I recently received my passport with a UK visa stamped on it
and I must say that it was by far the most efficient and fastest visa
processing I’ve ever done. So I’ll share the experience with you my dear
readers or to whoever is planning to apply for one.
To start of, you have to have an itinerary in mind. How long
you’ll be staying there, where you’ll be staying (specific address is required
when you’re filling in the application form) and the dates of your travel.
Since I’m a travel agent, it was one easy task for me to look for possible
hotels and book flights which will then serve as my itinerary. For more drama,
I also added some excursions along with it. 🙂
Once you have these information, you may now proceed to
filling out the visa application form which can be found on their website. The
visa application fee will also be paid on the same website right at the end of
the application form. The Dubai Visa Fees is USD129.00 for a 6 months
validity, you can see all the other fees on this link right here. After
completing the form and paying the fees, you can now book your visa appointment
online which is MANDATORY. I’ve seen a couple of applicants who did not have
appointments and was denied to enter the visa center. I actually did it the other way around, I
booked an appointment first and then filled out the forms and paid for the
fees. So you can do so as you wish.
After all those formalities, it’s now time to prepare all
your documents to prove that you are capable of financing yourself while you’re
in their country. Well, depending on the reason of your visit which for me was
for tourism – I have prepared the following:
1. Flight itinerary
2. Hotel booking
3. Day tours itinerary
4. Payslip for the last 6 months
5. Bank statement for the last 6 months (stamped by the
bank)
6. Employment certificate stating my monthly salary and
approved leave dates
7. Passport copy
8. UAE residence visa page copy
9. Schengen visa page copies
If you have any other documents which you think might help
you with acquiring the visa (specially pertaining to your monthly income or
assets) then do add it on the list.
I was scheduled for 28May at 11am and their new office at
Wafi Mall in Oud Metha was very well-coordinated. It seemed to me like the
whole process was rehearsed by all of the employees.
1. The receptionist checks if you do have an appointment for
the day.
2. The guard body checks you as well as your bag (for
whatever reason, chewing gums are prohibited inside)
3. Another receptionist gives you your number.
4. An agent checks if you have the correct documents and
asks you simple questions like: Have you ever been to any English countries?
(UK or Australia).
5. The agent asks you if you want your passport to be
delivered to you or you want to pick it up yourself from the same location. If
you choose the former, make sure you have AED35 with you as an exact change.
6. Agent asks you to sit for awhile as you wait for number
to be called to take your biometrics (fingerprints and photo).
7. After the biometrics, you can now go home. 🙂
The whole process was not more than 15 minutes. In fact, the
steps 3 and 4 was a matter of a split second.
They have advised me that the visa processing normally takes
15 to 20 working days but I received my visa from Aramex last 09Jun which makes
it a total of 8 working days only. So yep, the most efficient visa processing
is the UK Visa. If only this visa will allow me to travel to any Schengen
states then I’ll probably apply my visas from their office all the time.
