UAE: Is travel insurance mandatory for 5-year UAE tourist visa holder?

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I hold a five-year multiple-entry tourist visa. Is it mandatory to have travel insurance every time I fly to UAE?

In the UAE, a five-year multiple-entry tourist visa has been introduced by the Cabinet Decision No. 65 of 2022.

Article 15 of the Cabinet Decision sets forth the conditions and qualifications to obtain the five-year multiple-entry tourist visa.

Under UAE law, the authority may issue a multi-visit visa for the purpose of tourism that is valid for five years without requiring a guarantor. The applicant is required to provide evidence of a bank balance of $4,000 or its equivalent in foreign currencies during the last six months preceding the submission of the application.

The multiple-entry tourist visa allows the beneficiary to stay in the country for a continuous period not exceeding 90 days; the Authority may extend it for a similar period, provided that the full period of stay does not exceed 180 days in one year.

The period of stay may be extended for a period of more than 180 days per year in exceptional cases to be determined by a decision of the President.

Article 15 of the Cabinet Decision doesn’t have any specific conditions regarding health insurance. But, at the website of the UAE’s Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Ports Security (ICP), one of the pre-conditions for issuance of the visa, is for the applicant to submit a valid health insurance document approved in the UAE for the applicant and proof of a health insurance policy for the applicant’s family members.

Furthermore, upon enquiry, the ICP confirmed that a multiple-entry visit visa holder must obtain valid health insurance coverage approved in the UAE for each trip to the country, for the applicant and the applicant’s accompanying family members. Such health insurance policy should sufficiently cover their entire period of stay in the UAE.

Therefore, it is indeed mandatory for the multiple entry visa holder to have health insurance policy coverage approved in the UAE every time they fly to the UAE, and such policy should cover the duration of their stay in the country.

Ashish Mehta is the founder and Managing Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates. He is qualified to practise law in Dubai, the United Kingdom and India.