The United Arab Emirates hotel-visa situation
Replies: 3 - Last Post: Nov 28, 2012 12:14 PM Last Post By: dxb1969
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The United Arab Emirates hotel-visa situation
My wife and I will be going to Dubai in February. I being a US citizen can get a visa on arrival but my wife being Peruvian needs one in advance.It has been quite difficult getting one as we live in Shanghai and the company that helps with visas here (its not a consulate) only helps if you booked through Air Emirates which we did not.
So, we were told to have a hotel help us get a visa stay. I am totally unsure how this works and what to do. I guess my biggest concern is if we have a hotel sponsor us does that mean we have to stay there our entire time in Dubai? (one week). We also want to get to Abu Dabhi but not sure just how this whole situation will work.
Any advice and/or previous experience as to how to handle this would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
Josh
1
Why don't you go straight to the source, that is a UAE consular office? Ask the UAE embassy in Beijing. There may also be a UAE consulate in Shanghai. Look here, item 64: http://www.shfao.gov.cn/wsb/english/Guides/Consular_Affairs/u1a14340.html2
From previous work-based experience (admittedly, several years out of date), most hotels specify a minimum stay of 3 nights before they will be willing to sponsor someone for a visa. The easiest way to do it is to choose the place you want to stay, contact the hotel direct (prior to making a booking), ask them for their rules and instructions and then take it from there.3
Frankly, this kind of situation is always a bureaucratic & logistical nightmare.If possible, get the visa in China directly from the UAE embassy or consulate, as per the advice given in post #1 above. This is likely to be easiest. If you can't get to Beijing and if there is no UAE consulate in Shanghai, then I would advise you to contact Arabian Adventures or Marhaba Services by phone or email. They are inbound travel agents based in Dubai offering packages that include hotels and visas:
http://arabian-adventures.com/en/corporate-and-trade-services/leisure-travel-services/airport-sales-and-services/index.aspx
Unfortunately these packages cannot be booked online, as far as I know but I assume something can be done by phone or email. They are available to book on arrival at the airport in Dubai, but I don't know how it works as the visa is issued when you arrive, and airlines usually need to see visas before they will board you.
If AA or Marhaba can't help, then approach hotels directly, as advised by G_C in post #2.
Note the tourist visa fee is around US$150, rather expensive....
