sChmo0kler

And yet, surrounded by rocky mountains, it was dazzlingly bright and hot on that hilltop… there we were in the uae border, submitting our documents for visa stamping.  Among the 7 of us, I was eventually singled out as my designation reportedly do not qualify me to enter uae.  What the?!?  Both my resident labour card and road permit stated that same designation.  And despite showing to this officer all our legitimate proof that I was indeed employed by a local company in a managerial position and invited to dubai for an international conference, I was not allowed entry…

Our PRO under HR apparently screwed this one up for me.  They were supposed to be the locals incharge of our legal documents and should probably know the ins and outs of expatriate movements from the rulings of the ministries.  Besides that technical term, we were told I have not yet completed 6 months in the sultanate to allow me trips to the emirates…

Although it would have been another new and wonderful adventure, I do not mind at all not being able to go to dubai, because I know there would still be lots of opportunities.  I just hated the fact that I have been told after traveling 5 hours under the desert sun, wasting my weekend and everybody else’s time!  I should not have been issued a road permit in the first place if they had studied my papers.  And how the heck was I supposed to go back to Muscat when all my companions can drive on?!  When we asked that to the officer, he just shrugged and suggested bus at the oman border and  taxis at sohar, an hour away form the border.  A single, asian female with 3 bulky bags getting into a bus or taxi in the middle of this place.  Yeah, a really wise idea…

Good thing we came in 2 cars.  One of my officemates drove me back to sohar where our company driver, still coming from Muscat, met me in kfc.  On the drive back, I was told by our PRO that the rules changed from the time she processed our papers which was probably just a week ago and from the day of our travel yesterday.  but the thing was, prior to this trip my other officemates were following it up with her regarding my designation because they had their suspicions. the one who accompanied me back actually experienced the same thing also with his wife and kids 2 years back.  But since she didn’t say anything or raised any concern at all, we trusted everything to be in order. A simple cross-checking and confirming it would have saved me and the rest of my colleagues all those horrors…

Thankfully, everyone got to their destinations safely.  My companions, to the hotel in dubai, and me back to my flat.  Not even counting the indignity of it all, it was an utterly frustrating and a completely unnecessary experience…