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U.A.E. slaps visas on Canadians

HavokFour

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Apologies if this is posted in the wrong forum.

U.A.E. slaps visas on Canadians

Canadians will need visas to enter the United Arab Emirates as of Jan. 2, 2011, the U.A.E. Embassy in Ottawa has confirmed.

The announcement follows a dispute between Ottawa and the U.A.E. over airline landing rights at Canadian airports that saw Canada evicted from a key military base in Dubai.

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada posted an update to its website that says the visas will be required for tourism and business purposes and can be obtained prior to travel at the U.A.E. Embassy.

Opposition critics have slammed Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government for its handling of relations with the U.A.E. — a key Mideast trading partner that had provided the Canadians with free use of the once-covert military base known as Camp Mirage to stage operations in Afghanistan.

The U.A.E. kicked Canada off Camp Mirage after the federal government refused to allow U.A.E. state carriers Emirates and Etihad unlimited daily service into Toronto. Currently, the two airlines are limited to six flights a week in total.

More to come

Read more...

Yeesh, they really have a grudge! Although I can't imagine many Canadians are regularly traveling to the U.A.E. anyway, visa or not.
 
Turn about is fair play, I guess. Most countries' nationals require a visa to enter Canada. here is the list of those needing a visa:

A
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Argentina
Armenia
Azerbaijan

B
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi

C
Cambodia
Republic of Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China, People’s
Republic of
Colombia
Comoros
Congo, Democratic
Republic of the
Congo, Republic of the
Costa Rica
Cuba
Czech Republic

D
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic

E
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia

F
Fiji

G
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Ghana
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana

H
Haiti
Honduras

I
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Israel (only Israeli citizens holding valid Israeli “Travel Document in lieu of National Passport”)
Ivory Coast

J
Jamaica
Jordan

K
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Korea, North
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan

L
Laos
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Lithuania (holders of non-biometric passports only)

M
Macao S.A.R.
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives Islands
Mali
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia, Fed. States
Moldova
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar (Burma)

N
Nauru
Nepal
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria

O
Oman

P
Pakistan
Palau
Palestinian Authority
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland (holders of non-biometric passports only)

Q
Qatar

R
Romania
Russia
Rwanda

S
Sao Tomé e Principe
Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Surinam
Syria

T
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu

U
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Uruguay
Uzbekistan

V
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam

Y
Yemen

Z
Zambia
Zimbabwe


Here is the much shorter list of countries whose nationals that do not require a visa to enter Canada:

Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel (National Passport holders only), Italy, Japan, Korea (Republic of), Latvia (Republic of), Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland, United States, and Western Samoa.

Source: Citizenship & Immigration Canada.

Last time I checked Australia required visa for everyone, except Kiwis (citizens of New Zealand).
 
I imagine this will affect Canadian English teachers more than anyone else. Quite a few of them in Dubai.
 
Or the folks working in oil and gas...lots of them as well.
 
HavokFour said:
Apologies if this is posted in the wrong forum.

U.A.E. slaps visas on Canadians

Read more...

Yeesh, they really have a grudge! Although I can't imagine many Canadians are regularly traveling to the U.A.E. anyway, visa or not.

Speak not unless you know for certain there are hundreds of businessmen, military, domestics etc there all the time.
 
HavokFour said:
Yeesh, they really have a grudge! Although I can't imagine many Canadians are regularly traveling to the U.A.E. anyway, visa or not.

Except everyone going to/from Afghanistan on leave. There is also a huge expat community in UAE with thousands of Canadian citizens. Dubai is a hub for Middle East/Asia travel so many Canadians stay over night in the hotels or transit from one Terminal to another.
 
Realize this. Emeraties rarely do any physical work. Sure they are CEO's etc but most of the work is done by the expat community. All of those businesses and schools are run them.  So having visas stuck on us is and will be an ass pain for all involved
 
The UAE is always changing the rules on their visa/immigration policy. Yes, this is a shot at Canada, but will it be difficult to get these visas? Probably not. It is more the time and money that will be an inconvenience. For the majority of the expats working there already for foreign companies, they will be taken care of. It wasn't hard to legally buy the paperwork you needed if you went to the right people.
 
mover1 said:
Realize this. Emeraties rarely do any physical work. Sure they are CEO's etc but most of the work is done by the expat community. All of those businesses and schools are run them.  So having visas stuck on us is and will be an *** pain for all involved

Too true. I got friends living there... been there for years. It's a crazy place... A Canadian couple (the wife being 3 months pregnant at the time) was assaulted by 3 or 4 Emiratie men because they would not give up their seats to them at the Ikea restaurant. It was pretty empty apparently). No charges were laid on these men despite being summoned to appear in court.

All that aside, I've been told that a big part of the problem stems from Carrier rights into Canada from U.A.E. Basically, the U.A.E. wanted Canada let Emirates Air have exclusive rights to fly into Canada from the U.A.E. (Dubai). As Dubai is a major hub for that part of the world, it would effectively eliminate Air Canada's routing through there.

I'm not 100% on the details, but that is the gist of whats been floating around the trade folk.
 
UAE embassy to charge Canadians steep visa fees
COLIN FREEZE Globe and Mail  Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010
Article Link

The United Arab Emirates embassy in Ottawa has announced it will be charging Canadians up to $1,000 for visas starting next week – seemingly punitive pricing that exceeds global norms.

Observers question the fees as posted on the embassy’s website, claiming they don’t square with what others are charging Canadians for the same travel documents. They point out that UAE-based airlines and hotels are already facilitating the new visas now required for visiting Canadians, but they are not charging unduly harsh rates.

No citizen of any other Western country needs a visa to enter the UAE, which announced months ago that Canadians would lose their favoured-guest status amid an ongoing bilateral row over aviation rights. The policy is to take effect Jan. 2, though the precise details have never been officially spelled out.

In recent months, UAE officials have kicked hundreds of Canadian soldiers out of a secret military base in Dubai, threatened to keep Canadian-made BlackBerry devices out of the local market and even accused Ottawa officials of harbouring Israeli Mossad assassins.

All of this has taken place amid the Conservative government’s refusal to open up more Canadian routes to Dubai-based airlines, after the rulers of the Persian Gulf nation thought they had built up considerable goodwill with Ottawa.

The UAE embassy in Ottawa quietly posted a new policy saying it would be seeking $250 for a 30-day visa for Canadians, $500 for a three-month visa and $1,000 for a six-month visa. Embassy officials could not confirm the pricing structure – and it was suggested concerned Canadians call the embassy when it reopens on Wednesday.

If the embassy charges the posted fees, Canadians who plan to visit the UAE are better off arranging their documents through Dubai-based airlines. The Etihad Airlines website says the airline can facilitate a month-long visa for visiting Canadians at a cost of only $83 U.S., whereas representatives of Emirates Airlines said that their fees are slightly less. Neither had information about any three-month or six-month visa rate.
More on link
 
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