# Visit Visa For my Girlfriend



## mayotom (Nov 8, 2008)

Hello everybody

I'm struggling to get my head around the Visa rules, as I seem to get different answers from everybody

I moved here last month and I expect to have my Visa stamped this week. However I had planned to sponsor my girlfriend to come here on a visit visa. but now it appears that I can't because I'm male and she is female. so I have enlisted the help of a female friend to sponsor her. however I'm now getting conflicting stories on this. some say that it'll be fine for my friend to sponsor her, but others say no because my friend is English and my Girlfriend is Estonian.
Has anybody sponsored a friend of a different nationality successfully?

Or does anybody have any other suggestions of how I can get a visa for my girlfriend?

Thanks in advance for your help

mayotom


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

mayotom said:


> Hello everybody
> 
> I'm struggling to get my head around the Visa rules, as I seem to get different answers from everybody
> 
> ...


It would probably be a lot easier if your girlfriend obtained a visa through the airline that she will be travelling with. Emirates offer a visa service. 

I may be wrong but as far as I am aware, since the rule changes, it is impossible to sponsor a friend.


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## mayotom (Nov 8, 2008)

*cheers*



Maz25 said:


> It would probably be a lot easier if your girlfriend obtained a visa through the airline that she will be travelling with. Emirates offer a visa service.
> 
> I may be wrong but as far as I am aware, since the rule changes, it is impossible to sponsor a friend.


Thanks Maz25

from what I understand that would be on a tourist visa. these are for a maximum of 30 days and no renewable and have to allow another 30days afterwards to get another. while it would be great to have her here for 30 days. I had been hoping to have her her for longer like the 60 day visit visa. which would allow her time to get a job and sort out a work visa. She has spoken to a few companies about work and they are willing to interview once she is here..

Thanks again

mayotom


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

mayotom said:


> Thanks Maz25
> 
> from what I understand that would be on a tourist visa. these are for a maximum of 30 days and no renewable and have to allow another 30days afterwards to get another. while it would be great to have her here for 30 days. I had been hoping to have her her for longer like the 60 day visit visa. which would allow her time to get a job and sort out a work visa. She has spoken to a few companies about work and they are willing to interview once she is here..
> 
> ...


There are visas that are valid for 60 days. If she speaks to the airline that she will be travelling with, they will be able to advise her. Alternatively, DNRD or the UAE Embassy would also be able to advise and provide more accurate information.


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## mayotom (Nov 8, 2008)

*cheers*

Thanks Maz25,,

I was told by somebody that if the sponsor earns more than AED 10,000 per month then they can sponsor a friend but I haven't been able to get any confirmation of this. I called DNRD and they say that its case by case. 

So in that case we would have to apply and risk losing the deposits and causing problems for her to get tourist visa because she may be reused a visit visa....

see the predicament.. 

Just don't know what to do


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

Estonia is not in the list of countries that are granted visit visas on arrival, so you will need to find a sponsor, there is no way around it. 

I am mexican and had the same problem. I tried to come on an Emirates visa but the problem that I had is that they will only sponsor residents of the country where you are purchasing the ticket. I.e. if you buy the ticket at Emirates sales offices in Brazil, you need to be a Brazil resident, if you buy it at Emirates sales offices in Washington, you need to be a US resident, and so on. Emirates doesn't have sales offices in Mexico therefore that option didn' t work for me. If they have offices in Estonia they they should be able to sponsor her. 

If you can not get Emirates to sponsor her, then you need to find a local resident to act as sponsor and put in a deposit, etc. etc. I don't know exactly how that works and I've never met anyone who has came here sponsored by an indvidual. 

And lastly, if you can't find anyone, there is the alternative of a travel agent. You can find some of these travel agents in Deira, and pretty much all they do is sell visas and organise visa runs for filipino workers. However be aware that some of these travel agencies are very, very dodgy! So just be careful. Also they can not sponsor visit visas, only 30 day tourist visas. I don't think she will be able to get a visit visa unless is through Emirates or a local sponsor (not travel agent).

Once she comes on a 1 month tourist visa she will have to find a job quickly! And also prepare her for a possible visa run. Is very possible that she will have to do a visa run as 1 month is most likely not enough to find a job. Then once she finds a job, the company that hires her will issue an employment visa, so she will need to leave the country and come back again to switch from visitor/tourist to employment visa. Finally, her employer will need to submit here paperwork to have her residence stamped on her passport. This can take a while depending on the employer. 

Hope this helps,

Izzy

Good luck!


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## mayotom (Nov 8, 2008)

dizzyizzy said:


> Once she comes on a 1 month tourist visa she will have to find a job quickly! And also prepare her for a possible visa run. Is very possible that she will have to do a visa run as 1 month is most likely not enough to find a job. Then once she finds a job, the company that hires her will issue an employment visa, so she will need to leave the country and come back again to switch from visitor/tourist to employment visa. Finally, her employer will need to submit here paperwork to have her residence stamped on her passport. This can take a while depending on the employer.
> 
> Hope this helps,
> 
> ...



Thanks Izzy,

If she is doing a visa run does she have to stay out of the country for 30days or just come and go in one day???

Thanks

mayotom


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

mayotom said:


> Thanks Izzy,
> 
> If she is doing a visa run does she have to stay out of the country for 30days or just come and go in one day???
> 
> ...


I would suspect that she would have to be out of the country for at least 30 days. I know a few people who have done visa runs and have come back on the same day but they have all been citizens/ passport holders of those countries whose citizens can obtain a visa on arrival at the airport. In any case, I still recommend that you speak to DNRD or the UAE Embassy - they make the law and effectively anything we tell you here, may not necessarily be applicable to your girlfriend. A lot of things are done on a case by case basis here. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't!

Your girlfriend might find that things move a lot quicker if she arranges a few job interviews beforehand. Else, as dizzyizzy has said, a month will simply fly by and a lot of time is sometimes wasted just trying to make the initial contact and sorting out CVs. If she can get all the hard work done beforehand, then she might find that the job hunting experience a lot less stressful.


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## mayotom (Nov 8, 2008)

Maz25 said:


> on a case by case basis here. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't!
> 
> Your girlfriend might find that things move a lot quicker if she arranges a few job interviews beforehand. Else, as dizzyizzy has said, a month will simply fly by and a lot of time is sometimes wasted just trying to make the initial contact and sorting out CVs. If she can get all the hard work done beforehand, then she might find that the job hunting experience a lot less stressful.


Thanks Maz25

We she has interviews lined up but just not confirmed the dates. They just says that they will arrange a date once she gets here. Will Call DNRD shortly and see what options they will have for us. 
Also some airlines like Air Baltic who fly Tallin-DXB via Riga. just never know.

Thanks again 

mayotom


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

Well, when my visa expired I went to inmigration and asked about that, and they wanted me to leave the country for 30 days. 

However because this happened around the time they had just changed the rules, so I played the "oh but I didn't know"card, and because Mexico is soooo far away, after shedding some tears I managed to convince the director at immigration to let me come back they day after  But in theory I should have been gone for 30 days. So my suggestion would be that once your girlfriend is here, go directly to Inmigration and ask them. 

Also keep this in mind: I had to also sort out a visa for Oman through a sponsor (we mexicans aren't granted visas on arrival to Oman either, they pretty much apply the same inmigration rules as the UAE regarding to countries that get visas on arrival). I also had to sort out and second tourist visa to return to UAE after the visa run. So it was a bit of a nightmare to be honest. Doing visa runs to Oman is not fun. 

But after that I fell on the lap of my employer, a friendly, super professional aussie free zone company and everything has been wonderful since then! 

Izzy


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

dizzyizzy said:


> Well, when my visa expired I went to inmigration and asked about that, and they wanted me to leave the country for 30 days.
> 
> However because this happened around the time they had just changed the rules, so I played the "oh but I didn't know"card, and because Mexico is soooo far away, after shedding some tears I managed to convince the director at immigration to let me come back they day after  But in theory I should have been gone for 30 days. So my suggestion would be that once your girlfriend is here, go directly to Inmigration and ask them.
> 
> ...



PS 

Oh and I also had to shed a lot of cash here and there!!

I'm telling you people! I've literally earned my right to stay in this country with hard work and tears!


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