Emirates will return hundreds of thousands of residents to the UAE

The UAE government has decided to return 200,000 residents remaining abroad in March 2020 due to the closure of a number of countries’ borders and airspace in order to combat the spread of coronavirus infection. The UAE National Department for Emergency and Natural Disasters reported that from March 25 to June 8, 2020, at the initiative of the department, almost 31,000 residents returned to the country to reunite with their family, as well as for humanitarian purposes.

By decision of the government, a plan will be developed to intensify the process of returning UAE residents to the country. The process will be managed and coordinated by the National Office together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the UAE. According to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, they will primarily deal with the return of residents who, due to the circumstances, turned out to be divorced from their families, because helping the families in the UAE is of paramount importance.
In turn, the government plans to return residents employed in key sectors of the economy to improve the quality of life of people in the UAE. To return to the UAE, residents on a special website will be able to fill out an application for an “Entry Permit” and must wait for a response that must come within 2 days. Then, residents who have received permission will be able to order tickets at airlines flying to the UAE.

From the moment of arrival in the UAE, all residents will have to spend 14 days in self-isolation mode. As well as tourists, they will have to fill out the registration form of the healthcare department in a mobile application to further monitor their health. It should be recalled that resident visas, which expired on April 30, 2020, were automatically extended until December 31, 2020 to all residents, even if they were abroad at that time.

It should be noted that Emirates airline will continue flights to London, Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Chicago, Toronto, Melbourne and Sydney until June 30, 2020, so that all UAE residents can return to the country. At the same time, in all the air harbors of the Emirates it is imperative to observe preventive measures such as the presence of a mask and gloves, social distance, passing a remote thermal imager at the entrance to measure body temperature, in order to prevent the importation and spread of coronavirus infection.