Travelling to India from UAE? Indians needn’t register with local consulate

Indians travelling home from UAE no longer need to register with the local consulate, the Consulate General of India in Dubai said in a statement. The registration was required for those traveling on the repatriation flights introduced from May under the Vande Bharat Mission.

But “since a number of flights are operational by both UAE and Indian carriers along with flights operated by Air India/Air India Express from Dubai/Sharjah, tickets for which are available online, the process of registration at the website of the Indian Consulate, has been abolished with immediate effect,” the statement said.

UAE was among the first countries with which India established an air travel bubble to operate scheduled flights. Apart from Air India and its unit Air India Express, many of the private carriers, including IndiGo, Vistara and SpiceJet are operating flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The statement reiterated that passengers traveling to India are ‘advised’ to get the RT-PCR test done, not before 96 hours of the departure and upload it on Air Suvidha portal, to get exemption from institutional quarantine for all airports in India, a Moneycontrol report said.