busybee2

thats because you are the sponsor and you went along.

Bluelionesse

I can't understand the logic here - and before anyone asks, yes I have been in the ME for a few years now.

Adma Opco sponsors my husband, he sponsors me and our son.

So ok, since he accompanied me over the border a few days ago, then that's why me and our son were charged 5 OMR. But why was he not charged the higher price because nobody from Adma (his sponsor) was with him, he didn't carry written permission, he hadn't even asked for permission from them etc?

Millhouse

I didn't see my sponsor with me... Surely it is because they have residence visas in their passport?

busybee2

no my boy has his passport with his residence visa in but as he went with his school they are not his sponsor, his dad is. we were told as all the parents were rather up in arms about this and were told by the embassy thats its 200dhs because the kids were going without their sponsor. i did hear that "working people" ie you would only be charged 50dhs as your company will be your sponsor and obviously they wouldnt be holding your hand now would they and your family were with you, and your are the sponsor and so they were only charged the "cheap" fee.

busybee2

see my reply to millhouse. thats how we were told. if your company is your sponsor you will be charged 50 but if your family goes without their sponsor then its 200.

busybee2

the usual me logic.

this was recent as in november, and it was a very sore point to all the parents, as the kids have been doing this trip for years, and now they have changed the prices of the border crossing just recently (a few months ago) but the fact that the kids are in a uae school, they have a residence visa, but as they didnt go with their parents, they were all charged 200dhs uk passports etc. there were different prices if you were different nationalities.

this was in the information from North Star who were and have been the company that were doing the trip.

Dhs 50 - Jordanian, Indian, Pakistani, Philippino, Ethiopean, Syrian, Iranian, Egyptian.
Dhs 200 - Americans, Lebanese, Canadian, Polish, Australian, Malaysians, Indonesians, Koreans, South Africans, British, Irish, Italians.
Emirati – No charge.

busybee2

can you imagine over 100 kids/teachers rolling up to the border and trying to get a visa there (especially if they dont charge you as much) it should be cheaper to get one in advance.... and the fact that they still had to endure a 3 hour wait to get across too!!!

benzonar

I see this is obviously a sore point for you....however it is somewhat irrelevant for my original question and added little (read nothing) to assisting me.

Thanks for your sterling effort anyway

busybee2

nah it is what it is, we didnt have any choice that was the price and we had to cough up and pay it, but am just putting "out there" the information that we were told as they didnt go with their sponsors and so thats why we were charged 200dhs each. obviously they didnt count the school as uae residence visa holders etc, and they are definately not tourists but hey ho thats what its like here.

Miss Anne Thrope

I think it is not worth the risk of buggering up the trip by just turning up and hoping for the best. They can be very arbitrary on the Oman borders (like any ME border) so best be prepared.

I suggest at the least to have a signed letter from the owner of the vehicle authorising you by name to drive it along with a copy of his passport/ID, ideally on the same piece of paper as a copy of the registration.

My friend, who is Omani and lives in Buraimi has registered his car in Emirates and thus had to do it in his cousin's name. He has a document from the Ministry of Transport signed by his cousin that he carries with him which indicates he is authorised to drive the car (it's all in Arabic but I don't believe it names him specifically). When he drives into Oman proper (i.e. beyond Buraimi) he is sometimes (not always) asked for this. We drove together last week through the Wadi al Jizzi crossing on the Buraimi-Sohar road ( a very nice drive throught he mountains btw) and he was asked for it along with the usual Oman insurance, to his surprise. I'm not sure what the name of the document is or how you go about getting it but it does illustrate that this can be an issue. Presumably in Dubai you would need to go through the RTA??

My guess is this whole issue may be less problematic crossing into Musandam/Khasab - as, really, where can you go, so little risk of disappearing (unless on a dhow to Iran - actually that might be a real problem as that smuggling is what Khasabis live on..)?? But I would at least bring a letter from your friend and a copy of his ID....

Miss Anne Thrope

Just checked with my friend - his cousin got the official letter from the police at the UAE border in Al Ain. He needed to bring my friend's ID as the authorised driver. My friend thinks that you should be able to do the same with any traffic police though (Dubai or AD).

Actually a correction also, it was the UAE border police on the exit who wanted the clearance letter not the Oman police on entry...

OriginalSunshine

it's just as confusing for those of based in Oman, as spouses & children can only go through the land border out of Oman if the working spouse accompanies them.

a working spouse can only leave by the land border if they have a certain profession on their Residency card, otherwise they need to have an NOC from their employer.

when we take our Omani registered car out of Oman we need to make sure the person's name on the mulkiah (registration card) is on at least one of our ID cards. we also need to have an orange form issued in Oman to prove to the Omani border control that we have insurance to drive outside of Oman. we also have to pay a fee of a couple of rials to temporarily export our car out of Oman and back in again within a month.

no idea if they apply the same rules for foreign cars though....

Debowing

I lived in RAK for 10 years, and I have never been through Khasab but I went to Wadi Bih went it was still okay to pass it...Then I lived in Dubai for 3 years and a year in Fujairah, I always wanted to visit Musandam, but just never got around to doing it...In RAK I lived quite close to the border, in Ghalilah in the days that I worked at the limestone quarries...

guuuude

why you guys make its so difficult? Pass the small boarders, show your ids or passports and pass, no fee to be paid no stamp required. I did it for offraod trips several times and never had to shown my car registration or whatever!

Official Boards INsurance and ID is normaly enough, i did this for the visa runs couple of years ago

Miss Anne Thrope

We make it difficult because it is - you are apparently out of date. UAE-Oman border crossing has tightened substantially in the past few years. There is of course the highly controversial fence but also a steady trickle of increasing restrictions. For example the Dubai-Hatta road now features permanent UAE border checks with armed soldiers at the points where the road enters and leaves Oman (before you even get to Hatta fort). There are only huts and there is no stamping of assports but you had better have ID to get through. The huge scanner which has sat idle for years at the Mezyad border entering from Oman is now working - as you drive through you can get to feel how your luggage does at the airport..

If you want to go to Khasab there is only one road route and it has full checkpoints for UAE exit and Oman entry. Both checkpoints charge you when crossing into Oman (yes, you pay to leave the UAE and pay again to enter Oman). No charges on the return trip. The UAE exit is the problematic one and requires the equivalent of a "laisser passez" to depart the country in a UAE-registered vehicle hence the need for ID to corroborate the registration. Again there has been some recent diplomatic contretemps between UAE and Oman over alleged industrial espionage so expect anything at the borders...