Received the documentation from my HR dept today for the commencement of my visa process. The thing about the UAE is that they are very big on paperwork and beaurocracy. If something needs to be done, it needs a form, typed in Arabic, your passport, a copy of your passport, a photo of yourself (passport style, not down at the beach) and a "fee". For a country that riles against tax, they do charge alot of fees!
So, its underway and it does take some time to complete and I will need to go to the hospital to have a medical and a blood test as well. One thing I read about today was that sometimes you may get called in for a second blood test. If you "fail" the blood test with HIV or Hepatitis, you get deported so if you get called in again, the natural inclination would be that you may have a disease - let alone being deported.
But what they do is to save time is that they batch all the blood into one test (not sure how many blood samples are in a batch) and if there is a trace of HIV or Hepatitis in this blood soup, then they call all individuals from that batch for individual testing. Sounds gruesome, but I guess it is a time saver on the proviso that the vast vast majority of people dont have HIV or Hepatitis!
I also need to somehow get my driving license endorsed as a UAE temp license so I can hire a car for more than a weekend... seems very odd that you can drive for a weekend on my Australian passport but I cant drive for longer without the UAE temp license.
Also, on the work front... it is really hotting up and I am very busy. I do have to dedicate a certain amount of time to the tasks needed to get settled here but I may have to go to London for business which may cause a hiccup in all my to'ings and fro'ings here... well, better learn how to juggle then!
So, its underway and it does take some time to complete and I will need to go to the hospital to have a medical and a blood test as well. One thing I read about today was that sometimes you may get called in for a second blood test. If you "fail" the blood test with HIV or Hepatitis, you get deported so if you get called in again, the natural inclination would be that you may have a disease - let alone being deported.
But what they do is to save time is that they batch all the blood into one test (not sure how many blood samples are in a batch) and if there is a trace of HIV or Hepatitis in this blood soup, then they call all individuals from that batch for individual testing. Sounds gruesome, but I guess it is a time saver on the proviso that the vast vast majority of people dont have HIV or Hepatitis!
I also need to somehow get my driving license endorsed as a UAE temp license so I can hire a car for more than a weekend... seems very odd that you can drive for a weekend on my Australian passport but I cant drive for longer without the UAE temp license.
Also, on the work front... it is really hotting up and I am very busy. I do have to dedicate a certain amount of time to the tasks needed to get settled here but I may have to go to London for business which may cause a hiccup in all my to'ings and fro'ings here... well, better learn how to juggle then!
1 comment:
"seems very odd that you can drive for a weekend on my Australian passport but I cant drive for longer without the UAE temp license."
Similar rules apply for visitors into Australia, though the period is longer. I suppose they judge it's a fair tradeoff for tourists etc to be able to drive for a short time on their existing home licence, before going to the trouble of getting a local licence.
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