According to reports, some tourists who recently tried to change their visas in the United Arab Emirates through UAE airport visa switch were unsuccessful. After becoming trapped at a foreign airport, they had to figure out how to purchase a ticket and take a flight home while they awaited the issuance of their UAE visa.
Airport-To-Airport Visa Change
Visitors whose visas are about to expire frequently use the “airport-to-airport visa change” approach. They take a plane from the United Arab Emirates to a neighboring nation, where they wait at the airport and apply for a new visa. When their visitation visa is granted, they take a flight back to the UAE.
However, travel agencies advise tourists who want to stay longer in the United Arab Emirates to do it without leaving the nation. This alternative offers a more dependable approach to guarantee a longer stay, albeit more costly than the airport-to-airport run.
The ‘airport-to-airport visa change’ costs travelers between Dh1,300 and Dh1,500 for a two-month visa, according to Geoffrey Salatan, CEO of Geof Travel.
Many travelers favored the A-to-A visa conversion because they could return in a few hours. But we now advise extending visas domestically,” Salatan stated.
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Visa extensions of up to 30 days are permitted within the United Arab Emirates. “It costs about Dh1,050 to extend a visa within the country,” he continued.
“I had already cleared two rounds of job interviews and was awaiting the third, which was scheduled for November 25,” stated Khalid (name changed), an Indian national who traveled to a GCC nation from the United Arab Emirates last week.
The engineer decided to fly to a neighboring country and return on a fresh visa to attend the final interview because his current visa was about to expire. “I was shocked to discover that I had not received my UAE visa when I arrived at the airport, even though my return flight was scheduled for five hours later,” Khalid stated. “I called my travel agent repeatedly, but he told me that I would have to wait because the visa had not yet been issued.”
Twenty-four hours later, Khalid’s visa was still pending approval. My representative finally informed me that the visa had been denied after I had been waiting for more than thirty-six hours. The visas of other people traveling with me were also denied.
Khalid had no choice but to go back to his Indian homeland. After the UAE National Day vacation, the interview has been postponed. I’m hoping to get the job and move back in as a resident.
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When attempting to accomplish his airport-to-airport visa change, Sameer, a Pakistani national, encountered a similar circumstance. To spend the winter with his family in Dubai, Sameer, who had been in the nation on a visitation visa, decided to leave and return on a new visitation visa.
Sameer, who had anticipated a quick visa clearance, stated, “I traveled to Oman on November 21 with my return flight scheduled for the same day after a four-hour gap.” But then something unexpected happened. “My UAE visa had not been authorized when I got to the airport for my journey back. My travel agency informed me that the visa approval was still pending when I phoned him right away.
Sameer was waiting at the airport but got no updates. “My agent verified that the visa application was denied after a day,” Sameer stated. “I was forced to schedule a flight back to Karachi and make the trip back.”
According to certain travel agents, they have had experiences with their clients’ visa applications being denied. “These rejections may be a result of the new visa requirements, which require visitors to provide proof of lodging, a specific amount of money to support themselves in the UAE, and return tickets,” said Shamsheed CV, senior consultant for Outbound Travel at Wisefox Tourism. “We are awaiting additional information regarding these changes.”
“We have also encountered delays and situations where visas were not approved for some of our clients,” stated Mir Wasim Raja, manager of Galadari International Travel Services. It’s possible that the travelers lacked any necessary paperwork.