UAE, Canada formally end visa row

OTTAWA: The United Arab Emirates will nix costly visa requirements imposed on Canadian travelers as of June 1, officials said, ending a row between the two countries that started in 2010 over aviation rights.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and his UAE counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, had agreed last month to restoring the previous visa regime.
The agreement has now been formalized, Baird told reporters, calling it “a tremendously important signal to the world that bilateral relations between our two countries are strong and getting stronger each and every day.”
“We are on an upward trajectory,” he said.
The UAE in January 2011 started charging Canadians $ 1,000 for a six-month multiple entrance visa, while three-month and one-month visas cost 500 dollars and 250 dollars respectively.
The steep hikes in obtaining a visa for the UAE came as the two countries had been at odds over landing rights in Canada for UAE-based carriers and the closure of a UAE military base to Canadian use.