Tuesday, 1 December 2015

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















Sunday, 1 November 2015

How to apply for France Visa


Most of the time we (Ozi and I) always have a conflict in our schedules or in our visas that's why we can't go on holiday together. It's either Ozi approved vacation is in a different month( due to demand of work) or either I'm refused and he gets the visa.

To avoid the same the situation, we planned few months ahead and Ozi is the best in these things. He has the brain for the effective planning and I'm thankful I have him because me? I am a complete mess.

Before we go on, lets go back to the definition of schengen visa:

Schengen Visa is a document issued by the appropriate authorities to the interested party for visiting/travelling in and within the schengen areas example to the countries below.
  • Austria                     
  • Belgium
  • Czech republic              
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Liechtenstein
Requirements:
  1. The application form must be fully completed and signed in the corresponding blanks. ( travel agent will fill up the form for you)
  2. One photo is to be attached; the photo must have a passport format, full-face capture, and a light background. The photo must be recently taken.
  3. The passport as well as all the copies of your previous visas, valid for at least 3 months prior to your departure is required. The passport must have at least two blank pages.
  4. One must have a copy of the reservation of the return ticket for the time intended to be travelling. It is not recommendable to buy the ticket before getting the visa, if not necessary.
  5. The travel medical insurance policy is to be secured, covering any medical emergency with hospital care and travel back to ones native country due to medical motives.
  6. The current bank statement (preferably for the last 6 months)
  7. A reference letter from the employer.
As usual we went to our travel partner Vega Travel in Wafi Mall (near the food court) to arrange the following documents:


  • Dummy airline ticket 100 AED
  • Hotel booking 100 AED
  • Travel Insurance 15 days 115 AED
  • Form Filling 80 AED
  •  Appointment fee 95 AED
They've arranged a 11:00 AM appointment time for us  in VFS ( one floor above Vega). We've asked them to do a separate booking and appointment number but at the same appointment time and date .Were lucky that there are still available slots for the next day. Previously we were worried, normally the appointment will happen after 3 or 4 days after you file the application and my only day off is the next day but God is good.

The next day Ozi arrived on time and I was late for 30 minutes, I thought they won't let me in but thanks to God, the security has allowed me still. Ozi patiently waited for me inside and because we were in hurry, we asked the reception for one token number for both of us without realizing that we want a separate application. We lingered for almost an hour before our number was called.

We paid    247 AED visa processing fee + 5 AED (sms) 
 You can also go for premium if you want a faster result, all you need is to pay additional 250 AED, anyway reception will ask you


The agent has asked me to do my bio metric since it is my first time to apply for France unlike Ozi he has the visa before so there is no need for him to do it again.

We were advised that it may take 14 -20 days to know the result however on Oct 12 we received a sms and an email that our passport is ready for collection. 

I wrote an authorization letter allowing Ozi to get back my passport in behalf of me since I am on Day shift and when the time I finish my work they're already close. While on duty I can't help myself but to think much about the result .
                                               'X CROSS FINGER X ''

Ozi called me in the afternoon and excitedly told me that we did it '' WE GOT THE VISA'' yeehey!!!! yeheey!!!!




Lesson to learn: Effective planning + luck = success.  Ozi (my personal travel guru) is right France tourist visa is much easier compare with the other schengen countries.

Again this is only my personal experienced, it may help you in your visa application however I always suggest to check with the france embassy in your countries.

#touristvisa

£success