Travel agencies started offering packages for tourists to travel and renew their visa at the same time

The visitors must now exit the country in order to apply for a renewal or extension of visa after the UAE introduced a change in its visit visa renewal policy recently. As the holiday season kicks in, agencies have started offering packages for tourists to travel and renew their visa at the same time.

Travel agencies are offering packages with countries that offer visas-on-arrival and e-visas to several nationalities.

The countries are:

Azerbaijan

Armenia

Kazakhstan

Sri Lanka

Maldives

Bhutan

Nepal

Thailand

Georgia

As per Varghese, the package price for Georgia and Azerbaijan start at Dh2,023, excluding visa renewal. If one wants to renew their visas, an extra charge of Dh600 is applicable. Countries like Armenia, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal, and Thailand are priced at Dh1,800 to Dh2,000 without renewal of the UAE visa. “With UAE visa renewal, the price can increase to Dh3,000,” said Varghese. The packages aren’t offered to every nationality, he said, interested people must check with with the travel agent.

The package includes air tickets, accommodation, tours and sightseeing, activities, an inbound country visa, and more, with the departures scheduled on December 30.

Experts say that island nations like Seychelles, Maldives, and Mauritius are in great demand for New Year, but the renewal of visas may cost extra. “The airfare is quite high to Seychelles and other island nations. Also, the accommodation price range is on the higher side,” said Varghese.

The new rules came into effect on Tuesday, December 13, when the option for visit visa holders in the UAE to extend their visas from within the country was discontinued. As of now, visitors must exit the country once their visa validity expires.