What MOFA tells UAE nationals about travel insurance

MOFA’s travel pages are written for UAE nationals. They do not cover UAE residents of other nationalities, and they are not the destination’s own rule.¹

Which countries does MOFA say you must have insurance for?

Georgia, Tanzania, Cuba and Japan, as of 4 November 2026.¹

Georgia’s rule started on 1 January 2026 and Tanzania’s on 1 October 2026. Japan’s page warns that most hospitals and clinics there do not accept UAE-issued health insurance.

Going to Georgia or Tanzania? Read the destination page for the cover each country asks for before you buy.

What does MOFA’s advice on other country pages mean?

It tells you little about your destination, because the same sentence is on almost every page. Of 48 MOFA destination pages on 4 November 2026, 47 carry one sentence advising international health insurance. Japan’s page is the only one without it.¹

A page that only advises insurance does not say insurance is optional at the border. Check the destination’s own entry rules as well.

Where does another government source differ from MOFA?

For Türkiye, Belarus, Kenya, Japan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. For what a country requires at its border, its own law or ministry is the primary source.

Sources for Table B are Türkiye’s Law 6458,² the Belarus MFA,³ the Malaysian High Commission in Nairobi,⁴ JNTO,⁵ Qatar’s MOPH⁶ and the UK FCDO.⁷

MOFA’s Kenya page was last modified on 9 July 2026, before the reported start date of 5 October 2026.¹⁴

Going to Türkiye, Belarus or Qatar? Read the Türkiye, Belarus or Qatar page for the country’s own rule.

How current is MOFA’s page for your destination?

Each MOFA page shows a Last Modified date. Of the 48 pages, 14 were last changed in August 2026, 8 of them on 21 August.¹

The date shows that something on the page changed, not when its insurance line changed. Check the date on the page before you rely on it.

Where can you travel visa free?

MOFA lists UAE normal passports as visa free for 33 of these 48 destinations. The United States is the only one marked Visa Required.¹

Some pages add lines on car, hiking or study insurance

Five pages that only advise insurance carry extra insurance lines.¹

• Oman has a road line on insuring your vehicle and passengers at the border or through licensed insurers, and a hiking line recommending that people be insured through an authorised office.
• Saudi Arabia has a line on vehicle insurance before entry.
• Seychelles expects a valid medical insurance for medical treatment visits.
• France has a student visa line that mentions health insurance.
• The United Kingdom has a second line telling you to have international health insurance before travel. It does not say must or required.

The small print

• The 48 destinations are a selection. MOFA lists more destinations than these.
• “Required” and “Advised” in the data describe MOFA’s wording. MOFA does not use these labels. Vehicle, study and medical treatment lines do not change a page’s label.
• Pages change. Each row in the data holds only for the date shown.