Middle East - Israeli Visa for UAE Citizen

I'm running a conference in Israel, and one of the people who would like to participate only has a UAE passport. Any chance Israel will issue him a visa, and if they do, what kind of trouble might he get into in the UAE?

I'm almost 100% sure that Israel will not let a citizen of the UAE in. Just like they would never let in someone Lebanese or Syrian. You can try... but I just cant see it happening unfortunately.

Without diplomatic relations how can any country verify that the passport isn't forged? Treat him nicely what ever the outcome is. Apparently you may be able to apply on his behalf. See http://en.allexperts.com/q/Israel-211/2010/4/Israeli-visa-UAE-residents-1.htm

Worse case scenario would skype work?

I would strongly advise your friend not to travel to Israel with a UAE passport. Even if by some miracle he is allowed into the country, he will face A LOT of trouble back home... I am surprised he even asked...

I'm almost 100% sure that Israel will not let a citizen of the UAE in. Just like they would never let in someone Lebanese or Syrian. You can try... but I just cant see it happening unfortunately.

Please forgive me for again correcting your overly broad statements, but the facts simply do not support your opinions. Never is a strong word.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/149382

Two Syrian brides crossed Israel's northern border to meet their grooms Thursday despite the unrest in their homeland. The two young women arrived the Quneitra crossing in the Golan Heights, accompanied across the U.N. buffer zone by United Nations peacekeeping forces.

This is not the first time that Syrians have crossed into Israel for such purposes, or others, for that matter. Many Israeli Druze in the Golan Heights have relatives living across the border in Syria. A similar happy occasion took place this past January, when another Syrian bride likewise crossed the checkpoint to marry her betrothed. The couple lives in the Israeli Druze village of Buqata in the Golan Heights.

In the past, the Jerusalem government has allowed Druze students to go to study across the border despite the absence of a peace treaty. Israeli Druze farmers in the north also export their apple crops to Syria each year, trucking the produce through the Quneitra crossing.

There is unofficial cooperation if you stay under the radar.

Please forgive me for again correcting your overly broad statements, but the facts simply do not support your opinions. Never is a strong word.

[[/I]

The Golan Heights is disputed territory and Syrians crossing into there is a whole different story. But this isn't the right place for politics, is it?

There is unofficial cooperation if you stay under the radar.

not an expert on this.
have a Canadian friend who works in the UAE off and on. he says he cannot visit Israel because if his passport shows he entered Israel, UAE will not let him come in anymore.

I think he could get into Israel with a bit of luck, but hie is likely asking form trouble back at home. While an Israeli stamp won't block a foreigner from getting into the UAE, for a UAE citizen it might raise issues.

Why are you holding a conference in Israel that might attract GCC attendees? Wouldn't Jordan or Turkey be a better venue to avoid these sort of issues?

not an expert on this.
have a Canadian friend who works in the UAE off and on. he says he cannot visit Israel because if his passport shows he entered Israel, UAE will not let him come in anymore.

Your Canadian friend does not know what he is talking about. @:-)

Generally agree with the others - it'd probably be a pain to get into Israel (where'd he go to get the visa?), and almost certainly a pain upon trying to get back into the UAE. I wonder if the Israeli border guards would stamp a piece of paper, or - as with several of my friends - ignore all such pleas and stamp his passport instead?

To avoid the hassle, I went straight to the Foreign Ministry. Thanks to the Israeli Vitamin P ("protectzia," or connections,) the Foreign Ministry pushed the Interior Ministry to give a special travel document that will allow him in without anything appearing in his passport.

I look forward to the day when these shenanigans are no longer needed!

Why are you holding a conference in Israel that might attract GCC attendees? Wouldn't Jordan or Turkey be a better venue to avoid these sort of issues?

Not really. The conference only affected one person. Considering I am in Israel, I need to host the conference in Israel. The person with the UAE passport is in the US at Princeton on a student visa, and Princeton is sending a delegation. He's part of the club that's going and wanted to participate. I figured, if it works out, it's a good way of fostering talks between different people as well.

Good news.

FWIW, you can enter the UAE with an Israeli visa in your passport. I'll tell you one better: my residence visa is stamped in next to the page containing my Israeli stamp!

You do not need special permission or protectzia to avoid a stamp. It is an acceptable request. The only risk you take is for the immigration officer to stamp automatically without thinking.

You do not need special permission or protectzia to avoid a stamp. It is an acceptable request. The only risk you take is for the immigration officer to stamp automatically without thinking.
You do to get a special travel document, "Guest of State," or something along those lines.

Probably not.

I'm running a conference in Israel, and one of the people who would like to participate only has a UAE passport. Any chance Israel will issue him a visa, and if they do, what kind of trouble might he get into in the UAE?

Probably not.
See post #12. I succeeded.

Nicely done.

In my admittedly limited experience, the Israelis are usually pretty good with work-arounds for citizens of Arab countries with which they have no diplomatic relations who have good reasons for wanting to visit Israel. It's good PR, after all.

Israel already has 'unofficial' diplomatic missions in places like Qatar and Israeli politicians like Tzipi Livni has on at least one occasion met the Emir of Qatar in Doha. So if friendly contact is there at high level then arranging documents for entry should be easily possible.