The United Arab Emirates has imposed a blanket ban on visas for all citizens of Ghana, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Cameroon, Nigeria, Liberia, Burundi, Republic of Guinea, Gambia, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Benin, Ivory Coast, Congo, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Comoros and the Dominican Republic.
It was reported earlier that even prior to the ban, the UAE was beginning to deny entry to valid visa holders from the list of the countries now affected by the new visa regulation.
A notice sent to the travel agencies in Dubai and affected countries by the Emirati authorities on October 18 stated: “This is to inform you that we will not be posting 30 days visa applications for these nationalities effective today, October 18, 2022.”
Last month, Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry announced that the citizens of Nigeria aged 40 and under will no longer be issued tourist visas to the United Arab Emirates as the Emirati “introduced a new visa regime and has stopped issuing tourist visas to persons under the age of 40 years, except for those applying for family visas.”
All countries listed in new UAE regulation are located in Africa. The United Arab Emirates’ authorities have repeatedly alleged that the visitors from African countries are constituting security threats in the UAE. Some Nigerians have been arrested for involvement in cultism, theft in the UAE, and homicide rates were also said to be high and linked to Nigerians and Cameroonians.
The Dominican Republic is the only non-African nation on visa ban list, and it was not immediately clear why its citizens were banned.