Canadian travellers may not be the only ones paying stiff new fees for visas to enter the United Arab Emirates. According to the tiny Middle East country's Ottawa embassy, charges of up to $1,000 will apply to citizens of all countries that have not been exempted by the U.A.E. government.
A message posted on the embassy's website states that "fees for all visas issued by the diplomatic missions of the United Arab Emirates in various countries around the world, whose nationals are not exempt from applying for visas in advance, are applicable to all countries without exception.
"The Embassy would like to add that the categories of visas and related fees as posted on its website are part of a universal visa system which is used by all UAE missions abroad without exception," the statement concludes.
Canada had been one of more than 30 countries whose citizens could travel to the U.A.E. on a free one-month visa. Under a new fee structure, Canadian travellers will pay $250 for a 30-day visa, $500 for a three-month visa and $1,000 for a six-month, multiple-entry visa.
Abu Dhabi has said little about the reasoning behind the move. However, the latest announcement concerning a universal visa fee system suggests that Canada isn't being singled out by the Gulf nation's ruling monarchies.
Still, the visa fees are being implemented months after landing-rights negotiations broke down between the U.A.E. and Ottawa -- and relations between the two countries have deteriorated noticeably since then.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi's respective government-owned air carriers had been seeking permission to increase the number of flights to and from Canadian airports. U.A.E. officials have expressed frustration regarding the course of those negotiations.
The oil-rich country also expelled hundreds of Canadian troops from a semi-secret military base on its soil earlier this fall.
The Canadian military had enjoyed rent-free access to Camp Mirage in Dubai for the past nine years. The base served as a key transit point for troops shuttling to and from Afghanistan. Relocating to a new base to Cyprus could reportedly cost $300 million.
In October, Abu Dhabi also turned away a plane carrying top officials with the Canadian government and military, in another apparent mark of diplomatic disapproval.
Canadians were first notified that they would be forced to pay visa fees to visit the country in early November, as Canadian troops were vacating Camp Mirage.
At the time the U.A.E.'s ambassador to Canada, Mohamed Abdulla Al Ghafli, told the Canadian Press that the decision to institute fees was "based on a policy of reciprocity." He cited Canada's own fees for Emirati travellers, which range from $75 to $150.
Weeks later, the U.A.E.'s economic minister, Sultan Al Mansouri, said that Canada's relationship with his country had been "destroyed" by the airline dispute and by remarks made by Canadian officials.
"There have been some statements made from the Canadian side, which were sometimes very fiery statements," Al Mansouri was quoted as saying in Abu Dhabi's The National newspaper. "This is not the way relationships between two countries are handled."
The U.A.E. is Canada's largest trading partner in the Arab world according to Al Ghafli. More than 25,000 Canadian live and work there.
