ISLAMABAD – Senate is buzzing as UAE quietly shut its doors to most Pakistanis. For country whose workers built skyscrapers in Dubai and sent lifelines of remittances back home, the announcement felt nothing but jolt.
Pakistan’s Additional Interior Secretary Salman Chaudhry announced that UAE stopped issuing visas to common Pakistanis, triggering fears of looming full-scale travel ban.
Briefing Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights, Chaudhry disclosed that the UAE is now only granting visas to blue passport holders and diplomats, while regular Pakistani passport holders face prolonged wait. Even more alarming, he warned that both Saudi Arabia and the UAE had come close to ban people from Pakistan.
UAE is not only one of Pakistan’s closest regional partners but also home to one of the world’s largest Pakistani expatriate populations, whose remittances fuel a major portion of Pakistan’s economy. Any disruption in mobility could deliver a severe blow to thousands of families and businesses back home.
Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, who heads the committee, confirmed the claims, saying the restrictions stem from UAE concerns that some Pakistani visitors particularly those entering on visit visas instead of work visas were engaging in criminal activities once inside the country. According to her, the committee was told that only a handful of visas had been granted recently, and that too after “great difficulty.”
This development follows a wave of visa rejections in early July, which pushed Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to personally raise the matter with UAE leadership. During a meeting on July 11, UAE Lt Gen Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan assured Naqvi of “full support” in expediting visas and hinted at easing some restrictions.
The latest situation also contradicts an earlier, seemingly optimistic statement made in April by UAE Ambassador Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi, who had announced that visa issues were resolved and that Pakistanis could apply for a five-year visa.
