How to get a visit visa for a relative to Dubai

NAIA Airport: Are we going to be offloaded or not?

Dubai has opened doors for me to a lot of opportunities and new experiences. So I guess it’s about time to give a chance for either one or both of my sisters to see Dubai.

Getting through the immigration at NAIA can be a nerve-wracking experience and being a big sister like I am, I do not want to have my sister go through all that if I can. So I made sure the process of sponsoring her will go smoothly and the documents complete. One friend advised me to take my sister with me when I return here, in case the immigration officials ask some questions, you can easily support her.

We planned to leave Manila to Dubai on April 18, 2016, and I successfully did it. Let me walk you through the process on how we did it.

First Step: Secure a Visa (About a month before the planned departure)

For this, you need to contact a local travel agency here in Dubai. You will need a passport copy and passport picture of the person you are sponsoring.

Visit Visa or Long Term Visa: Good for 90 days, cost is 1300 AED (or 1500 depending on the travel agency fees)

Tourist Visa: Valid for 30 days only, and costs around 750 AED

I applied for the long term visit visa for my sister, so she has enough time to experience Dubai and find out her options here.

Second Step: Go to the Philippine Consulate in Dubai to get an Affidavit of Support and Guarantee (About 3 weeks before departure date)

The Affidavit of Support and Guarantee is a document that proves that you can support your relative’s visit in UAE. It contains the sponsor’s personal details that show that you and your relative are family and that you have the financial ability to provide support. You can support your spouse, parent and grandparent, children, uncle, aunt, niece and first cousins only. This document should be presented to the immigration officials at the airport to avoid being offloaded.

 To get this affidavit, you will need 2 copies of the following:

1. Your residence visa and passport page (sponsor)

2. Your relative’s visit visa and passport page

3. Proof of relation.NSO copy of sponsor and relative’s birth certificate (should show the same birth certificate). If you are sponsoring your nephew or niece with a different surname, include your aunt’s or uncle’s birth certificate showing the same family name. A marriage certificate is needed if sponsoring a spouse, children or parents in laws.

Note: Additional documents may be asked if sponsoring children by a father or a single mother

4. Original and 2 copies of English salary certificate or Labor Employment contract with more than 3500 AED monthly salary

5. Completed affidavit of support and guarantee application form. You can download the affidavit application form at http://dubaipcg.dfa.gov.ph/images/PDF/Affidavit%20of%20Support%20and%20Guarantee.pdf

6. Personal appearance of the sponsor

At POLO OWWA building, go to the Notaries Section and submit the requirements. You can separate the files in two sets to make things faster at the counter.

After approval, you may proceed to the Empost booth to pay for the delivery and to the cashier. The Empost fee is 15-20 AED and the affidavit processing fee is 100AED. The document processing will take 7 working days and 3-5 days for delivery. I received my affidavit after 11 days.

Third Step: Book a round trip flight for your relative.

I was already in the Philippines when I did this, but I suggest you book the flight here in Dubai, after you filed or received the affidavit. You need the print out of this itinerary and especially confirmed return flight.

Dubai Mall Aquarium: Welcome to Dubai sis!

At the immigration, present the Affidavit of Support and Guarantee. The immigration officer may ask your relative to present his or her company ID, like what happened to my sister.

Coco Beach Island Resort, Puerto Galera, the Pinas Beach Trip 2016

We stayed at Coco Beach for three days, from April 9-11, 2016. The resort is about 10 hectares of coconut trees along a hillside facing a private cove. I love that Coco Beach is not sharing the beach with other resorts, giving a quiet and exclusive feel to the place.

How to get there

There are two options on how to do this. First, the easy way. Coco Beach has a transportation service from its Manila office to the resort. It’s convenient, but you may have to pay a little more for comfort. We live in Laguna which is quite near the Batangas port so I inquired only for a round trip boat transfer which will cost around 1500 Php for an adult and 1300 Php for a child (until 12 years old).

I chose the second option instead: go there on our own. It’s not very convenient but you can save more. Here’s how to do it.

1. Go to Batangas Port. You can take a bus from Cubao, Quezon City if you are coming from Manila. For us, we took a car to get there (special thanks to Dyan) and left the car at the port.

2. Take a big boat to Muelle Port. We were supposed to take the boat to Sabang, but we were late. Fortunately, the Muelle trip was better because there are trips every hour.

Cost of boat ticket/pax: 230 Php

Cost of Terminal fee/pax: 30 Php

3. From Muelle Port, hire a small boat to Coco Beach.

Environmental fee/pax: 50 Php

Boat fee: 250 Php/boat

Accommodation

The resort offers five types of room accommodation: standard, deluxe, hilltop, suite room and heritage. We stayed at the heritage room since it’s the only room with air conditioner. The hilltop rooms are beautiful and the view must be spectacular up there, but be prepared for the climb up the hill.

Cost of Heritage room for 3 days/2 nights for 8 pax: 32,000 Php (683 USD)

The heritage room we stayed in is roomy and comfortable. All 8 of us are comfortable sharing three queen sized beds and two single mattresses. This room accommodation comes with free buffet breakfast, 30 minutes use of kayak, free bottles of water and a free boat ride to an island.

Amenities

Coco Beach has several amenities. It has a big pool at the beach and a jacuzzi and pool on the hilltop. It has sports facilities for basketball and tennis, a dive center, play area for kids, hanging bridge, a soap factory, a souvenir shop, and four restaurants. 



It also has a cable jeepney, which I find amusing and practical. If you want to go to the silent pool at the hilltop and don’t want to hike up, this is the way to go.

Dining

Now this is the part I had a hard time searching for. Food at Coco Beach is a bit pricey and servings are good for 1-2 persons only. The menu is varied and the free breakfast buffet has a lot of food selections (so make sure you eat your fill during breakfast).

Menu at Carabao Restaurant

Cost of drinks at Coco Beach Bars

Carabao Restaurant and Coco Grill have the same type of menu. The resort also has its very own Italian restaurant, the Trattoria “Sotto le Stelle” which serves specialty pizza and grilled chicken. Dona Lina Revolving Restaurant serves three to five-course meals in a quaint revolving restaurant. Unluckily, this restaurant is not open during our stay.

There are two bars at the resort, the Barracuda and Anito Bar, where you can enjoy cocktails and listen to music overlooking the beach.Avail of the buy one, take one free promo during happy hours to save on drinks.

Pasta and pizza lunch at Trattoria

For Trattoria, our lunch of 3 pizzas and 2 pasta dishes cost around 1950 Php.

A full course meal at Dona Lina Revolving Restaurant would cost around 900 or more pesos.

Activities

The website suggests 101 activities that you can do at the resort, but we simply don’t have enough time to do everything and some activities have additional costs. We used the free services offered instead, like the boat ride, cable jeepney ride, basketball court , film show and  kayak. Most of our time was spent lounging either by the pool or the beach, letting all the stress melt away.

Beachfront

Film show

Relaxing on a hammock (my daughter thinks sharing a hammock was not a good idea)

Kayak ride with my sister

Staff Service

I highly commend the staff services in Coco Beach. When we arrived, we were greeted with shell necklaces and welcome drinks (non-alcoholic). There are two staffs in charge with each room so every concern we had was dealt quickly. The rooms are cleaned every day. Coffee was served at the patio every morning with sweet notes from the staff. They even give a daily newsletter, to inform the guests of the promos and activities for the day.

Overall, we really enjoyed our stay at Coco Beach. My pre-teen kids did not get bored and they have all but good things to say about their experience. I also felt so relaxed here and safe as well. 
If you want to know more about this resort, check out their website at www.cocobeach.com.

Vacationing in the Philippines? Get your OEC first.

Time flies so fast. It’s time for a vacation again in the Philippines. Ahh…the nice beaches, relaxing resorts, the trees (yes, I miss the trees in Laguna) and warm embraces from my family fill my mind almost every day as my flight date approaches. But wait… think I forgot something very important before I hop on a plane to the Philippines. Yeah, I need to get my OEC.So how do you get one?

What is an OEC?

An OEC or Overseas Employment Certificate is a document you get from the Philippine Embassy to prove that you are a legal OFW. It is your “exit pass” to get through the airport immigration and let you travel back to the country you work at. The OEC saves you from all the hassle of answering interrogation type of questions from the immigration officers before you can get on the plane.

You have two choices in getting an OEC: in POLO OWWA offices here in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, or in the POEA offices in the Philippines. I suggest you get your OEC here because it’s faster and easier. 

How to get an OEC

Step 1: Secure your confirmed airline ticket. Make sure that your passport has more than 6 month’s validity.

Step 2: Go to Balik-Manggagawa Online Processing Online of the POEA at http://bmonline.ph/. If you are applying for OEC the first time, create a profile. Then follow the instructions to get an OEC which would include typing your flight date and confirmation that you are going back to the same employer.

Tip: Get an OEC schedule before 11am to avoid the long lines in the afternoon.

Step 3: Click Get OEC. On the Payment page, click on the box that says Set Appointment. Choose a location and the time and date for your appointment. After successfully getting an appointment, print 3 copies of the OEC appointment document.

Step 4: On your appointment day, bring the following to POLO OWWA (if you are in Dubai):

• 3 copies of the OEC appointment form
•  Passport valid not less than 6 months
• Confirmed airline booking

For first time OWWA applicants or those with expired membership, these are additional requirements:

•         2 copies of OWWA membership form. Get it at http://owwa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/files/Downloads/OSMP.pdf
•     2 copies of Pag-ibig membership form at http://www.pagibigfund.gov.ph/DLForms/providentrelated/FPF095_MembershipRegistrationForm_V01.pdf

For household service workers or house maids:

1. Immigration Contract (original) of the worker with two (2) xerox copies;  
2. Original passport of the worker
3. Passport copy of the sponsor and the worker - two (2) xerox copies;
4. Residence Visa copy of the worker - two (2) xerox copies;
5. If the sponsor is non-local, she should include two (2) sponsor's residence visa copy 
6. Download the forms for Affidavit of Undertaking a sponsor and Information sheet of the sponsor at http://www.polodubai.com/how-to-get-an-oec.html , fill up and sign

At POLO OWWA, go to the window at the lobby and show your OEC appointment papers, passport and confirmed flight itinerary. You will be given a number which you will need to proceed to the next window.

 

You will also need to pay the following amounts:

OEC: 10 AED

OWWA Membership: 92 AED

Pag-ibig Membership: 10 AED

The whole OEC process took less than an hour. You can also check or apply for your SSS  while you are there at POLO OWWA if you have time.

Step 5: When finished, keep your receipt and log in to your BM-OEC online account. Go to My Transaction, click Print OEC and print 2 copies of the OEC. Show this to the immigration counter at the airport in the Philippines.

Have a safe and enjoyable trip back to the Philippines!

How to Go to Dubai (and avoid Offloading)

Why did I go to Dubai? High tax-free salary and over-the -top tourist attractions make Dubai the "in" city to go to.Plus with a chance to work in an advertising agency (thanks to telenovelas which make advertising jobs so glamorous), I packed my bags and got ready to leave.Until I read about offloading of Filipinas bound to Dubai at the airport.

After reading blogs of those who tried and failed to go to Dubai, I worried about being offloaded myself. The airport immigration is restricting Filipinas on tourist visas to leave the country to avoid the human trafficking cases in the Middle East, thus offloading happens.

But that didn't stop me. With careful planning, lots of research and prayers, this is how I successfully made it to Dubai.

1. Clark to Hongkong flight

I did not take a direct flight to Dubai from Manila, as this usually ends up in offloading. Using my credit card and Fare Compare, I took the cheapest two-way flight from Clark airport to Hongkong. Why a two-way flight? The immigration will not let you leave without a return ticket because, as a tourist, you are supposed to come back.

2. Dubai from Hongkong flight

My Dubai flight was scheduled a day after my arrival in Hongkong. I choose Hongkong because I won’t need a visa there and that has the cheapest airfare I found online. Another thing is that I have a relative there who may help me if I got into trouble.

Cost of Ticket:

Clark-Hongkong:   Php 11,594

Hongkong-Dubai:  Php 14,192.37

Total:                      Php 25,786.37

Clark Airport

I chose Clark Airport because of the cheap rates and because I didn’t see any blogs of people being offloaded here. (I could have been the first.)

In the immigration desk, the officer took a full 15 minutes questioning and going through my papers. I presented my flight itinerary, hotel booking, two IDs, my tutorial center business permit (which in my surprise was expired already), credit cards and ATM. The immigration officer asked why I only brought one ATM, and I quickly replied that I have my credit cards and enough money with me (even if it’s only 200USD). I was already expecting getting offloaded when she apologized for asking too many questions and handed me back my papers with the immigration stamp. Whew!

Terminal Fee: 550Php

Clark-Hongkong =approx. 2 h flight
Travel Tips:

• Carry a small luggage
• Be confident when answering the immigration officer's question
• Bring IDs, at least 2 ATMs and other supporting documents to prove that you are coming back
• Act excited and happy. Otherwise, the immigration will see that you are not really going on a vacation.
• Join a group tour to avoid the immigration hassle

Hongkong

Comic Character Exhibit at Kowloon Park

I finally made it in Hongkong around 8pm. My airport friend, whom I met there, advised me to stay at the airport and wait for my flight to Dubai. It may be dangerous to go wandering in a foreign country alone, but then I don’t want to waste the money I spent on the hotel. So, I decided to try and explore Hongkong. Thankfully, Hongkong has strong and dependable wifi and the airport staff was very helpful, I was able to get the instructions to my hotel. The next day, I decided to take a stroll around to buy breakfast and discovered Kowloon Park. It’s refreshing to see this small green park in the middle of the city.

Budget hotel (overnight): Php 3,500

Hongkong-Kunming: approx. 4h &45m flight

Flamingos at Kowloon Park

 China

I took the China Eastern Airlines to Dubai. But this flight has a 22-hour layover at Kunming Airport in China. It’s the cheapest flight I found, so I didn’t mind the long hours of waiting. I thought of booking a hotel near the airport, but I’ll need a visa for that. Luckily there was a Filipino in the same flight with me. We exchanged stories and took turns watching over our luggage. I wished I brought a book with me to pass the time and found an English book left behind at the charging station. The book, The Dreamers, is about German immigrants going to Australia during the 1800s. It’s a perfect story for my trip.

A Chinese national approached me after seeing me reading the  book and asked if I can help him practice his English. What followed was an overnight English tutorial and he became our interpreter for the airport officials who kept checking our passports.

Layover: 22 hours
Travel tips:

• Try to find an airport friend (preferably Kabayan) to help you
• Most Chinese do not know how to speak English well (even the airport staff)
• Bring a book or anything to keep you entertained during long hours of waiting

Kunming Airport

Dubai

My overnight English tutorials had me dozing throughout the entire trip from Kunming to Dubai. When I woke up, the pilot was already announcing our arrival at Dubai Airport. It was dark outside, but the city was very bright. I wondered how much this city is paying for the electricity. Just looking at the hundreds of streetlamps along the roads, must be a lot.

Finally! I made it in Dubai. For awhile I cannot believe that I had survived my three-day journey to this city. It had been an adventure, traveling 3 cities in 3 days. Now with this exciting trip I can share stories with others back home who are dreaming to work here in Dubai.

Kunming-Dubai: approx. 3 hours

 Burj Khalifa from balcony