Abu Dhabi Visa for Philippine Passport Holder

I have been pretty up to my neck for a couple of weeks and haven't got the time to post something relevant.  And since I'm not really in the mood to work right now, might as well pour it all out where no one gets hurt.

I think I have already posted similar topic on this blog or on the other blog.  Anyway, this is a fresh take on how to apply for visit visa for Philippine passport holder.

With the recent move of the Philippine government, spearheaded by Vice President Binay, changes in Ninoy Aquino International Airport is being implemented.  Actually this is long overdue.  Immigration officers or even airline staffs connived to make this subtle robbery of Filipinos who want to try their luck abroad. It is shameful, I don't want to start with what the people I personally know have gone thru just to make it outside the country.

Hopefully this overhaul of manpower will be beneficial to everyone planning to to go over the greener side of the fence.

Back on the process, rules and procedures often change here in Abu Dhabi.  Especially with applying for visit visa and tourist visa.  My parents are coming over (because they miss me!) as well as my brother.  While asking around on what to do and how to apply for their visa I learned the difference between visit visa and tourist visa.  I was planning to apply for tourist visa for my parents and brother since they will be coming in as tourists.

So we went to the typing center right next to Abu Dhabi Naturalization & Residence Directorate (ADNRD) to apply.  What you need to bring:
      - Passport copy of the person you wish to sponsor
      - Passport size ID picture of the person to be sponsored
      - Your passport copy
      - Salary certificate in Arabic
      - Employment Contract
      - Residence visa copy
      - Residence Contract copy

Turned out, we can apply visa just for my parents.  For my parents we can sponsor them under visit visa.  As for my brother we have to apply for a tourist visa.  Per UAE ruling, only parents, wife and children can be sponsored by any expatriate with a basic salary more than AED 4,000.00.  We spent AED 570.00 for the visit visa per parent.  Plus a deposit of AED1,000.00 and health insurance of AED 40.00.  This deposit will be returned once the visitor, in my case my parents, leave the country.  Thr tourist visa we just visited one travel agency and applied for a tourist visa at a cost of AED 800.00 without deposit.  Alhtough some travel agents will require a deposit ranging from AED 5000-7000.  Also, refundable once the tourist leaves the coutrny.  Visa application will only take 3-5 days.  This visa should be used within 60 days after issuance and holder is allowed to stay in the country for 30 days.

Also, to avoid any problems for relatives or friends visiting UAE, they should have an affidavit of support sent by the person who they will be visiting here in UAE.  This document can be taken from the Philippine Embassy.  You have to fill up a form and attach your passport copy, passport copy of the sponsored person.  Since, its my husband who sponsored my parents we also included our red ribbon-marriage certificate and my passport copy.  The affidavit will take one week to process and will cost AED 100 per person.  Once we got the documents, we sent it to the Philippines through FedEx (Shameless plugging).

Next on my list of things to do is just plan their stay here.

 

Mubadala World Tennis 2012

This is somewhat a late post for my 2012 memories.

It was my last hurrah for 2012 before making way for a better 2013.  I ended 2012 with a big "whack" (at least that's how it sound to my ears when a tennis racket hit the ball).  This huge "whack" happened at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi on December 27-29, 2012.  This three-day affair was attended by amazing tennis stars of the world like Novak Djokovic ( *smile*), Janko Tipsarevic (*double smile*), Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Tsonga and etc.  Too bad Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal didn't make it.  Nadal made a late withdrawal from the game due to stomache flu.  Hopefully by this year (2013) he'll be back here in Abu Dhabi.

The tickets were sold a month before the tournament.  I didn't buy one.  I wanted to buy the first day as this is the cheapest - I'm stingy.  The first day ticket cost AED 150.00, second day AEd 250 and AED 450 for the last day.  But good to know that even if you don't have tickets to the match you can still watch the game and catch the players for autograph signing located outside the main stadium.  So we ventured the stadium and checked out the venue.  Luckily, when we got there, there was a long queue for Andy Murray we didn't get the chance to have his autograph and picture but we did got a side view picture of him. But we had a picture and autograph of the other players like Janko and Tomas. Goody goody!

The pavilion, if you want to call it, outside the stadium is composed of tents for food vendors and sports equipmnent store where you can buy stuff and have it signed by your favorite player.  There is also an area where kids can do tennis playing practice or lessons.  I'm not really sure didn't go there as its too crowded.  We didn't stay long to watch Novak play, even if I did the puppy eyes to my husband.  We had a previous appointment with the mall so we have to get going.

Hopefully by the end of 2013, i'd finally get the chance to watch the game.  Experiencing the fever and the excitement outside the stadium is my first step.