UAE shuts down 'Pakistani beggars', stops issuing visas; will the ban be lifted?

News Topical, Digital Desk : The UAE has stopped issuing visas to ordinary Pakistani citizens. According to Pakistani officials, the UAE government is concerned that some people are engaging in criminal activities there. Therefore, visas are no longer being issued to those with ordinary passports.

Pakistan's Additional Home Secretary, Salman Chaudhry, gave this information at a meeting of the Senate Human Rights Committee. He said that once a ban is imposed, it becomes very difficult to lift it. He made this statement based on a report in the Pakistani newspaper Dawn.

Only a few people are able to get visa

Senate committee chairperson MP Samina Mumtaz Zehri also said that only a few people are now able to obtain visas, with great difficulty. Overseas employment promoter Aisam Baig said that the UAE government has been receiving complaints that Pakistani citizens are arriving on visit visas, not work visas, and are begging. This is why the UAE has halted the visa process.

Currently, the UAE only grants visas to those with Blue Passport and Diplomatic Passport holders. Previously, the UAE had mandated a police character certificate for visa applications. Gulf countries, especially Dubai and Abu Dhabi, have been favorite destinations for millions of Pakistani citizens. More than 800,000 Pakistanis apply for Gulf visas each year.

But in December 2024, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf countries imposed an indefinite visa ban on people from more than 30 Pakistani cities, citing various cases of begging, smuggling, human trafficking and other crimes.

Dubai and Saudi Arabia are taking strict action

Pakistani podcaster Nadeer Ali also stated that Dubai and Saudi Arabia are now very strict in issuing visas, and that he himself had difficulty obtaining a visa to attend the IIFA Awards. The UAE is a major trading partner of Pakistan, and a large number of Pakistanis work there, so this visa ban is considered a major blow to Pakistan.

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