Algeria summons UAE envoy over new visa rules

Algeria’s foreign ministry has summoned the UAE ambassador to explain his country’s decision to freeze the issuing of visas to Algerians under the age of 40.

According to Algeria’s Echorouk newspaper, the spokesman for the Foreign Affairs of Algeria, Ben Cherif Abdelaziz, said: “The UAE Ambassador to Algeria was called in to provide an explanation about the freezing of visas for Algerians,” he did not elaborate.

It is likely that the decision to freeze the granting of visas for Algerians was made by the UAE authorities and not the embassy, especially because the decision included nationals of Egypt and Tunisia. Abdelaziz did not rule out that Algeria may impose similar rules on UAE nationals entering its territory should Abu Dhabi persist with its decision.