REALITY CHECK FOR DUBAI 4
an obstacle to attention...
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Goodbye Dubai?
Could it be the end for Pinoy’s good luck in Dubai? The advent of a New Tourism and Labor Law in Dubai is seen to adversely affect thousand Filipinos already here and those back home who are just planning to leave. Effective July 29, 2009, the government of Dubai has raised its visa rates, revised the duration of stay and worst of all, cancelled the transferability of visit visa to other visa forms. In short, if you visit Dubai and you wish to apply for work, well sorry, under the new law, it’s no longer allowed.
THE YEARS BEFORE
It wasn’t like that before. Dubai was as open as any other emerging city in the world like Hongkong, Macau or Manila. Many Filipinos have been lured to go to Dubai because of its easy, flaccid and open policy on travel, tourism and labor codes, and as what Samsung says, “everyone is invited”. Not only that the requirements were undemanding, once you were there, you can readily looked for jobs as if you have never left home. Take my case for example, for only P30,000 pesos, I was able to fly back to Dubai with the help of some of my friends. In less than a month, I got a job and after another two weeks I was issued a residence visa. I could not do that same thing in Canada or Australia or US. In these countries, getting a tourist visa is as tough as hell especially to people whose intention is not really to visit but to find work. In Dubai, they welcome everyone as long as you got a visit visa either from your friend’s sponsorship or through a travel agency, regardless of their financial status, educational/professional background or the intention of their visit itself.
PINOY COUNTRY
I must say that the development of Dubai is a phenomenon and part of this phenomenon is the exodus of thousand kababayans who sees Dubai as the newest and fastest way to a greener pasture. There wasn’t that much Filipino here in Dubai years ago as compared to Saudi Arabia or other Middle East countries. But when government’s initiatives fueled Dubai’s economy to an overwhelming success, Filipinos quickly seized the opportunity and the good news spread all across the archipelago. Not just mid-aged family men were enticed to go there but young generations as well. Now, Dubai has become a Pinoy country, there are Filipinos at every corner of the city. We accounts for a large percentage of all expatriates here in Dubai where you can find a kabayan working in restaurants, boutique shops, hotels, offices, salons and almost all other imaginable jobs where they count on our creativity, hard work and language proficiency.
OVERPOPULATED
One reason why Dubai has opened up its doors to visitors years ago was because they needed people to fill up the city. How can businesses survive without customers and patrons. How can mammoth development projects be implemented without labor force? How can a city be called a city without people and tourists in the street, without families in the park and without friends strolling the malls. So the seemingly endless possibilities has been offered to many nations including the Philippines and we gladly took the challenge. The success stories of many kababayans here in Dubai have attracted more Filipinos to take a taste of dates (UAE’s national fruit). And the rest, so they say, is history. Filipinos from all walks of life have arrived here as visitors and have tried their luck looking for jobs. Some would proved successful, others have to wait for sometime before a sufficient job is received from heaven. Today, Dubai is crowded with people, with Filipinos always taking the front lines. An officemate of mine just recently arrived from his vacation and when he came to the office, he asked why were there so many Filipino women here in Dubai? And to that I said it’s because Filipino women are capable of self-reproduction!
VISIT VISA
Majority of Filipinos here in Dubai has come on visit visa. I myself has come here on visit. Before the new law, any holder of residence visa here in Dubai can sponsor someone and buy him a visa, buy a ticket and your passport and you are ready to fly to Dubai. Everyone was free to enter Dubai, such a breezy thing to do back then. The visa is valid for two months, after that, it expires and you need to get another one. Before expiry, Filipinos usually exits to Iran or Oman, and there they wait for the their new visa to come out. The number of exit and visa renewal was endless so you can stay as long as you want as “visitors” and as long as you have the money to finance your stay. While on visit, you can apply for work, be it part time or full time. When you get a regular job, your company will process your papers and your status. Your visit visa will be replaced with an employment visa and then a residence visa will be stamped into your passport. Sometimes, you don’t have to leave Dubai while they process your employment and residence. Take me for example, it took me only less than two months to get a job and a residence visa that’s why I had not exited anymore. The entire processing took place even before my original visit visa expired.
EVERYBODY
Because of the simple and relaxed requirements on visit visa, almost everybody has decided to come to Dubai. Filipinos of all ages are arriving in batches. Women of all sorts, professional, jobless, wannabes, widows, single & looking and married ones have continually filling up Dubai streets in mini skirts, tight sandos and plunging necklines. Filipino men are flexing their way up the coveted white collared market. Some of course will be successful, others will have to wait for the right chance. While so many people, not only Filipinos are arriving here in Dubai everyday, not so many jobs are being offered in the same rate as the people coming in. So the competition is becoming more imminent. It would not be a problem if you had at least finished some college and had some working experience back home, so many jobs are available. But there are those who merely relies on luck and some technical skills to find a job, in this case the chance to be employed is slim considering the fact that other nationalities can afford to do the same job at a much lower salary. So, inevitably some of our kababayans have ended up unemployed for long period of time till they decide to go back home.
SIDELINES
I will an anti-hero to say this, but this is true. Some of our female kababayans are coming to Dubai or have stayed here in Dubai because they are looking or they have found their companions, either permanently or temporarily. Dubai is slowly becoming a melting pot for our kakabayans and everywhere you will see them with an Arab, an Indian, a British, a fellow Pinoy or some other nationalities. It might be unfair to say that they are doing this for financial reasons to vindicate the notion that all foreigners are rich. It might also be unjust to say that maybe, they just want to have a better looking son or daughter once they are married to a foreigner. Still, it might be judgmental to assume that they are just humans, of flesh and blood who feels some cold and loneliness in the night. Just the same, this kind of affairs by some of our kakabayans are sending some wrong signals and are taken negatively against our image. But who are we to judge?
THE YEARS BEFORE
It wasn’t like that before. Dubai was as open as any other emerging city in the world like Hongkong, Macau or Manila. Many Filipinos have been lured to go to Dubai because of its easy, flaccid and open policy on travel, tourism and labor codes, and as what Samsung says, “everyone is invited”. Not only that the requirements were undemanding, once you were there, you can readily looked for jobs as if you have never left home. Take my case for example, for only P30,000 pesos, I was able to fly back to Dubai with the help of some of my friends. In less than a month, I got a job and after another two weeks I was issued a residence visa. I could not do that same thing in Canada or Australia or US. In these countries, getting a tourist visa is as tough as hell especially to people whose intention is not really to visit but to find work. In Dubai, they welcome everyone as long as you got a visit visa either from your friend’s sponsorship or through a travel agency, regardless of their financial status, educational/professional background or the intention of their visit itself.
PINOY COUNTRY
I must say that the development of Dubai is a phenomenon and part of this phenomenon is the exodus of thousand kababayans who sees Dubai as the newest and fastest way to a greener pasture. There wasn’t that much Filipino here in Dubai years ago as compared to Saudi Arabia or other Middle East countries. But when government’s initiatives fueled Dubai’s economy to an overwhelming success, Filipinos quickly seized the opportunity and the good news spread all across the archipelago. Not just mid-aged family men were enticed to go there but young generations as well. Now, Dubai has become a Pinoy country, there are Filipinos at every corner of the city. We accounts for a large percentage of all expatriates here in Dubai where you can find a kabayan working in restaurants, boutique shops, hotels, offices, salons and almost all other imaginable jobs where they count on our creativity, hard work and language proficiency.
OVERPOPULATED
One reason why Dubai has opened up its doors to visitors years ago was because they needed people to fill up the city. How can businesses survive without customers and patrons. How can mammoth development projects be implemented without labor force? How can a city be called a city without people and tourists in the street, without families in the park and without friends strolling the malls. So the seemingly endless possibilities has been offered to many nations including the Philippines and we gladly took the challenge. The success stories of many kababayans here in Dubai have attracted more Filipinos to take a taste of dates (UAE’s national fruit). And the rest, so they say, is history. Filipinos from all walks of life have arrived here as visitors and have tried their luck looking for jobs. Some would proved successful, others have to wait for sometime before a sufficient job is received from heaven. Today, Dubai is crowded with people, with Filipinos always taking the front lines. An officemate of mine just recently arrived from his vacation and when he came to the office, he asked why were there so many Filipino women here in Dubai? And to that I said it’s because Filipino women are capable of self-reproduction!
VISIT VISA
Majority of Filipinos here in Dubai has come on visit visa. I myself has come here on visit. Before the new law, any holder of residence visa here in Dubai can sponsor someone and buy him a visa, buy a ticket and your passport and you are ready to fly to Dubai. Everyone was free to enter Dubai, such a breezy thing to do back then. The visa is valid for two months, after that, it expires and you need to get another one. Before expiry, Filipinos usually exits to Iran or Oman, and there they wait for the their new visa to come out. The number of exit and visa renewal was endless so you can stay as long as you want as “visitors” and as long as you have the money to finance your stay. While on visit, you can apply for work, be it part time or full time. When you get a regular job, your company will process your papers and your status. Your visit visa will be replaced with an employment visa and then a residence visa will be stamped into your passport. Sometimes, you don’t have to leave Dubai while they process your employment and residence. Take me for example, it took me only less than two months to get a job and a residence visa that’s why I had not exited anymore. The entire processing took place even before my original visit visa expired.
EVERYBODY
Because of the simple and relaxed requirements on visit visa, almost everybody has decided to come to Dubai. Filipinos of all ages are arriving in batches. Women of all sorts, professional, jobless, wannabes, widows, single & looking and married ones have continually filling up Dubai streets in mini skirts, tight sandos and plunging necklines. Filipino men are flexing their way up the coveted white collared market. Some of course will be successful, others will have to wait for the right chance. While so many people, not only Filipinos are arriving here in Dubai everyday, not so many jobs are being offered in the same rate as the people coming in. So the competition is becoming more imminent. It would not be a problem if you had at least finished some college and had some working experience back home, so many jobs are available. But there are those who merely relies on luck and some technical skills to find a job, in this case the chance to be employed is slim considering the fact that other nationalities can afford to do the same job at a much lower salary. So, inevitably some of our kababayans have ended up unemployed for long period of time till they decide to go back home.
SIDELINES
I will an anti-hero to say this, but this is true. Some of our female kababayans are coming to Dubai or have stayed here in Dubai because they are looking or they have found their companions, either permanently or temporarily. Dubai is slowly becoming a melting pot for our kakabayans and everywhere you will see them with an Arab, an Indian, a British, a fellow Pinoy or some other nationalities. It might be unfair to say that they are doing this for financial reasons to vindicate the notion that all foreigners are rich. It might also be unjust to say that maybe, they just want to have a better looking son or daughter once they are married to a foreigner. Still, it might be judgmental to assume that they are just humans, of flesh and blood who feels some cold and loneliness in the night. Just the same, this kind of affairs by some of our kakabayans are sending some wrong signals and are taken negatively against our image. But who are we to judge?
posted by MAJOR EFLAT | 7:37 PM
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