New insurance charge for Dubai visitors

Visitors and tourists coming to Dubai will have to pay about Dh1 for each day of stay in the country, a senior Dubai Naturalization and Residency Department (DNRD) official announced today.

The cost was revealed in a press conference announcing the selection of two local insurers – Amman and Oman Insurance – to provide visa applicants with the mandatory health insurance to complete entry permit procedures.

Brig. Obaid Mehayer Bin Suroor, Acting Director of DNRD, said: “Counters for these insurance companies will be set up at all DNRD branches to offer their services to customers when they apply for entry permits. The system of these companies will soon be linked with DNRD’s online services.”

The two were picked out of several companies who presented proposals to DNRD.
Brig. Bin Suroor, said: “We received several proposals from different companies. We chose the suitable one which offers special services at competitive prices.”
Health insurance for a 30-day visit visa will cost Dh40, and Dh90 for a 90-day visa. A 180-day entry permit costs Dh185.

This clears the initial confusion over health insurance coverage for visitors or tourists, which has been made mandatory under the newly-implemented visa regulations from July 29 following the issuance of Ministerial Decision No. 322/2008. z
Brig. Bin Suroor said people are free to get health insurance coverage from the company they want but the insurance policy should hold the same terms and conditions of the deal DNRD had with the health insurers.

“The coverage of insurance policy should be for a minimum of Dh150,000 for a person per visit to the UAE only and against emergency cases and accidents during the visitor stay in the country. Moreover, the medical coverage will be through a network covered by the insurance companies,” he added.

“The insured person will receive treatment in a shared room and 100% coverage for medication, surgery, and hospital fees in addition to teeth and rehabilitation treatment in accidents cases.

Brig. Bin Suroor said: “The agreement says that insurance companies will bear the cost up to Dh7,000 of repatriating the body back to the country of the visitor in case of death.”