Shipping to the UAE and residence permit questions

luluwings

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Latest post on 02 June 2017 - 23:55

Hi there. We are moving to the UAE in a couple of months and now are stressed out about packing and moving the whole house! We are told by the new employer that we will start to apply for the residrnce visa / permit once we arrive and it will take about 3 weeks. However, the international moving company is saying that in order to clear custom we need to have our residence visa / permit at least 1 week before the cargo arrives at the UAE port. This would mean that we will not get our container until 4 weeks after we arrive! This doesn't make much sense to me, especially because that I know some people choose to air ship their belongings which takes less than a week to arrive if shipped the day they leave their home country. Anyone here had the experience shipping when moved to the UAE? Is the residence visa/ permit required? Did you have to apply for it prior to your arrival? How did it work? Please help! Thank you very much! Hi, the visa must be stamped in the passport to clear your items from customs from my understanding. Your husband should get his visa first from the company, so he should be able to clear it if he is the person mentioned on the paperwork. ? All the best with your move Thanks Luluwings! Do you mean that employees should obtain their residence visa/permit before arriving to the UAE, and when they enter the country the visa will be stamped at the airport?? Our employer says we will start the application for that visa after we arrive, and it should take about 3 weeks...Did you or your spouse get the visa before or after arrival? I'm very confused because 1)the employer is a school with a lot of international hires so I trust they would not lie about this... 2)if this is how everyone is getting their visa, as they said, 3 weeks after arrival, how did everyone receive their international cargo, either shipped by air or ocean freight, in time? say, someone ships a box of belongings from the UK the day of departure, it should arrive within 1 week, but he/she will have to wait for another 3-4 weeks, until receiving the visa, to clear the box from customs? and 3) you are saying that the visa should be stamped at the airport, i assume you meant that we should have received it when we arrived in the UAE?? Then why would the employer say we can only apply for it after arrival... ah! what a mess! I hope you can help but I might need to call customs... Resident visa does not get stamped at the airport, as your employer has said it will take three weeks after you arive in the UAE is probably a good time scale to go by. You mention that you are packing a container, in that case it should work out fine for you with regards to timing. Some have to put there things into storage and have furnished accomadation until the paperwork is done as the customs policy states a RESIDENT VISA and EMIRATES ID CARD COPY must be provided to clear your items, im sure your shipping company would have already advised you of this :)

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