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

Facial Review: Facial Ozon Herbal at Profira Aesthetic & Anti Aging Clinic

Image
I love facial. I like being massaged and touched and caressed . So I like to venture and try different clinics that offer spa and facial treatment, although I haven't been to as many clinics as I hope. Let's see, in Surabaya so far I've tried Natasha, LBC, Amethyst, erha. I've always wanted to try Miracle but the facial treatment price is not within my budget. Then Profira opened. Because I've heard that it's opened by a doctor previously working in Miracle, I thought the quality will be on par with Miracle. And the price, too, so I never went there. Haha.. Until the day I saw this at groupon: The link is here: http://groupon.co.id/voucher/surabaya/71966/up-to-52-percent-offfacial-ozon-herbal-chemical-peeling-at-profira It is in my facial budget range, so why not? This is a good deal, or so I thought. So I bought two vouchers, one for me and one for my husband. It was quite easy to make the appointment, and I went there this noon with high hopes.
Read more

Made in Indonesia

Image
Walking down a street in Deira area a couple months ago, we stumbled upon this little store that specializes in selling Indonesian hair care and body care products. Weird. There are not so many Indonesian people here. So we went inside the store, talked to the store owner and asked his permission to take a couple of pictures. We were fascinated. The store owner said that business is quite good. There are always people who come looking for Indonesian products. I suddenly remember that I've been looking for hair tonic in numerous department stores in Dubai with no luck at all. They only have hair oil (sounds yuck). They do not have any knowledge of hair tonic at all. I should go visit this store again. Rudy Hadisuwarno. Who in Indonesia doesn't know him? Balsem Otot Geliga! Pegal Kembali Lega! You can even see the POM number :)) The infamous Citra (or Citra Hand Body as we know it) The store. I also heard that Sharjah (a town next to Dubai) has Indomaret!
Read more

The Plan

I am thinking that running out of town would be the best. Jakarta might be good. I know some friends there who want to help me. I can stay in one of their houses for a while before I find my own place. Or I can always stay in a hotel for a couple of days. I know a couple of affordable nice hotels. I also know some places where I can apply for work. I think I need to work if I want to live on my own. But how do I explain myself to my friends? I cannot think of a scenario where I do not honestly tell them that I leave my hometown because I cannot live with him anymore. I have to be honest. They will understand. They've seen my eye covered in bruises when I went to that party last year in Jakarta. No no no. Running to a town where I meet my friends will make it easy for him to be able to track me down. I might get caught fast. Difficult. Another option is to run away to my family's house in the same town. I can beg them to keep my hideout a secret. And even when he finds o
Read more