Japan offers visa-free entry to UAE citizens

UAE citizens can now travel to Japan without a pre-entry visa, a senior official has confirmed.

Ahmed Saeed Elham Al Dhaheri, assistant under-secretary for Consular Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said the UAE and Japan have signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) on easing travel for the UAE citizens to Japan, WAM reported.

The Mou's were signed during the visit of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, to Tokyo in April.

Under the agreement, visa-free entry is allowed to UAE citizens with the diplomatic and special passports on official mission in Japan for any number of days. If they wish to travel to Japan for tourism and business purposes, they can only stay for a maximum period of 90 days from their date of entry, the report said.

UAE citizens with regular passports who wish to travel to Japan for tourism, business and official reasons are required to present their passports to the Japanese Embassy in Abu Dhabi, or the General Consulate of Japan in Dubai, or any diplomatic or representative office of Japan in any other country, to register their date of entry into Japan through an electronic sticker that is placed on the passport, free of charge. It is valid for three years or for the remaining period of their passport’s validity. The sticker allows UAE citizens to remain in Japan for a maximum of 30 days.

This comes into effect from July.

Al Dhaheri stated that this accomplishment, which facilitates the movement of citizens from both countries, "is part of strong and exceptional 45-year bilateral relations between the UAE and Japan".