Dubai is extremely strict and a visa rejection can potentially create lifelong complications for travelling to the destination
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Facing an unprecedented rise in visa rejections for travelling to Dubai, hundreds of Indian tourists are in shock and faced with financial losses.
The strict visa rules and regulations adopted by the United Arab Emirates have upset tourists and travel agencies. They have expressed their dismay over the new trend of visa rejections as the UAE imposed strict rules with demands of hotel booking details, return tickets, and the host’s rental agreement. Travellers wanting to stay with relatives in Dubai are required to submit their host’s rental agreement, Emirates ID, residence visa copy, and contact details while applying for the visa.
However, travel agency officials claim that visa applications are being rejected unilaterally even when all required documents are submitted.
A resident of Pune said his visa application was rejected even though he had submitted all documents as per the new rules.
“The visa fee is non-refundable, and our flight tickets were non-refundable too. We spent around Rs 50,000 on a two-way flight, and now that money has gone to waste. We had attached all the relevant documents as per the new requirements while applying for the visa, yet our plan stands cancelled as our visas were rejected,” the resident was quoted by The Times of India as saying.
Vijay Thakkar, director of Hashmukh Travels, said that two passengers applying for the visa with the help of his agency suffered a loss after their visas were rejected despite submitting the documents as per the new rules.
“Two of our passengers recently had their Dubai visa applications rejected. They were planning to stay with their relatives in Dubai. While applying for the visa, we attached all the relevant documents as per the new visa requirements. Yet, their applications were rejected. This resulted in significant monetary loss for the passengers, as they had spent nearly Rs 14,000 on visa fees, and ticket cancellation cost was another Rs 20,000 and more,” he said.
Another travel agent and director of Passio Travels, Nikhil Kumar, said that out of 100 applications, 5-6 visas are rejected every day.
“Earlier, the rejection rate for Dubai visas was just 1-2%. This was before the new rules were enforced. We are now getting at least 5-6 visa rejections per day from nearly 100 applications daily. Even when confirmed flight tickets and hotel stay details are attached, the visa applications are being rejected.”
He said, “In cases where travellers are staying with relatives in Dubai and we attach mandatory documents like the host’s rental agreement, Emirates ID, residence visa copy and contact details, visas are getting rejected. In all of these cases, the clients have already paid for confirmed flight tickets and hotel bookings.”
Kumar said, “A husband and wife applied for Dubai visas, but the wife’s visa was rejected, despite both having identical documents for hotel and flight tickets. Their tickets were non-refundable.”
Nilesh Bhansali, president of the Travel Agents Association of Pune, pointed to the dummy tickets and fabricated documents as a cause of rejections. “After stricter requirements for Dubai tourist visa applications were introduced, many people are attempting to attach dummy flight tickets or fabricated documents. This is never recommended,” he said.
“Dubai is extremely strict, and rejection can potentially create lifelong travel complications to the destination. My advice to travellers is to avoid any dummy tickets or hotel bookings,” he said.
