Max the Dog

Not sure if anyone can help..


My existing visa is under cancellation as I have moved back to Blighty.


I have a new UK passport, as I need to travel in Europe and have sent the old passport with resident visa for cancellation to my old company in Dubai which is under process.


I have to travel to Dubai next week and the question is, will there be any issues at immigration entering with a new passport, while my old passport still has an existing resident visa?

carcajou

I am a bit confused about your circumstances, normally the residence visa is canceled before one leaves? You then get 30 days to leave the country. At any rate - it is a quick thing to do (can be done in a day). If there is a hold-up it's because your company is dragging its feet (or your exit was not straight-forwards).

If the exit was straight-forwards you have nothing to worry about, take a copy of your old passport/residence visa and if something pops up at immigration just tell them what happened. They will fix a few files in their computer and off you will go.

By the way when the residence visa does get canceled and the stamp goes into your passport, it can take them a few weeks to update the computer file and can cause confusion at immigration, when you show up with a canceled residence visa that the computer says is still valid. But it's no biggie.

captainflack

My advice. Don't go.

My brother cancelled a visa few years back, slightly different circumstances, entered when it had a few days left and it expired during the cancellation process. They'd told him it would be fine, take a week, 1000 or so AED, no problem, which was why he went.

Needless to say, once he was there, they found 'problems'. Long story short, he was there for a month, he had no passport or Emirates ID (taken from him when starting cancellation) so when original hotel booking finished and had no room for him to extend, he couldn't get another hotel and ended up on a friends sofa. It wasn't until about 3 weeks they actually told him straight what grounds they had to make his life difficult and it required ME (yes, me) to fly to the UK to renew MY passport. They also shook him down for 8000 AED or so.

I still have sleepless nights sometimes with bad dreams about it, he could have been trapped indefinitely, was basically at their whim to make up whatever problems they wanted because they had his passport and he couldn't leave until he/we jumped through their hoops.

Remember, most countries will just not let you in if there is a problem with your immigration status. The UAE will gladly let you in, then hold you until you do whatever they decide (which normally involves money).

Unless you're absolutely sure you're safe to go because you have the cancellation done and in your hand (and not just because they tell you it's ok), don't.

mission

my dog's name is Max