Top Manila Team Study Filipino Visa-Run Agony

Lily B. Libo-on
Khaleej Times Online
12 February 2009

DUBAI — A top-notch team of “troubleshooters” from Manila assigned to resolve the pressing problem of Filipinos involved in visa runs urged the tour and travel operators in Dubai to immediately check with the Immigration all visa applications to verify if the applicant is allowed to enter the UAE.
Labour Attaché Jeffrey D. Cortazar, head of the fact-finding team, told Khaleej Times they had met with the travel agencies after two weeks of data gathering and also interviewed Filipinos who exited to Al Buraimi for visa change.

The team found that only six hotels and two travel agencies in Oman can sponsor those who arrive from the UAE. “For this reason, they have to spend a lot of money as their travel agency in the UAE will charge fees that include payment to their sponsors in Oman,” he said.

He said that of the 31 tour and travel operators in Dubai, many are involved in the visa runs by allegedly misguiding people by not telling them about their real visa status. “Of these, three have agreed to cooperate with us by immediately checking the application before allowing the applicant to exit,” Labour Attaché Cortazar said.

The team, he said, devised a one-page form, which Filipinos at the UAE-Oman border are required to fill out to draw out information, including the name and addresses of their travel agencies.

“From this form, we are able to find out the number of travel agencies involved and to track them by calling them to a meeting with us here in Dubai.”

He added this information will also be used by the Philippine Embassy and the Philippine Consulate to follow the status of those who exit, if they register their complaints with the diplomatic missions for assistance.

Labour Attaché Cortazar also revealed that during the interviews several Filipinos narrated bitter experiences of being stranded by their travel agencies as their licenses were revoked or suspended.

“Some of those agencies, though no longer allowed by the UAE authorities to deal with travellers, are still taking in applications from the Filipinos by having alliance with travel agencies, which are not blacklisted. Again, more fees are being charged from the applicants,” he said.

“We have asked the agencies to interview the applicant and, if his eyes have been scanned upon exit from Dubai, it is their duty to tell the applicant to return home because this means that he cannot enter UAE until after a year.

“Checking with Immigration is easy for these travel agencies as they only have to pay Dh3 and provide the name and passport number of the applicant. The visa status of the applicant can immediately be known from the Immigration. It is their responsibility to reject the applications of those who can no longer enter the UAE again or inform them if they need to go out for one month or one year,” he said. - lily@khaleejtimes.com