Visa-free travel between Israel and the UAE to begin
Israeli and Emirati citizens will be able to travel to each other’s countries without a visa starting today.
Israel and the UAE initially signed the agreement for visa-free travel in January, but the UAE chose to postpone the agreement’s implementation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As cases have dropped dramatically in both countries, they were mutually inclined to resume the agreement’s implementation, which will apply to Israelis and Emiratis traveling for leisure and business purposes. People seeking to study, find a job or volunteer in the UAE will still need a visa. Officials from both countries indicated that the agreement would help foster technological cooperation and economic development.
Expect the visa-free travel agreement to help improve relations between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi. Relations between the two countries have already steadily improved since the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020, when relations between Israel and the UAE were normalized. Given the upward trajectory of trade between the two countries, it is very likely that the visa-free agreement will help bolster business relationships between Israel and the UAE, especially in the jewelry and plastics industries.
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