Visa Dept at Airport
An interesting thing happened to me today at the Immigration Dept at the Airport. I went to apply for a Visa for my niece to come visit for 10 days next month. I had ALL the documents - plus extras - that would be needed. Copies of passport, previous visa, previous visa letter, copy of passport page stamped at last visit, mine and my wife;s passports, both our RP's, my nieces' unabridged birth certificate, Irish RP [she is South African living in Ireland on a SA Passport], letter from my employer, letter from my landlord and the Official Application Form - typed in Arabic as well.
The lady at the desk indicated that I needed to fill in another form, which I did - this one was in English and Arabic. After standing in teh row again she then idicated that I need to get the Captain's signature. She directed me to the Captain. He looked at the 1st piece of paper on teh pile that I gave him, the one from my employer and then my niece's passport. He gave eveything back to me and told me to go to a hotel. When I asked him why, he just said"Hotel, hotel, hotel!!!" and got agitated as well. I then tried to explain to him that I wanted to do things legally and he was telling me to do something illegal. With that he got a big smile on his face and told me to go to a hotel for the visa. He even told me which hotel to go too that would help me!!! A small, cheap place in the old city centre.
I was just wondering - is this the way to go? Is there no "legal" way to get a visa? What happens my friend and his wife come in December? Will I have to go to this hotel again? What is the use of having the Immigration Dept then?
Any comments or suggestions would be welcomed.
sa_japie
"To be or not to be - that is the question"
The visa system has got a fair few chinks in them. Getting into the country is as hard as getting outside. This is a good security measure on the part of the immigration department. There are a lot of hassle related with getting your paper work running. What you gotta do is get urself a 'mandook' , essentially a person fluent with the immigration procedure (which you have a competent knowledge on) plus is well versed in arabic and preferably has 5 yrs plus experience handling such issues.
cheers
xyned
Let me try a genuine help for all. You can bring any of your relatives provided their surnames match with yours. Also for Family Visit Visa for Relatives less than 60 Years its pretty easy. The trouble comes with Single females travelling which are less than 30 years old. If she is not immediate family like sister or daughter getting a Visa is NOT easy but its possible if your salary is high enough and the Senior Office Sitting on the first Level at Madinah Khalifa is convinced of your bonafide intentions ( I am not implying that anyone of you are not bona-fide).
For relatives over the age of 60 again its a matter of the Senior Officer who will decide it on case to case basis after convincing himself. For relatives over 60 be ready to convince him that you want them here for short duration and for a specific reason (Apparently the Govt. had an experience of lots of old expats (As told to me mainly Arabs)) who had their old age relatives with them and this created a strain on the already stretched Health Services (All of this could be non-sense, since the source inside who told me was not high enough) . The fact exists that there is a clear directive of the home ministry not to entertain too many visas of people over 60 Years (and that was told by the big boss at Madina Khalifa).
Its not about Westerners or Easterners at all. Everyone who wants a family visit visa has to go through the same process. Visa on arrival is a facility which is only available to westerners but its a hassle since you need to be out of the country every 15 days for renewal and as per the latest directives you need to show a reservation in the hotel or show credit cards with $2000 credit in it.
Quiet Lurker. Poor contributer
I have used Gulf Horizon Hotel, behind Standard Chartered Building to get a Tourist Visa for my cousin . Its simple, pay 350 Riyals in the morning with the passport copy and your ID Card, for which they give you a RECIEPT saying Visa Charges and they get it done by evening. They even have extended the visa for my cousin for a week.
I believe its legal to get a Visa through the Hotel, as they issue one a reciept for this service, strange laws we have here.
Now my story,
Around 1 month ago, i went to the immigration dept located at the airport, aiming to apply for a visiting visa for my mother.
The lady overthere looked at me, my passport, and said "jordanians have to go to khalifa"
Well, i didnt understand the rationale behind it, but i didn't comment, drove for over 45 min, went to the immigration dept at the khalifah area, submitted a complete application (and of course it had a copy of my mother's passport :)
Kept on going back and forth checking on it, i would say like 3 times. After 1 week, i had the opportunity to talk to an officer, very nice guy, he said, bring another copy of your mother's passport, i tried to explain to him that the copy is already attached, he simply said, bring another copy.
Now being the shy guy i am, i did with no hassle, came back next sunday and submitted the copy and got that receipt where you have to double check in three days.
Now guys, it's been 3 weeks and my application is still being under process, i don't want to imagine this happening to me when i have an emergency case and my mother has to come on urgent basis.
Now, to be honest, there are issues that everybody knows about in relation to specific nationalities including the jordanian one, but i had no hand in it :) so why this treatment !!
sister, brother, father, mother, husband, wife, son and daugher..
anyone else (niece, aunt, uncle, cousin...) must go through madinat khalifa visa department as fas as i know.
out of curiosity - which hotel did he recommend?
for next time i have a visitor, ill just do it illegally through hotel
its too much hassle the other way..
Can you not get your company's PR officer to assist you? Every company has a PR that is usually a qatari, or at least an arabic speaker. They are the ones that deal with the visa's.
I do not agree that you 'have' to go through a hotel. My Italian friend is not a relative, and she does not have a problem with getting her visa. I'm not sure if that is just because she has a EU passport.
Anyway, good luck. :)
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Mahatma Ghandi
You are probably trying to get a visit visa which you usually get for father, mother,brother and sister only(resp. for your spouse too). For nieces and nephews or even your cousins you have to take a tourist visa which only hotels can organise with reservation at the same hotel.
Alexa you are correct, we need one local person here to support us.
sa_japie,
South Africans don't get a visa on arrival. Since she is your niece all she should be eligible for a tourist visa. I suggest you try going at a different time to get a different captain...Sometimes it's just what mood he is in and if they actually listen to what you are saying.
Is her surname the same as yours or your wife? If possible apply using the residence permit with the same surname as not to confuse them.
You'd think they would ease up on visa restrictions for South Africans given how Sasol is helping getting all that natural gas processesd!
---
Friends always invite friends to join Qatar Living.
Thanks for the comment, but South African Passport holders MUST get a visa issued before arrival. Oh, and they were very helpful in English - Arabic was not an issue at all. I was pleasantly surprised.
sa_japie
"To be or not to be? That is the question"
That's weird. I agree with Alexa, take an Arabic speaking person with you. You'll be amazed at the difference it makes.
My sister (28) came alone and got a visa on arrival and so did my mom. No problems at all. American passports.