With Ramadan travel bookings surging, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) released an updated advisory on 27 February urging Emirati nationals to complete a series of checks before heading overseas. The notice, circulated via state media and MoFA’s social channels, stresses three pillars: document validity, insurance coverage and enrolment in the ministry’s ‘Twajudi’ consular registration system.
Passports must have a minimum of six months’ validity on the intended date of return—a rule that many holiday-makers overlook until check-in. The ministry also reminds citizens that some popular destinations, including Schengen states and the United States, now insist on electronic travel authorisations that must be obtained online before departure. Failure to secure these clearances has led to a spike in airline ‘no-board’ cases in recent weeks.
To streamline these pre-departure obligations, travellers can leverage services like VisaHQ, which provides UAE citizens with an easy online portal to verify passport validity, apply for electronic travel authorisations and visas, and receive real-time status updates. The dedicated UAE page (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/) consolidates country-specific requirements and can even arrange courier pick-up and delivery, minimising the likelihood of costly airport surprises.
![UAE Foreign Ministry issues pre-Ramadan travel advisory for Emirati citizens]()
Health insurance is another focal point. MoFA recommends comprehensive international cover that includes medical evacuation; several high-profile incidents last year saw families crowd-funding air-ambulance flights because the traveller’s domestic policy excluded overseas treatment. The advisory adds cyber-risk and extreme-weather clauses to its list of suggested policy features, reflecting lessons from recent storms that disrupted UAE-US flights.
Perhaps the most important instruction is to register on Twajudi, the online platform that allows MoFA to locate and assist citizens during crises. Registration extends to accompanying family members and can be done in minutes through the ministry’s smartphone app. Consular officials used Twajudi data last summer to coordinate evacuations during wildfires in southern Europe; officials say the system “cut response times by more than half.”
For mobility teams managing government or state-linked organisations, compliance with the new advisory is expected to become part of duty-of-care audits. Travel managers are advised to integrate Twajudi registration and insurance verification into pre-trip approval workflows to avoid last-minute delays at the airport.
Passports must have a minimum of six months’ validity on the intended date of return—a rule that many holiday-makers overlook until check-in. The ministry also reminds citizens that some popular destinations, including Schengen states and the United States, now insist on electronic travel authorisations that must be obtained online before departure. Failure to secure these clearances has led to a spike in airline ‘no-board’ cases in recent weeks.
To streamline these pre-departure obligations, travellers can leverage services like VisaHQ, which provides UAE citizens with an easy online portal to verify passport validity, apply for electronic travel authorisations and visas, and receive real-time status updates. The dedicated UAE page (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/) consolidates country-specific requirements and can even arrange courier pick-up and delivery, minimising the likelihood of costly airport surprises.
Health insurance is another focal point. MoFA recommends comprehensive international cover that includes medical evacuation; several high-profile incidents last year saw families crowd-funding air-ambulance flights because the traveller’s domestic policy excluded overseas treatment. The advisory adds cyber-risk and extreme-weather clauses to its list of suggested policy features, reflecting lessons from recent storms that disrupted UAE-US flights.
Perhaps the most important instruction is to register on Twajudi, the online platform that allows MoFA to locate and assist citizens during crises. Registration extends to accompanying family members and can be done in minutes through the ministry’s smartphone app. Consular officials used Twajudi data last summer to coordinate evacuations during wildfires in southern Europe; officials say the system “cut response times by more than half.”
For mobility teams managing government or state-linked organisations, compliance with the new advisory is expected to become part of duty-of-care audits. Travel managers are advised to integrate Twajudi registration and insurance verification into pre-trip approval workflows to avoid last-minute delays at the airport.
