On short notice, I was asked to arrange a meeting for 10 pax at Al Ain and prepare the accommodation and visa of a guest speaker coming from Qatar. If one is a GCC (Gulf Cooperation countries) national, she can get her visa upon arrival, but she happens to be Lebanese so she has to apply for a visa. Most hotels refused applying a visa if the guest’s passport copy and photo were NOT submitted 15 days or earlier than the arrival. I decided to seek a reservation staff’s help, gladly, a Filipina.
‘Mary, could you arrange a visa for a guest though she won’t be staying at your hotel?’I started.
‘It’s possible but it’s not allowed by immigration,’ she explained,’it’s illegal,’ she added. ‘Why don’t you try to get a visa for her directly through Emirates Airlines (EK)?’ she suggested.
After googling, and navigating EK site, here is the quick reference guide I found (either click the image or EK SITE):
Unfortunately, I am never related by blood to the guest speaker so I could not apply a visa for her. Upon speaking to Aileen, a friend working at EK, she told me the minimum salary required for Emirates residents applying for their relatives’ visa to UAE is 5500 AED. That doesn’t help either.
Thanks to Mary for being at my beck and call. Visa processing initiated, one down. Now only credit facilities application approval with InterCon Al Ain remains unverified. For this, I summon divine intervention.