The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has temporarily suspended the issuance of new visas to visitors for Pakistan and 11 other countries until further notice.
Besides Pakistan, the UAE government suspended the issuance of visit visas to Turkey, Iran, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Libya, Kenya, and Afghanistan among others.
However, the suspension would not apply on already issued visas, the Foreign Office said. It was not immediately clear how many categories of visas would be affected by the suspension. The UAE has various visa categories, including business, tourist, transit and student.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office confirmed the news saying that the decision by the UAE authorities is “believed to be related to the second wave of COVID-19.”
“We have learned that the UAE has temporarily suspended the issuance of new visit visas until further announcement for 12 countries, including Pakistan,” the country’s Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said.
This development comes amid a rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country. For nearly one week, Pakistan has recorded over 2,000 new coronavirus cases.
In June, when cases in Pakistan were on the rise, UAE airline Emirates had announced temporary suspension of passenger services from Pakistan till July 3. The decision came after around 30 Pakistanis who arrived in Hong Kong on board an Emirates flight tested positive for the virus. The airline resumed its flights in July. In August, Kuwait’s aviation banned commercial flights to Pakistan and 30 other countries regarded as ‘high risk’ due to the spread of the coronavirus.
