The UAE ministry of Foreign affairs, has announced that Effective from 1st February, 2018, Emiratis holding ordinary passports will be exempt from pre-entry visas requirements for Ireland.
The holders of ordinary UAE passports will be allowed entry to Ireland without pre-visa requirements, with the possibility of extending their stay in Ireland for a period of up to 90 days on each visit, said MOFA press release.
UAE passport holders already have visa free access to EU schengen states, Hong Kong and New Zealand, according to MOFA. UAE citizens are able to enter UK territories by applying for Electronic Visa Waiver (EVW) issued within 48 hours from application time (15 £ fees )
The UAE passport is fast becoming a powerful passport in the GCC region, as UAE recently signed a number of visa waiver agreements with China, Rwanda, Solomon Island, Grenada, Vanuatu, Switzerland, Chile, Ukraine, Japan
Over the past 10 years, the UAE has climbed an impressive 29 places on the index. The UAE passport is ranked 32nd overall in the 2018 #HenleyPassportIndex Where does your passport rank? https://t.co/DEYEIihJVS
— Henley & Partners (@HenleyPartners) January 18, 2018
Ireland also issued a press release confirming the visa waiver with UAE.
The Minister for Justice and Equality, Mr Charlie Flanagan T.D., today announced the lifting of the visa requirement for citizens of the UAE travelling to Ireland with effect from the 31st January and has signed an Order to give effect to this decision.
Announcing the decision to lift the visa requirement the Minister said
“As Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, I led a trade mission to UAE, made an official visit there and welcomed Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Dublin. Excellent air-links between our two countries are facilitating growing partnerships in trade, education and tourism in particular. A large number of Irish citizens now live in the Emirates and many Irish companies are active on the ground where we have a busy Embassy promoting Irish interests. The UAE is a key economic partner for Ireland and one of our priority markets. I am very pleased we have been able to lift the visa requirement for citizens of the UAE who wish to travel to Ireland and we look forward to welcoming increased numbers of Emirati business people, students and tourists who will travel to Ireland following the lifting of the visa requirement.”
