UAE-India business travel set to change under liberal visa regime

UAE-India business travel set to change under liberal visa regime

Under the CEPA, a business visitor will get a 90-day visa, while a contractual service supplier can get a 90-day visa that can be extended. Intra-corporate transferees can get three-year visas under this pact. — AFP file photo

India will get duty-free access to its mobile phones under the CEPA, while the 40 per cent value addition norms in its imports will protect Indian players.

Published: Mon 21 Feb 2022, 6:59 PM Last updated: Mon 21 Feb 2022, 7:02 PM

Business travel between the UAE and India is set to change under the liberalised visa regime agreed as part of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed last week.

India’s Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam said the new visa regime includes a three-year visa provision for intra-corporate transfers, a 90-day visa for business visitors, and a 90-days plus extendable visa contractual service suppliers.

There are three or four categories of people such as business visitors, contractual service providers, and intra-corporate transferees under the liberalised visa regime. “There are provisions where the visa regime has either become more liberal than what they have currently or it freezes the current regime. That means that they can’t go back once they have given the concession in the FTA,” Subrahmanyam