After thousands of visits and tourist visa holders at Dubai International Airport were denied entry due to incomplete requirements, such as obtaining return tickets, two foreign missions in the UAE advised their 'job seekers’ not to travel to Dubai on tourist and visit visas.
The Pakistani and Indian missions in Dubai asked job seekers to halt their travel to Dubai on tourist or visit visas.
Recently, 1,374 passengers were denied entry in Dubai. Of the total number, 1,276 were sent back to their country of origin, and 98 are still in the airport.
Meanwhile, some 300 Indian nationals were stopped at the airport, around 80 were allowed entry later, 49 are still in the airport.
"There are now two checkpoints at the check-in counters and at the immigration counters. If the officials suspect that a passenger on a tourist visa is flying to Dubai seeking a job, he will not be allowed to fly," a Pakistani Consulate official was quoted as saying by Gulf News.
The unnamed official also confirmed in the interview that passengers are denied entry in Dubai if immigration officials are convinced that they have flown in to look for jobs.
"The mission has also asked authorities back home to ensure that passengers on tourist visas have valid return ticket, hotel booking, and show money," he added.
“If you are on a particular visa category, you have to satisfy that that you are a bona fide visa holder. No country will accept travelers without proper documents and those who do not fulfill the requirements. We have to respect the immigration authorities’ rules and nobody should travel from India to the UAE on a visit or tourist visa looking for a job," an Indian Consulate official also told Gulf News.
It added that Indians should come on a proper visa, and if they are 'genuine tourists', they must possess sufficient means to cover their expenditure also. "And if they are coming for a purpose other than tourism, we will request them to get the right visa," it added.
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