News Highlight
The new visa rules were announced by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last month and include various benefits.
Key Takeaway
- The changes in the UAE visa rules can be broadly classified into three categories.
- Entry visa
- Green visa
- Golden visa
- For the first time, the UAE has introduced entry visas that do not require a host or sponsor for visitors.
- In 2020, golden visas were introduced, designed to enable exceptionally skilled foreigners to live, work and study in the UAE without needing a national sponsor.
- Green Visa:
- It is a type of renewable-residence visa that allows foreigners to sponsor themselves for five years, without having to rely on a UAE national or employer to sponsor their visa.
- The Golden visa:
- The Golden visa offers holders long-term renewable residence visas for upto 10 years. Those that are eligible for the Golden visa include investors, entrepreneurs, individuals with exceptional talents the likes of researchers, medical professionals and those within the scientific and knowledge fields and outstanding students and graduates.
How will Indians benefit?
- The Indian expatriate community of approximately 3.5 million constitutes about 30% of the UAE population.
- Thousands of talented professionals are expected to find employment in the UAE, and tourists can now experience a hasslefree vacation with the simplified visa system.
The United Arab Emirates
- The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates along the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula.
- Capital-Abu Dhabi
- Land border:
- Saudi Arabia-West and South
- Oman-East and Northeast
- Maritime border:
- Persian Gulf-North and Northwest.
India-UAE economic and commercial relations
- Indian diaspora:
- Indian expatriate community, of approximately 3.5 million as per International Migrant Stock 2020 released by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), is reportedly the largest ethnic community in the UAE, constituting roughly about 30 per cent of the country’s population.
- Oil import:
- UAE is India’s third largest trade partner after China and the United States. India’s crude oil imports from the United Arab Emirates were US$7.82 billion in 2020.
- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI):
- The FDI from the United Arab Emirates to India during the fiscal year 2022 was projected to be about one billion U.S. dollars.
- Vision 2021:
- In recent years, the UAE, through its “Vision 2021”, has sought to diversify its economy and reduce its dependency on oil.
- The Vision aims to make the UAE one of the best countries in the world by improving cooperation with other countries.
- The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement(CEPA):
- India-UAE CEPA was signed in 2022 during the India-UAE Virtual Summit.
- The Agreement entered into force on May 1st, 2022.
- CEPA provides an institutional mechanism to encourage and improve trade between the two countries.
- Commercial Relations:
- The traditionally close and friendly India- UAE bilateral relationship has evolved into a significant partnership in the economic and commercial sphere.
- India is the UAE’s largest export destination and trading partner, with a bilateral trade turnover of US$ 68.4 billion in 2021. India‟s major export items to the UAE are Precious Metals, Stones, Gems & Jewellery, Minerals and Food Items.
- Space Cooperation:
- Space cooperation between India and the UAE gained quick momentum during the Prime Minister’s visit to the Emirates in 2015.
- Together, the two space agencies have developed the nano-satellite, Nayif-1, launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, in India.
- The two countries will likely work together on Emirates’ “Red Planet Mission’.
Content Source: The Hindu