Dubai tourist Visa for Filipinos

After I took my sister in Dubai, I started receiving some inquiries from friends in Dubai and also from the Philippines on how to apply the visa for their family/ friends here. It's been part of my plan to have my sister joined me in Dubai yet due to money issues, I kept on postponing the process til last year I got the agility to take her for tourist visa . Before that, I've done my researched and have had asked from many travel & tours companies for the quotations until I found Sapphire travel who offered me a very affordable price compare with the other travel and tour companies that I have inquired for. Sapphire Travel is near in Al Attar Building, Al Karama Dubai with the contact number 04 379 5553.

Before anything, for those who are puzzled about Dubai, Dubai is a popular city and one of the 7 Emirates that forms the United Arab Emirates (UAE). United Arab Emirates is a country in Arabian Peninsula that constitute of Abu dhabi (the capital city) Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm al Quwain, Fujairah, Ajman and Dubai. 

I think it was Jean but not so sure about the name who listed down all the necessary documents that I needed to compile before they can start to process the visa.

PAPERS & DOCUMENTS :

*colored photocopy of the passports ( sponsor and the invitee)

 *colored photocopy of the sponsor's residence visa

*employment certificate of the sponsor with the company stamp

* Affidavit of Support ( red ribbon ) from the Philippine Consulate 
      1st option: travel company will do the process for 300 AED
      2nd option:  you can go to the consulate and pay only 100 AED (which I did)

The Philippine Consulate is located in Al Qusais 3 Dubai, it is 15-20 minutes walk from Etisalat metro station. I would suggest to take a taxi rather than to walk  towards the embassy which is quiet dangerous and also to avoid getting lost.

All you need to do once you reach the embassy is to fill up the form which you can get upon entering the embassy, submit to the embassy officer and pay. But before you will fall in the line to pay for the red ribbon, make sure you have some photocopies of the passports and the employment letter. They will give you a small paper which need to be handed over to the empost officer for the delivery. I'm not sure how much I paid for the delivery, I think it was around 20-30AED, you will given a receipt and bear in mind to keep it with you until you receive the papers.

After I have completed all the necessary documents, I went back to sapphire travel to submit papers and pay 2,200 aed for the air ticket( Cebu Pacific), visa and courier. The charges always varies on the air ticket prices.

They've informed me that my sister will receive the courier after a week or 2 and all she needed to do is to make sure to have a

*Original NSO (sponsor and the invitee)

They also told us that in  Ninoy Aquiono Internation Airport (NAIA) the immigration officer  might conduct a verification check  to ensure if all the documents that she has is not fake and also to secure that her intended travel is for visit purposes only and not to look for work.

After a week of waiting my sister has finally received the courier. They next day I called her and asked if she is nervous but she said NO I 'm not. I'm happy that she shows she is gallant and eager to come in Dubai. In the same time I am also worried for her because it will be her first time ever to ride an airplane and also no one is accompanying her through out the whole flight.



FLIGHT DAY:


Her itinerary is Cebu to manila -Manila to Dubai. When she arrived in NAIA, my sister didn't 
escape from the immigration verification check. She narrated what happened on that day while we are on the way home. She got scared after seeing some of them were offloaded from the flight as they showed their work certificates & diplomas and some has not justify enough the ties between the invitee and the sponsor.

My advise never ever show any work related documents to the immigration officers, it maybe a great help for your job search in Dubai but it might be also a cause that you will be refuse to fly and will come back home regretfully.

My sister was lucky, they only asked her to show the supporting documents and they let her pass without any further questions which was a big relief for us. In spite of  2 hours delayed flight in Cebu Pacific which for sure almost everyone knows for their inconsistency but still we are thankful she arrives in Dubai safely.

Now she is working in Dubai and begun her journey as a OFW.  This is a overdue post yet I am glad to write it down in my blog as a part of my  accomplishment.

Note:  I organized the visa over a year ago , there might be some changes in the process. There are hearsays  that  some travel & tour companies are giving out fake documents, BE CAREFUL