Guyana and UAE establishes mutual visa-free travel agreement

Guyana: In a significant development, Guyanese travelling to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will no longer be required to have a visa in order to enter.

This was made possible through a new agreement inked between Guyana and the UAE earlier this week on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries established mutual visa free travel between the nations. With this new addition to the Guyanese people it means easier traffic between the two countries.

The visa-free agreement was signed by Guyana's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hugh Todd, and Minister of State for International Cooperation of the UAE, Reem Al Hashimy, as both of them are in New York attending the 79th UNGA meeting. 

In a social media post, the UAE Mission to the United Nations announced that the MoU was done "establishing mutual exemption of entry visa requirements between the two countries."

The signing of the bilateral agreement followed a meeting between the United Arab Emirates delegation at the UN General Assembly and the Guyana delegation, which was led by President Dr Irfaan Ali. 

President Ali witnessed the signing of the agreement and addressed the General Assembly on Wednesday. 

It is reported that the visa-free agreement follows several months of discussions and talks between both countries. 

In December 2023, President Ali met and held significant discussions with the President of the UAE during a visit to Dubai for a meeting related to climate change. 

During that meeting, both the leaders agreed to extend their cooperation in various key fields of development, especially in energy, food security, capacity building as well as social and cultural exchanges. 

The two governments also agreed to fortify bilateral collaboration across a wide range of areas related to cultural development and socio economic development. 

The President of the UAE also, at the time, agreed to open a UAE embassy in Guyana in the near future as both sides looked to develop cooperation with one another.