The Min­is­ter of For­eign Af­fairs is de­fend­ing an agree­ment signed be­tween Trinidad and To­ba­go and the Unit­ed Arab Emi­rates, al­low­ing diplo­mat­ic and of­fi­cial pass­port hold­ers to en­ter the UAE visa-free. Ac­cord­ing to a re­lease from the UAE For­eign Af­fairs Min­istry, UAE cit­i­zens hold­ing diplo­mat­ic, spe­cial, or­di­nary, and “mis­sion” pass­ports are now ex­empt from the visa re­quire­ment for en­try to T&T.

How­ev­er, the agree­ment is sig­nif­i­cant­ly more lim­it­ed for T&T na­tion­als, as all oth­er pass­port types, in­clud­ing those is­sued to or­di­nary cit­i­zens, still re­quire a visa to en­ter the UAE.

The agree­ment was signed on Fri­day dur­ing a meet­ing be­tween UAE Deputy Prime Min­is­ter and Min­is­ter of For­eign Af­fairs Sheikh Ab­dul­lah bin Za­yed Al Nahyan and Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar in New York on the side­lines of the 80th ses­sion of the UN Gen­er­al As­sem­bly.