Applicants have tough time at typing centres because of confusion over rules

Dubai: People applying for visit or tourist visas here were having a tough time at the typing centres yesterday because they were confused about the new rules.

This was true in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman.

"We request applicants to confirm with immigration officials whether they have the right documents before we type the visit visa applications for them. This is because we are also a bit confused about the new regulations," said Zubair Moideen, manager of a typing centre in Sharjah.

He said department personnel informed them briefly about the new regulations in a meeting a week ago. "But we still need a lot of clarifications. All we know is what we read in the newspapers," he said.

The number of visit visa applications on the first day of the new rules remained very low.

"This is due to confusion about the new rules," said a typist at Al Ahlan Typing Centre.

Have you applied for a visa after the introduction of the new rules? How was your experience? Did you face any problems with the new process? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews.com or fill in the form bellow to send your comments.

I think it is not right at the moment to implement that rule because you are not only giving difficulties to those people who want to apply for a visit visa but also harming Dubai itself. Because we all know that only tourism is your way of income. If you are going to implement that rules I think and very sure that no one even those wealthy countries will come.
cheryl
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 30, 2008, 12:18

I have applied for my friend, from our company who is staying in Sharjah Airport, till last night we applied 1st time they refused due to the new application which cost 620 and we applied in the afternoon with the new system they rejected due to that the passenger should be insured, I called so many insurance brokers and insurance companies which we are dealing with in our company, even they are not aware about the new insurance so he went back to India, as a result my friend have lost about Dhs.3000.
Shafiq
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 30, 2008, 11:34

Please note I applied a short term visit visa online yesterday morning and got same issued today some moments back. It was not issued in 15 minutes as I read on gulf news but am still happy that same was issued without any requirement of health insurance/deposit and additional documentation.
sajid
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 30, 2008, 10:54

It was terrible day for me yesterday, I had applied for a VISIT VISA with the old system it was rejected, the typing centre people never told me that this will not be accepted. When I approached for the new system,they didn?t know the new procedures so again I went to emigration , were they told me about the insurance, so I called many insurance companies and they didn?t have any idea about what coverage is required, finally I got two mobile numbers of Insurance companies from Immigration itself, the result was that they are ready to provide the insurance but it will cost AED400. We would like to know the following about the insurance , Is it a Travel Insurance and what are the requirements after the VISIT , and Is it necessary.
ANSARI
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 30, 2008, 09:46

I applied a visit visa for my wife under the new system and my documents were rejected with the comment incomplete. While the Typing centre said it was complete as per new system.
Fiaz
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: July 30, 2008, 08:45

I think it is not a proper time yet to implement the new rules on visas'. The government should tackle it clearly for everybody concerning about visa before the implementation. Now confusion is the result.
Adrian
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 30, 2008, 08:33

This is just for clarifications.Since the new visa rules will take effect this August 1, 2008. I just want to know what will happen to the previous visit visas issued. They are already here in Dubai and looking for a job, others are luckily having employer's already, what is the process for their visa change?
maria
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 30, 2008, 08:30

I was there in immigration department early in the morning, as I have seen the faces of the staff even they were confused, I asked them what do we need to do, and from where can we get the health insurance but I was told form officials of the department that once the system will be operative we will let you know, well before implementing any new system department should know the goods.
ABBAS
Dubai,U.A.E
Posted: July 30, 2008, 07:55