UAE exempts citizens from all EU countries from pre-entry visa

The UAE Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that it exempted citizens of another 13 European Union ( EU) member states from requiring a pre-entry visa to the country, arousing high expectations for more tourist arrivals. The 13 countries that come under the new exemption are Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia, Estonia, Malta, Cyprus, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria. With citizens of the other 15 EU member states already being exempted, the announcement means that all citizens of the EU countries holding an ordinary passport will be allowed to enter the UAE without a pre-entry visa. The decision will come into effect as of March 22. The move comes days after the EU parliament exempted citizens from the UAE from requiring a pre-entry visa to EU's 28 member states. Helal Saeed Almarri, director general of Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), the official tourism promoting body in Dubai, called the move "a very positive announcement." Almarri said "as we work toward our target of welcoming 20 million visitors per year by 2020, DTCM will continue to work with partners in the government and the private sector to ensure that Dubai's destination offering is continually enhanced."