Dubai to Implement Advanced Passenger Information System for Visa Eligibility

A federal project is expected to be implemented in Dubai to deal with Visa eligibility with the Advanced Passenger Information System initiative before passengers arrive in the UAE.

Col. Khalid Nasser Al Razouqi, Assistant Director-General for e-Services Sector at the Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai said, “It (the advance passenger information system) shall rather importantly help the residency and immigration authorities concerned decide accurately if a passenger is banned from entering the country or not.”

The advanced passenger information system (APIS) will enable the directorate to collect passenger data and check visa eligibility before the aircraft touches down in the country. “Of course, we shall not prohibit anyone from entering the country. Rather, we shall disallow already banned people as registered in the systems of the country,” he continued.

The system will also identify prohibited passengers and enable advance cancellation of travel from the source of the flight for those passengers.  The APIS initiative will help to streamline ground operations for the airports, who expect to see more than 98 million passengers by 2020 and is welcomed in the UAE, who announced earlier this year that over 351,000 banned expats were denied access into the UAE since 2003, many in possession of fake credentials and associated paperwork.