE on the issuance of visas to Pakistani citizens belonging to specific cities.

The UAE also strongly denied reports of not providing visas to Pakistani citizens belonging to certain cities, terming it as “fake news”.

Consulate General of the UAE Karachi Bakheet Ateeq Al Remeithi said that no such ban had been imposed by the UAE government.

Read: UAE announces 10 types of new entry, residence visas

Last month, the UAE government revised the naming guidelines for allowing entry into the Emirates.

Pakistan passengers with a single name on their passports will not be allowed to enter the UAE, said Pakistan’s private airline quoting revised naming guidelines.

“The UAE government has revised the naming guidelines for allowing entry in the Emirates. As per the guideline update, passengers holding passports with [only] a single name and no other name – including, father name/family name – will not be accepted,” Serene Air said.

Pakistan-UAE is one of the busiest air routes as South Asian nationals account for the second largest expatriate community in the UAE, totalling around 1.6 million.