A top UAE official denied Wednesday reports that the Gulf state had toughened visa rules for tourists from labour-exporting South Asians nations banning low-income visitors. General Nasser al-Menhali, assistant under-secretary for Nationality and Residency at the interior ministry said no changes have been made to the existing law for visas, WAM state news agency reported.
"Any amendments or measures would be announced in advance," he said. The Gulf News daily had reported Tuesday that tourists from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Philippines would need to have a university degree to get a visa to the UAE. It cited a senior immigration official saying that electricians, pipe fitters, masons, farmers, drivers, tailors and cleaners from those countries would not qualify.