How One-Way Ticket Works for Me

I don't know if this rule is worldwide or only in Indonesia, but to travel abroad you have to have return ticket. I believe it is to avoid people to work illegally abroad and not coming back to their home country.

No country would want this to happen.
Image is from here.


Anyway, when I wanted to leave for Dubai, UAE to be with the husband who's working there, I called several travel agents to purchase a one-way ticket because I needed not a return ticket (and of course to save some money :D). But those travel agents insisted that they could not sell a one-way ticket. It's against the rule, they said, although I had tried to explain that I would have some kind of a visa.

So the husband decided to make a residence visa sponsored by the husband (not by the company) and here is the process:
  1. Prepare a copy of the marriage certificate (translated into English by a certified and sworn translator, legalized by Kementerian Hukum dan HAM RI, Kementerian Luar Negeri RI, and Embassy of UAE in Jakarta). The translation costs IDR 50,000 and the legalization costs IDR 600,000.
  2. After the legalization, the certificate has to be sent to the UAE.
  3. The certificate has to be stamped by the Ministry of Foreign Affair in the UAE. It costs AED 150.
  4. Bring the certificate to be retyped by a document typing service. It costs AED 40.
  5. Prepare the sponsor's working contract to be stamped by the immigration office. It costs AED 130.
  6. Bring the stamped certificate and a copy of it, the retyped document, along with the husband's stamped working contract and a copy of it, copies of the passports, a copy of the husband's working visa, and a photograph of the wife to the immigration office in the UAE.
  7. Submit all the documents to the immigration, wait for an hour, and the residence visa sponsored by husband is done ;) It costs AED 200 something.
  8. Bring the visa to the airport EXACTLY one day before the spouse comes. It costs AED 40.
Total cost is about IDR 650,000 plus AED 560.

By the way, the salary of the sponsor should be at least AED4,000 to be able to make a residence visa for the spouse.

So we bought a one-way ticket online (check www.garuda-indonesia.com, www.bruneiair.com, or www.srilankan.lk for good deals from Indonesia to UAE). With a copy of the scanned residence visa, I went through this and that check-in flight and immigration counters and all went well. Hurray!

I hope this post will help anyone who is in a similar situation with me because I browsed and browsed but could not find anything that would assure me that I would be able to pass through immigration with no return ticket.

Oh well, after all the excitement and happiness, now here I am, stranded in this desert country :| Next post will be about homesickness.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Today the universe conspires to teach me how to forgive

Image
Just kidding. I'm not converting to cosmic humanism. It is just God who conspires to make all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Yesterday evening I discussed about forgiveness with my husband. Forgiveness is not easy, everyone who holds a grudge against someone knows this. But I find it particularly hard because I do not know how to do it. I mean, I've read and heard the theories of forgiveness. I know that if you do not want to forgive, you actually make yourself bitter. I like this one forgiveness quote in particular, "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you." Powerful, right? Today Facebook (and Ega) even reminded me about forgiveness, from 10 years ago. This is starting to be freakish. Yesterday I contemplated about forgiveness, and now today this. Okay, I know why forgiving someone is important, along with all the benefits. But the problem i
Read more

Hydration Obsession: The 7 Skin Method

Image
I am not into Korean drama. I am not into Korean music. I am not into Korean food. I just don't understand what the hype is all about. But I have to admit that I am into Korean skincare. I am always a fan of Japanese skincare. I just think that they suit my skin better than Western skincare. But, oh boy, Japanese stuffs can be so expensive sometimes. So when Korean skincare started to hit the worldwide market, and after I've tried a couple of them, I jumped into the bandwagon. I'm sold. My skincare arsenal does not consist of all Korean, though. There are still some Japanese and Western stuffs that I use. Anyway, two of my most favorite things in Korean skincare are First Essence (or sometimes called as First Serum) and Hydrating Toner. I find them most comfortable to use on my combination skin because they are hydrating, but only lightly so my skin does not feel tacky or oily. But they are not hydrating enough so I have to follow up with serum and emulsion, and cream a
Read more

Saya Ingat Dulu Saya Menulis

Image
Saya ingat dulu saya menulis. Di blog milik friendster. Yang sekarang sudah lenyap. Saya dulu menulis apa saja yang terlintas di pikiran. Saya ingat dulu tulisan-tulisan random tidak jelas agak ababil itu sampai menarik minat seorang teman baru. Yang mulai sering mengajak chatting. Di Yahoo Messenger. Yang sekarang hampir lenyap. Teman baru dari dunia yang sangat berbeda yang tidak akan saya kenal jika saya tidak menulis. Waktu itu saya heran sekaligus senang karena ada yang suka pada tulisan saya. Meskipun cuma seorang dia. Mungkin kami akan terus berteman, jika dia tidak meninggal duluan. I didn't know about this. Can I go back to 2011? Saya ingat dulu saya menulis bersama teman-teman. Di blog imo milik Jakarta Post. Yang sekarang sudah lenyap. Judul blog kami Antara Molen, Pentol, dan Batagor. Isinya tidak jelas. Tapi kami senang. Isinya cuma sedikit. Bisa dihitung jari. Tapi ada perasaan lega. Saya ingat dulu saya menulis. Untuk majalah gereja. Banyak kenangan di sana.
Read more