United Arab Emirates

As a direct consequence from early 2025 UAE citizens will be allowed to apply for an ETIAS Visa Waiver whose possession will indeed be necessary in order to start journeys towards the EU/Schengen Area whose purpose is alternatively:

• Tourism
• Business
• Transit
• Medical visits

Also, the duration of stay with a valid Visa Waiver will not be limitless since the permanence in ETIAS Area as a whole must always be inside the ninety days out of six months threshold.

Since such provision and connected rights are linked to the visitor’s nationality of passport, holders of UAE temporary or permanent Residence Permit must still check whether their Passport Nationality is among those eligible to apply for an ETIAS Visa Waiver.
Travelers holding a passport of a country that does not appear in the Visa Waiver program will still be required to apply for a Schengen Visa even though in possession of a valid UAE residence permit.

ETIAS will be necessary to UAE Nationals travelling to the ETIAS area regardless of the nation they will be arriving from and whether they reach Europe via land, air or sea; although no ETIAS will be required to the Visa Waiver right holders who already possess a valid Schengen Visas or Residence Permit issued by one of the ETIAS Member Country (national visas and residence permits issued by Cyprus excluded)
For an overview on ETIAS practical benefits to visitor and residents click here.

The ETIAS application process to UAE Nationals is electronic exclusively and was outlined to be easy to handle and should not require more than 10 minutes for each traveller to input their data.

The required data for ETIAS application include:

• Full name and surname
• Surname at birth
• Date of birth
• Place of birth
• Birth country
• Passport number
• Passport’s authority and place of issue
• Passport’s issue and expiry date
• Contact details including
• Valid e-mail address
• Scheduled departure date towards the EU
• First country of intended stay in ETIAS Area
• Background questions
• General eligibility questions

Minors as well are required to hold a valid ETIAS for their journeys and are therefore asked to submit an application through the support of a parent or legal guardian.
When the ETIAS request is sent through the EU institutions and Security Databases will be controlling all the relevant information and provide an outcome, that will be exclusively sent via e-mail, to each applicant in usually no longer than 72 hours.
If for any reason candidates need to urgently receive feedback to their ETIAS application, they are invited to flag the “urgent procedure” button in the application form.

Once issued ETIAS to UAE citizens is valid for multiple travels and for an overall validity of maximum 3 years or until passport expiry date (whichever incurs first).
ETIAS should be considered as a security pre-clearance that European authorities will issue to eligible applicants that, according to the background check, do not seem to represent a threat to the hosting nations. Obtaining such a pre-clearance will simplify but not eliminate border controls upon arrival in the EU/Schengen Area from abroad. A rapid screening and identity control will still be carried out to all incoming visitors and, in some case, a random selection of them might be required to undergo further controls that could also imply the request for additional documents and, albeit rarely, an interrogation.
Among the supplementary documents that could be required are:

• return ticket to origin country
• onwards ticket to a non-ETIAS Member Country where the traveler has a proven right to enter (i.e. valid visa or visa waiver rights)
• proof of sufficient funds to support the entire stay in ETIAS Countries
• any other document that could demonstrate the actual aim of the journey

A travel health insurance is not a compulsory condition to ETIAS travelers but is still strongly recommended.