Dubai kurukku sandhu....

Dubai main road, Dubai (close to Dubai busstop)...no, no, its not where I stayed when I visited Dubai but anytime anyone mentions Dubai, I chuckle (thanks to Vadivelu)!

When I was booking tickets with Emirates to India, I realized that a weekend stop in Dubai would cost me nothing. I was wondering if I could get away with a transit visa and since my stay was for less than 36 hours, I could. I was hoping that I don’t end up spending a day at the embassy getting a visa but I never expected that all it would take was sending a filled out application form, my residency status in Germany and a photograph (that I generally use in my resume, was too lazy to take passport size photos in some weird format that are sold only in triplicate….those I would probably never use since one can never smile in these fotos) by email to the emirates office. My visa was emailed back to me - a .pdf I had to print and take.

I had my visa, I was going to see Suja akka on my way to India, the flight landed early – everything was perfect….until I saw the queue at the immigration counter. But then I had an iPod and the excitement of being in a new country, so I stood and I stood and I stood….45 minutes later with only 10 people ahead of me in the queue, I was approached by a heavily bearded man in Kandura (the long white cloak they wear) who asked me for my passport. After examining it, he looked up (yes, he was much shorter than me) and pointed a finger at my eye. I was thinking “adapaavi, airportla vechu kanna kuthuvenu solre” and then when I decided to consider seriously what he was meaning he did the same thing again and pointed to a sign board. All I saw was ‘Visas’ and since I already had mine, I stood there blinking at him. Finally a man next to me said “eye scan” and I thought he was kidding until I saw this poking-my-eye-with-finger-man vigorously nodding his head (I was trying hard not to laugh in his face!)…never heard of or had an eye scan before.

So I go in search of this eye scan counter and to my dismay, there is another long queue there. I was for once glad that I was in a ‘conservative’ country because there was a separate women’s queue which was a little shorter than the men’s queue. Another 30 minutes and I finally had my irises scanned and my visa stamped! I learnt later that if you had your eyes scanned while leaving the UAE, then you can never enter the UAE again! So far, so good…

With this stamped visa, I go back to the immigration counter to realize that I am again standing in a long queue (unreasonably thinking - where are all these people coming from!?). I noticed with envy the ‘Marhaba’ counter that was almost empty and a few people being taken there. I thought it was for diplomats but then learnt that it was a paid-welcome-service (Marhaba means welcome in Arabic). I am sure this is a blessing for desis living in Dubai since visiting parents can get through immigration with a very reasonable fee (More Info here)

Anyway, coming back to my queue, I noticed a couple of women with kids and another pregnant woman being escorted to the front. I was seriously considering if I should fake some sort of illness by clutching my head and falling down with a faint to get ahead in the queue when I heard an uncle in a thick desi English accent telling the eye-finger-man “You must inform people in advance about the eye scan”…since the man hardly responded this uncle went back to polambifying to the aunty. He was loud enough for the whole queue to hear him and I felt bad for them…when I can get so frustrated about waiting what about those 50-yr olds (or more) who are probably outside India for the first time to visit their son/daughter. So I decided to do my good deed for the day and said to them “neenga munnadi ponga” and that immediately started a train of conversation where I confirmed that all my assumptions were true (and secretly scolded the son for not arranging Marhaba for his parents!)…atleast we kept each other company until reaching the end of the queue (finally!) and I was relieved to get to the baggage claim and finally outside after nearly 2.5 hours (from landing!)

….and then I immediately cheered up because Suja akka was waiting with her whole family outside ready to take me home :) ! To be continued……

PS: A word of advice to the Dubai airport authority – either tell people in advance that an eye scan is needed or put the eye scan counter in front of the immigration counter !

Look out UK, here I come !

I was applying for a UK business visitor visa. The website claimed that I had to submit an online application, pay the fee and then appear in person at the Worldbridge service centre (WSC - is in charge for forwarding applications to the UK embassy) in Munich for biometrics (fingerprints and photo) and for submitting my application, passport and other supporting documents....sounded simple enough.

The hilarious:
I started with the online application and laughed out loud when I saw some of the questions

Have you ever been involved in, supported or encouraged terrorist activities in any country? – will ANYONE even Osama bin Laden say ‘yes’ to this question?? I understand that they can hold this against you in a court of law but if I am a terrorist, why would I care about something like that? If you think this question is funny, wait till you read the next one...

Have you engaged in any other activities that might indicate that you may not be considered a person of good character? – ROFL...ROFL...I was sooo tempted to answer ‘ask my friends and family’, but then I really needed the visa :D !

Give details of all your trips abroad in the last 10 years – As much as I would like to write my autobiography, I would rather not give it away for free :D! Will anyone, especially living in Europe (where a wrong turn in the highway can take you abroad) answer this question comprehensively? I understand that they use this information in their database too but this should probably only include those countries that are considered as ‘Sponsors of terrorism’ or be restricted to just a list (well, I did just that)

As always, there is a photo with a weird dimension requirement. I would assume that it would be a lot easier if all countries (or at least developed countries) stuck to one format and pool their database as well as face recognition resources (isn’t that the easiest way to identify someone ?). It would save applicants time and money. I think I have a dozen passport size photographs now all with different aspect ratios and there is no way I can use them for a resume or a job application or any other id since I am not smiling in fact I look like downright angry and I blame Ashok for it – he said to me once ‘idhu visa photo, nee eppodhum fotoku pose kudukara madhri eeenu sirikadha, konjam kovama vechuko’...my only bet is pawning them off when I open bank accounts or something of that sort where the angry photos will simply sit in a file and do nothing.

The good:

The Online application system is very robust. It allows you to save the application so that you can come back and complete it later if some part of the information is missing. The ‘help’ is also informative and there are additional columns to explain if you cannot answer some question with the choices they provide.

You can choose a convenient slot for the appointment at the WSC and you do not have to be early, go through security checks or wonder where to leave your mobile phone while you are inside! The whole process takes half an hour.

I submitted my documents at the WSC and got a tracking number on Thursday. Here is a status update on what I saw everyday

Thurs: At the Munich Worldbridge Centre
Fri: At the Dusseldorf Worldbridge Centre
Mon: Arrived at Visa Section – now is the time to keep my fingers crossed
Tue: With Courier, attempting delivery – this completely shocked me, I was wondering if my visa was rejected or if they needed more documents since the application being processed in one day and being back on its way was just too quick to be true !
Wed: Delivered – I got the passport with my visa!

The ‘could/should be improved’

If you change one answer in the online application, then all following answers will have to be entered again since the system claims that changing an answer will change the follow-up questions. When this is understandable, one also realizes that this is not applicable to ALL changes (like entering gross salary when the question asks for net salary etc.)

You get an acknowledgement from the WSC that your passport is with them. But there is no mention of the UK consulate or embassy on this acknowledgement, so if you have to show your passport somewhere and have only an attested copy and claim that your passport is at the UK consulate, you have no way of proving it (and the cops need not necessarily know what WSC is)

The WSC person is not supposed to provide any visa related information. So he/she will remain strictly impassive when you submit documents. This is not ideal because you really have no clue what additional documents you want to submit. Any questions like ‘Is this document needed?’ or ‘Do you need the original or will a copy suffice’ would be answered by ‘It’s up to you’ or ‘I cannot answer that’ and that is not what you expect from a Visa centre that forwards your applications to the embassy !

I am wondering now if I was too hasty in writing this post and if this will become a part of my file in the UK embassy and if they will hold it against me the next time I apply for a visa...hmmm...

Oh..well..let me conclude with some tips:
- Provide a good and neatly labeled application package: I usually list the documents I have submitted in a covering letter and split them into sections. In this case:
1. Details of visit – Business details, Letter from the company (that they will bear travel expenses), Flight, Hotel etc. If you intend to combine business with pleasure, then provide details of who you are visiting along with their proof of address
2. Personal Details – Resume (with visiting card), Job, Marital status (These prove that you will leave the UK as stated)
3. Finances – Salary slips, Bank account details, any other savings (it’s a bit complicated if you are a dependent)

- If you are sending everything by post, send only copies of documents (except the invitation letter)

- If there are things you want to explain, write a letter to the Consulate General explaining them (This especially helps avoiding an interview when you send applications by post)