Following Covid-19, all the countries are very vigilant about the prevention of the disease. Travelling is the top reason for the spread of covid-19. Therefore, it is vital for all countries to maintain preventive measures including quarantine for travellers. However, UAE has prepared UAE Green List countries to ease travel restrictions. Travellers from and to the green list have the freedom to travel to and fro without following preventive measures. Although the risk of Covid-19 is quite low it has not fully recovered, the green list allows travellers to travel safely, ease travel restrictions, and boost tourism.
What is the UAE Green List?
The UAE Green List was introduced in 2020 as a response to Covid-19 to reestablish tourism in UAE. The UAE Green List Countries include all those countries that practice similar COVID-19 prevention measures. UAE Government continues to update the list periodically according to the vaccination and prevention methods. Travellers from this list of countries or those who are fully vaccinated do not have to go through the quarantine period.
UAE Green List Countries 2023
The latest update on the UAE Green List countries was made on 3rd January 2022 which includes 71 countries that are listed below:
1. Albania
- Algeria
- Armenia
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Burma
- Cambodia
- Canada
- China
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Hong Kong (SAR)
- Hungary
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Kazakhstan
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Latvia
- Luxembourg
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Netherlands
- Morocco
- Norway
- Oman
- Papua New Guinea
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Republic of Ireland
- Romania
- Saudi Arabia
- Serbia
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Seychelles
- Taiwan, Province of China
- Tajikistan
- Thailand
- Tunisia
- Yemen
- Turkmenistan
- Ukraine
- United States of America
- Uzbekistan
Travel Requirements for Green List Countries
Travellers from UAE green list countries are exempted from following a lot of complex documentation and process. Nevertheless, they do have to follow a few requirements:
Testing Requirements for Vaccinated Individuals
- Travellers from green countries: The travellers from green list countries need not quarantine themselves. But they must do an RT-PCR test on arrival or within 6 days.
- Travellers from non-green countries: If the travellers are fully vaccinated, they do not have to quarantine themselves. But they have to do an RT-PCR test on arrival, the 4th day or the 8th day.
Testing Requirements for non-Vaccinated Individuals
- Travellers from green countries: Do not quarantine yourself rather do an RT-PCR test on arrival, day 6 or day 9.
- Travellers from non-green countries: Travellers from other countries have to quarantine themselves for a period of 10 days. Moreover, an RT-PCR is also required on arrival or on day 9.
Guidelines to travel to UAE
International passengers who are fully vaccinated have to follow the given guidelines to travel to UAE:
- The travellers have to register themselves by downloading the app ICA Smart Services.
- Download the Al Hosn app which works as a Green Pass Gateway to several regions in UAE.
- Those fully vaccinated travellers who get a negative RT-PCR test can use the Green Pass gateway for 14 days.
- If the travellers do not have an Al Hosn app, they can provide a vaccination certificate provided by their country or negative results of the RT-PCR test carried out within the last 14 days.
- All the travellers will be scanned with EDE devices to check for any symptoms. If any passenger shows Covid-19 symptoms, they have to go through a rapid antigen test.
- International travellers who are tested positive have to wear fitted tracking wristbands and quarantine themselves for 10 days.
- The travellers travelling from one emirate to the other have to return to the emirate they travelled from.
- Continue to check the UAE Government and airline websites to check the necessary documentation and measures.
- Children under 12 are exempt from these regulations unless they show positive symptoms.
Conclusion
In conclusion, travellers from UAE Green List countries can travel without complex documentation and without having to quarantine themselves. The list may change according to the pandemic situation so it is better to check the travel conditions and regulations when travelling to and from UAE. This list has helped in easing the travel requirements and boosted tourism in UAE while ensuring the health and safety of the passengers.
