Hello everyone,
I have some questions about my trip to VAE and Oman:
1) Does anybody know if there's any exit fee to pay when leaving UAE entering Oman at the Al Ain/Buraimi border?
2) Can anyone tell me the opening hours of the border?
3) Are the border posts close to each other (in other words, will it be possible to cross the border walking?)
4) I'm planning to go to Ibri from Buraimi, does anyone know if there are any buses/taxis available?
Thank you very much for your help!
1) There is no exit fee when leaving UAE and entering Oman. The only cost you have to calculate is the visa fee for Oman (unless you are a GCC citizen / have residency in Oman / have a pre-arranged visa). If you overstayed in UAE, you will also have to pay a fine. The only fee which applies regularly is when you are getting out of Oman by car; a road exit fee of RO 2 per car applies.
3) At the Mezyad crossing (south of the city, towards Ibri) the 2 border posts are fairly close to each other, about 300 yards. Wikimapia also clearly shows both checkpoints. I travelled there last Thursday coming from Oman and can confirm that the satellite pic is accurate. Al Ain's streets/roads are very annoying because of the local roundabout-o-mania.
I am not sure if this is still valid now, but as far as I remember there is no Omani border control inside the city centre - the actual immigration checkpoint was about 10km east of the city. Might be a bit tricky to get to Ibri from there and getting all Omani stamps etc.
There have been many changes over the past years... in 2006 for example there was no UAE or Omani checkpoint at all when only crossing between the centres of Buraimi from Al Ain (and people did petrol runs there because it was and still is cheaper in Oman!).
Now, something you must bear in mind when planning your trip is that there seem to be some restrictions regarding use of the city centre border crossing (not sure about the Hili crossing), I think is restricted to GCC nationals and residency card holders. I am not aware of the latest development there. Please google a little and though shalt find! Given that you intend to continue your trip to Ibri, my suggestion is to skip Buraimi and go directly to the Mezyad border crossing. This border crossing is open for all nationalities.
4) I didn't see buses at the Mezyad border but have only crossed by car 3 times - so maybe it was just because of the schedule. No taxis were standing around waiting for passengers, but as a rule there is almost no place in Oman where you won't find a taxi within reasonable time.