UAE visa worry - multiple cities and hotels?
 

Hi,
planning to spend 10 days in UAE, some in Dubai, but mostly outside Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain etc.
As Estonian, I need hotel-sponsored visa. I have booked a room for few days and asked visa from one of Dubai Hyatts, but they answered "we will only apply for visas of those guests whose entire stay will be with Hyatt hotels in Dubai."
So what should I do now, I could of course make some refundable bookings in other Dubai Hyatts and cancel them once I am in Dubai, but I accidentally read frightening text from Jumeirah Hotels visa info website:
•The holder must leave UAE when checked out from Jumeirah Hotel or Resort. A fine will be payable to Dubai Immigration for each day overstayed.
•Guests who remain for a further stay in the UAE following check-out from a Jumeirah Hotel or Resort are in breach of these terms and conditions and their respective Tourist Visa, and may face court action and/or penalties.

I am pretty sure these conditions apply to every tourist visa holder. But I don't have to apply for separate visa from eveery hotel I am staying in UAE, do I ???
Has anybody an idea, what's the best option to do? I will call Dubai immigration tomorrow, but quite likely I get a standard answer smth. like "stay in one hotel/chain) for the whole time!" Any better ideas, as I don't want to be confined to Dubai for my whole travel?

Why not get a travel agency to sponsor you?
e.g. http://travel.theemiratesnetwork.com...noo_travel.php

Because I have booked flights and hotels separately.

Hotels do this as a matter of course as the visa costs them money. Who are you flying with? Emirates will sort your visa if you ask them to, not sure about others but airlines are likely your best first option. As mentioned above, there are also agencies who you can pay and they will sponsor you (you don't need to book anything else through them), though they tend to be quite expensive and technically this isn't legal.

The visa is for the whole UAE regardless so you can travel to any other Emirate once you get it.

I don't have experience with this particular scenario, but I would be surprised if the UAE/Dubai government took any action if you moved hotels; they wouldn't even have any way to notice, unless the expiration date of the visa is scheduled as the day that you check out of the hotel.

On the other hand, hotels often (and are probably supposed to) ask to see your visa when you check in, so if you present a visa indicating your sponsorship as another hotel, they might give you trouble.

They require all hotels booked through them. And they are expensive.

My experience inviting a national from a couontry not on the visa free list was a bit mixed.

Several PC hotels (HI,HIX) didnt provide visa support at all, while CP only did if you in addition had a company to sponsor (sic). They charged 500 Dirham.

Hyatt was better at 450 Dirham, and they didnt need an additional sponsor. But required you to stay all nights there. The visa was issued online, and was sent as a printable PDF-file. This had 2 months expiry from date of issue (normally a week before arrival). Hyatt also authorized 5000 Dirham on my CC.

I guess they could have done whatever they wanted after the Hyatt stay, and probably also checked out earlier.

Im not sure whether the 2 months were standard, we provided flight details for 6 days.

Would probably have been enough with one night at Hyatt.

Emirates can also do it.

Yeah, all this UAE visa scheme is quite unusual, to say the less.
I'm staying at the Le Royal Meridien, and after I enquired, they told me they only provide visas to corporate customers, but since I was an SPG member they would make an exception in my case.
They charge 450 Dirham for the visa, plus a 5000 Dirham auth on my CC. (I don't know why is this, maybe in case I decide to cancel my booking with them after I get the visa?).

Seems a bit ridiculous to me, not everyone flies with Emirates, or through a travel agent. If on top of that hotels make it difficult, some people might genuinely unable to get a visa.

If you are flying on Emirates, they will take care of your visa. There is a counter off to the left from where you ascend into the Arrivals Hall where they handle visas.

The 5000 dirham is a deposit to cover you breaking the terms of your visa - everyone pays that including expats who have full residency in the UAE.

Emirates seems to be the best choice if you fly emirates, they will do it very easy for you.

Guys, Emirates may surely be helpful to those who fly them, but coming from the same region as the OP I have a suspicion he is NOT flying EK. The airline does not serve our countries.

I am also going to DXB for the first time in April (flying BT), and found out about the strange visa regulations after booking my tickets. Had I known the extent of the hassle before, I'd probably not have bought the flights.

Anyway, I have no choice now hence my question: which of the DXB hotels is known to charge the least for visa assistance? And would a party of four be able to save on intermediary charges for visas rather than each member paying the full price such as the above-mentioned 450 AED?

I haven't been to Dubai in years, but I vaguely heard something about new visa rules? Where are they spelled out? Are visas required for Americans and French? I would probably be flying on BA.

No, Americans and French don't need a visa in advance. They do tweak the rules from time to time for various countries -- most recent victims are Canadians, who can no longer get visas on arrival, due to a political dispute between the UAE and Canada.

Hi Richey66,

I was wondering how did your UAE visa worry end.. we are actually facing the similar situation (Polish passport holders, visa requirements, not an Emirates flight, multiple hotels booked within UAE).

Was your visa accepted in all places you were staying in?

Current situation ?
 

Hi,
What's the situation now? I have a trip coming up with 5 days in dubai and 2 in abu dhabi ..so two different hotels in different hotel chains?..
I need a visa as my country is not in the voa list.
What's the reasonable proce currently for a tourist visa? Many agents seem to have varying different charges for this.. And i cannot take from airline as they don't sponsor when it's a reward ticket issued by another airline..
Being a family of three would like to minimize this expense..
Appreciate any update..