#UAE2017 Series: How to Sponsor Your Family For the Holidays

On a previous post, I mentioned that I wanted to share how I went about preparing my family's documents for the Eid holidays here in the UAE - and here it is finally!

Sorry, it took so long - I had a lot of things happening up until yesterday like my CPB exam, getting denied for an SK visa (HUHUHU), month-end submissions, GOT7, etc. etc. that I didn't have enough time, emotions nor brain cells left over to do the list. BUT NOWWW, I'm ready! Let's get it on!

Okay, the first thing I did, as I mentioned previously, was that I purchased the 399aed sale flights from Cebu Pacific Air. It's a budget airline from the Philippines and you have to be really alert on their flash sales (usually midnight local PH time) and subscribe to their newsletter or follow this blog to be updated the minute that things get interesting. You have to be patient though, as the website lags from too much traffic during these times.

I bought the ticket in December '16 but I only prepared their documents in June, which was a only a month prior to their flight. On their end, the documents that they needed to prepare were the following to present to immigration officials:

1. Passport (at least 6 months' validity)
2. Original UAE visa (pink copy)
3. NSO Authenticated Marriage certificate (for my parents)
4. NSO Authenticated Birth certificates (for my brother and me as proof of relationship)
5. Flight tickets
6. Hotel vouchers
7. 9 Day Itinerary

My mom is already 60+ so my visa agent told me no need to process an Affidavit of Support for her and my father's an OFW as well, so the only problem left was my brother. My brother's 27 and unemployed so it's likely that the immigration officer will have a problem with that. Setting aside that he's a med student and he has already travelled abroad (Japan) last year, I sent him all the documents I could think of to ensure that he won't be offloaded, except of course, the controversial Affidavit of Support.

VOCAB:

Affidavit of Support - that thing you need to bypass Philippine immigration going to UAE if you're sponsored by a resident.

Here's what I prepared for them, which I sent via courier along with their visas:

1. Residence Visa
2. Emirates ID
3. Passport Copy
4. Salary Certificate (signed and stamped by HR)
5. Printout of my latest OEC and OWWA membership
6. Invitation Letter

I made sure each of them has copies of all my documents in case they were evaluated individually. Good thing was, the officers didn't even look at their papers, only the UAE visas and their passports and they were able to go through smoothly!

Really, if you know you know in your heart and mind that you're really just travelling, there's nothing to be afraid of. Like with my SK visa denial, I don't take it too much to heart because I know that I would be going there only to travel and fangirl sooo - their loss, not mine. CHAROT! #antagalngsourgraping #moveonalready

Dubai Sports World

I loooove it!

Happy, honeymooning parentals♥

I'll share our itinerary in another post (again), sa uulitin! ♥

#MLA2017: Why Bitterness is Next to Ugliness

So I'm not going to cry about the visa denial, decided to plan my new itinerary straight away despite my scheduled mock exams and pending claims to be entered just to cheer my little blue self up.

Mabuhay ang mga dukha!

How to erase bitterness:

Step 1: Request for refund - called Air Asia to request and was advised that 80% will be refunded since it's 1-2 months prior to departure date (at least all is not lost! HEHEHE)
Step 2: SKYSCANNER!
Step 3: Ended up with Air Asia again because it's not showing up on skyscanner. Should've waited in case they'll refund my prior booking by travel credit but I got the tickets for like 223 AED/person ONLY (Usually it's like 600/person) so pak! booked!
Step 4: Watched a bit of Dara's battle trip again
Step 5: Back to the books! Spent so much time making this post and I've yet to do my mock exams OMG

When a door closes, a window opens! CHAROT!

See you Palawan!

#ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines

#SK2017: VISA DENIED

Maybe I'm just too poor for Korea:

Checked my status online on visa.go.kr

Eh di wow.

No more kpop feelz. Probably the same guy who denied my supervisor's visa as well - or maybe the Abu Dhabi embassy staff really doesn't accept visa applications - because all I heard are denials from this office compared to Dubai #sourgraping 

All the more reason to get excited for Turkey in November. 

Hayst. 6 months of planning down the drain. 

Nevertheless, maybe I'll apply again in the future... or not. In the meantime, Europe is only a 6 hour flight away to keep me from sinking in despair.

For now, I'm taking a break from K-world to lessen the pain.

Goodnight peeps, wish me a 70% tomorrow ❤️

UPDATE: (Chismis alert) When the boyf went to collect the passports, he asked a fellow kabayan who was denied regarding their status. As per kabayan, he didn't understand why they got denied because their salary was like 1X,XXX and it was more than enough for a few days' stay. So said kabayan asked the consul and was told that the 3 months' bank statement should show credit activity only - not debits. Hence, the denial.

Anyway #moveonalready E, you get to go to Palawan, Taiwan and Turkey so kalas :) When a door closes nga, a window opens! You now get to go to 3 of your dream places instead of 2 kayaaaaa #BUCKETLIST!!!

One month to go baby! Ni hao Taipei! VACAY TIME!!

#SK2017: Korean visa application lodged today!

Just lodged my visa application in the embassy, and I must say, it's a total distraction doing this the day before your exam T_T

Inshallahhh, claiming it as my birthday gift! Hoping me and the boyf gets approved --- ok gotta start thinking case analysis and CMS-1500s...

Visa approved visa approved visa approved *sighs* It will make for a fantastic birthday gift to meeee

Anyway, I'll try the visa.go.kr website on Monday before boyf goes to claim the passports. All will be well. If it's meant for us, it'll be approved.

Random observation: it was 9: 30 in the morning and the only people there were visa applicants (4), Korean nationals (2) who needed document attestations and the staff. Compared to the Philippine Embassy, there's a queue for a) passports b) OEC (scrapped, now we have OFW ID) c) Affidavit of Supports and a whole lot more chukchakcheriboomboom. Not to put our own embassy in a negative light, just seems that the government requires too much unneccessary paperwork before we can go on vacation, sponsor family & friends, etc. Good thing that we'd have the all-encompassing OFW ID soon to basically cut everything to the minimum - let's wait and see when it's fully implemented. Hopefully, starting with this, all government departments do their part and be a #PartnerforChange for a much better Philippines ❤

Still... no sleeping till Monday ~~~

#SK2017: Planning Guide

Just want to share, Raych Ramos is really making me excited for our SK trip in September!!

Overnight Blues: Aloft Hotel - Al Ain

If you ever find yourself in an urgent OT (overtime) situation in Al Ain, there are a multitude of hotels to stay at so you won't risk sleeping during the drive home.

It was a hard decision on our end because we're all strapped for cash but splitting the bill 4 ways is a lot easier than getting in an accident at night along Al Ain's deserted highway - even if I did just update my life insurance payments (see: http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/emergencies/good-friday-crash-four-filipinos-killed-in-abu-dhabi-accident-1.2012494) Safety first people!

Just go to booking.com, or if you already have a SPG rewards account (from booking too many nights in Aloft Hotel - Abu Dhabi HEHEHE), you can use their website as well to book a room, with their best rate guarantee along with earning starpoints which you can redeem for free nights later on.

However, be prepared to pay for the following in addition to the room rate:

Tourism fee 6%
Municipality fee 4%
Service charge 10%
Municipality fee 15 aed (not sure if this is per night)

Goes to show you that Al Ain is more than a deserted place in the middle of nowhere (as townies like us might think). I'd move here if I get to live in the accommodations near Aloft *wink wink* and it's a big plus that it's more quiet, the greenery has better maintenance and malls are far less frequent than Abu Dhabi so you'll be able to save more. But you'll need something to help you get around though, as taxis now have a 12 aed minimum rate T_T Y LIKE DUBAI HUHUHU


Anyway, if you're using Google maps, it will lead you to the back parking lot (sort of like a loading dock, see below) so make sure to turn on the first left prior to the red location dot to go to the correct entrance.

If you turn here, you're on the wrong entrance. (aka Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, Home of Al Ain FC)

 And it rained in the summer! Pinas feels yey!!

We didn't have the extra clothes to enjoy the pool and the gym but the bed and the TV more than made up for it!

Day 2, we get to stay in a different hotel courtesy by the boss, I'll share it in another post :) Shukran Dr. K!

Pak pak para sa ekonomiya! :)

#UAE2017: 9 Day DIY Eid Al Fitr Celebration

As soon as I got back from my annual leave last year, I was homesick for at least a month after ~ I kept missing my nephew and niece (self-declared #TitasofMLA), my parents, our youngest (who was already in his 3rd year of med school but was still a baby to me) and practically everybody I left back in Manila. It was my 3rd vacay home to date, but the homesickness was still as pervasive, if not more intense, as soon as I left for the boarding gate.

So 2 weeks into the post-vacay blues, CebuPac had 399aed sale flights again! Granted, it was nothing compared to their original seat sales before where you can get 300aed roundtrip flights DXB-MLA (#ErrorFare) but it was better than their most recent promos so yalla, I booked for 3 people in time for the Eid holidays! Just dropped the bomb a month after that they have no choice but to weather the sweltering heat in UAE for a week and a half HEHEHEHEHEEEE*evil laugh*

I booked the flights in early December so I had plenty of time to plan their itinerary as well as to plot the budget I'll need to allocate for their stay.

However, the main problem I encountered during this stage was actually getting the Affidavit of Support that the PHL immigration is requiring from Filipino tourists. The full list of requirements (which made me feel exhausted just by looking at it) and the need to take time off from work to personally request it from the embassy really stressed me out for a month before I was able to finalize everything a week prior to their flight.

Here's the list of requirements that the embassy needs:

Ugh.

This affidavit was originally implemented to help curb human trafficking but personally, I don't think it helps. Anybody can circumvent the process and it's just a potential avenue (if not yet) for corruption. Plus, I had to request for NSO authenticated certificates for proof, and klutz that I am, I don't have any remaining hard or soft copies on hand so what to do?

I scoured the net for possible alternatives on how the parentals can breezily go through immigration without so much as a glare. I wasn't able to find any, only opinions on just how useless this affidavit is yada yada yadaaaaa so I just made my own checklist of what they need to present to the officers and how to effectively present it to avoid being offloaded. I'll share my tips on another post ;)

Mash'allah :) everything went off smoothly and they were able to experience the mega sales that Eid Al Fitr has to offer, along with the glorious heat/ humidity, local culture and authentic shawarmas that UAE had in store for them! Till the next holidays!

Eid Mubarak!