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Vanuatu nationals in possession of official and diplomatic passports will soon be able to travel visa-free -for up to 90 days to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Leingkone and UAE’s Minister of Climate Change and Environment, Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi.
The MoU signed at the margin of the High-Level week of the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York last week, will enter into force on 21 October 2017-30 days after the signing of the document.
Minister Leingkone said the signing of the visa waiver agreement between UAE and Vanuatu is testament to the very warm relationship and the strength of the partnership between the two countries and that once it enters into force, it will create ease of travel for Vanuatu Government officials to and through UAE especially when it does not have a consular office in Vanuatu.
During bilateral talks held just before the signing ceremony, Minister Leingkone thanked the UAE Government for the solar project at the parliament house and for their generous financial support towards recovery efforts post cyclone Pam, which ravaged parts of Vanuatu in March 2015.
He also thanked the UAE Government for facilitating the historic signing ceremony. Minister Al Zeyoudi thanked the Vanuatu Government for the solid friendship with UAE and said that the UAE Government looked forward to strengthening its relationship with Vanuatu.
Whilst the new bilateral agreement provides for visa-free travel for Government officials to the UAE, Vanuatu’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and External Trade warned that the visa waiver does not allow for Vanuatu nationals to work or pursue studies within the territory of UAE, unless proper visas are granted.
All Vanuatu nationals traveling to UAE must also ensure that requirements set out by the UAE Immigration Authority are fully met.
(Source: Vanuatu Daily Post 29 September 2017)
