As of Friday, [February 28] Omani travelers seeking to enter the UAE via airports and land borders will now need to present a valid passport at immigration checkpoints, rather than using their national identity cards. The move comes as precautionary measures increase to help control the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus.
In a statement announced on social media late Thursday evening [February 27] Oman’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs [MoFA] says that the Embassy of Oman in the UAE has noted Abu Dhabi’s decision to temporarily suspend the use of national identity cards for GCC citizens as a form of identification to enter the UAE, and, that as of 12:01 a.m. on Friday, February 28, travelers must use a valid passport.
The move comes as a precautionary measure to control the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus throughout the GCC. Currently Oman has reported six confirmed cases, while there have been 19 cases confirmed in UAE.
In the statement, MoFA said the purpose of the temporary suspension of national ID cards for GCC residents is in an effort to better track and “monitor the movement of individuals to and from the country, with the exception of Emirati and GCC citizens who left or entered the UAE before the issuance of this decision.”
(Also read: Saudi Arabia temporarily suspends pilgrimage visits for Umrah.)
(Also read: SalamAir suspends service to Bahrain amid coronavirus concerns.)
The post Omanis traveling to UAE now need to use passports instead of ID cards, as coronavirus controls intensify appeared first on Y Magazine. Y - Pulse of Oman. All rights reserved. 2014. https://www.y-oman.com
from Y Magazine https://ift.tt/2PxVLwf
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
No comments:
Post a Comment