India Urges Indians Travelling to UAE to Get Adequate Medical Insurance
Medical Insurance: India has advised Indians heading to the UAE to ensure they have sufficient Medical Insurance to help cover potential healthcare expenses during their stay.
Medical Insurance is being urged for Indians travelling to the UAE, as India advises visitors to secure adequate health coverage before their journey.
NEW DELHI – India has asked its citizens visiting the United Arab Emirates for tourism or short stays to buy adequate medical insurance before they leave, after several Indians were left with hospital bills their families could not pay. The advisory was posted on social media on Tuesday by the Consulate General of India in Dubai. It says the policy should offer cashless treatment and should also pay for medical repatriation to India in an emergency.
Medical Insurance: What the advisory says
According to the mission, the Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates have received a number of reports of Indians who fell ill or met with emergencies during a UAE trip and were billed amounts well beyond what they or their relatives could manage. The mission linked these cases to inadequate or missing insurance. It stressed that cover should be in place before the journey begins, not arranged after a problem arises.
Also Read: Tokio Marine Launches Japan’s First AI Robot Policy
The notice also covers Indians already living in the UAE on employment visas or as dependants. They have been asked to check that their existing health plan pays for all medical expenses in the country, including the cost of being moved back to India for treatment.
Medical Insurance: Why uninsured emergencies get expensive
Concerns about visitor medical costs in the UAE are not new. In 2019, the same consulate issued a similar notice after two Indian visitors needed intensive treatment within about two months. One was an elderly diabetic who suffered a stroke on holiday and ran up a bill above Dh130,000, roughly Rs 25 lakh at the time. The other was a 61-year-old retired teacher who fell into a coma after a head injury and internal bleeding.
Her bill reached about Dh180,000 even after a 35 per cent discount. The then Consul General said such cases are sometimes eased through the Indian Community Welfare Fund and through requests to hospitals to waive charges on humanitarian grounds. He added that the consulate can help with stretcher costs, air tickets and a medical escort for patients going home.
Community workers have flagged the cost of the journey home as well. One social worker helping an uninsured cancer patient in Ras Al Khaimah estimated that flying a critically ill patient to India on a stretcher would cost at least Dh30,000, before counting tickets for attendants. Visitors are generally expected to pay for private treatment themselves, and hospitals can ask for payment or guarantees before extended care goes ahead.
Medical Insurance: Insurance rules for visitors and residents
Entry rules on insurance differ by visa type, and published guidance is not uniform. Some industry guides say the UAE brought in mandatory health insurance for visit-visa applicants from 2024, with policies expected to carry around Dh100,000 in medical cover from a UAE-recognised insurer, and with exemptions for holders of certain UK, US or Schengen visas. Other guides say proof of insurance is still not a standard condition for an Indian tourist visa. Residents are on firmer ground. Employers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi must provide health cover for staff, and residence and work visas depend on an approved UAE health plan.
Even where a policy is bought only to obtain a visa, the cover can be thin. Visa-linked plans have typically paid for emergency treatment of accidents and sudden illness, with historic limits near Dh150,000, and they generally exclude pre-existing conditions. Evacuation benefits can also come with conditions. Many Indian policies pay for evacuation only when the treating facility cannot provide the care needed, and the insurer’s doctors may need to certify that the transfer is medically necessary. Sub-limits apply, and any cost above them falls on the policyholder.
Medical Insurance: What travellers can check before buying
Travellers weighing a policy can start with a few points the advisory highlights or implies: whether the plan offers cashless admission at UAE hospitals, whether repatriation to India is named in the benefits table, how high the medical and evacuation limits are, and how pre-existing conditions are treated, which matters most for older travellers and families.
Adventure activities such as desert safaris and water sports are often excluded unless added. Indian travel policies for the UAE start at a few hundred rupees per trip, with higher medical limits costing more. Etihad has also said eligible international passengers arriving in Abu Dhabi on its flights will get complimentary medical cover for up to 15 days between July and December 2026, though such cover is separate from a full travel policy.
The UAE remains one of the most visited destinations for Indians, accounting for more than a quarter of the country’s outbound trips in 2025 by one industry estimate, so the guidance applies to a very large number of travellers each year.
