Am transiting thru DXB. On the onward leg of my journey have a 9 hour halt in DXB before i catch an Emirates flight to my destination. And on my return, have a 12 hour halt in DXB, before i catch my connecting flight..

Was wondering whether i would be able to get one of those 96 hour visas, in order for me to go out into town for a few hours between these flights.

Any info on this folks..??

Depends a lot on your nationality (or if dual what passport you are using).

I think for some countries like the UK they stamp your passport for 90 days, no visa required.

Indian Passport holder, so not too sure on what the rules are like..and whether they'd issue this for both my onward and return journey which would be only 5 days apart..

India is not on the "Visa on Arrival" list
http://www.emirates.com/uk/english/p...uae_visas.aspx

but is on the list where Emirates can apply for your visa for you through "Manage A Booking"
https://www.dubaivisa.net/EK-OnlineV...Countries.aspx

You may be entitled to a hotel and/or meals courtesy of Emirates if you'd prefer this.

Just use EK's online Visa Info. checker

http://www.emirates.com/nz/English/p...uirements.aspx


Cheers

As an Indian passport holder myself, I've used the Emirates transit visa on arrival a number of times.

When you come down the escalators at T3 towards Arrivals, you will see a semi-circular Emirates information desk right in front of you. The leftmost positions of this will be labelled "VISA" or similar. They will be able to process the transit visa for you PROVIDED you have a stopover of at least 8 hours scheduled. No leeway on the 8h requirement either. 7h55m does not qualify.

You MUST have a reservation for a hotel in Dubai. Whether or not you actually stay at this hotel is another story, but a copy of the reservation is strictly required to process the visa. If you don't have this, they will redirect you to another counter to make an overpriced hotel booking there.

They will charge you one fee at the desk ($70-ish I think) which is payable via credit card and then you have to go and pay another fee of around 175 dirhams ($50-ish) at the bank window on the right.

Then you go to the "eye scanning" counter where a quick retinal scan will be done to ensure you are not on the UAE blacklist and the transit visa will be stamped. After that, pick an immigration lane and welcome to Dubai. The process seems a bit complex but it takes no more than 5-10 minutes usually.

Indian citizens have no problem with obtaining this on arrival but it is restricted in the case of some citizenships such as Nigeria, Afghanistan, Somalia, etc... and in the case of "young unmarried women from CIS states".

The new online visa processing system is much easier (and cheaper - only $61 for a transit visa as opposed to almost double that on arrival) to work with and returns the visa usually within 24 hours of submission if the documents are in order. I've used it thrice already and swear by it. The only catch is that this application must be submitted at least a few days in advance, so it isn't helpful for last minute trips.

HI B747..and thanks a ton for the informative post. The online visa application seems like a much better & cheaper bet. Surprising that the transit visa on arrival costs in excess of $100 ..!!!