22-year-old expat women from Oman must travel with a parent

Muscut : A new e-visa system has left a young female expat in Oman fuming.

The online visa cannot be used by women under the age of 23 unless they are travelling with a parent, according to the UAE government portal for applications.

Many young expatriates in Oman say they are missing out on conferences and business opportunities because of the rule. The only alternative is to wait for five days for a pre-arranged visa, or get a relative in Dubai to arrange the paperwork. That means last minute or short notice business meetings and trips are all a no-fly zone for young women under the age of 23 in the Sultanate.

According to the rule all expats, with the exception of the citizens of 46 countries, which have a treaty with the UAE, need to apply for an e-visa prior to their travel.

While many across the Sultanate are slowly beginning to get comfortable with the process, young women in Oman, who are below the age of 23 years, say they cannot travel legally without the supervision of a “sponsor”

A note on the official e-visa website uaevisa-online.org states that there is an age restriction for applying for an online visa. Men below the age of 21 and women below the age of 23 must be accompanied by a parent. This puts a lot of youngsters, especially women, in limbo.

While young girls in their early 20s, who live with their parents, complain about not being able to go to Dubai unaccompanied in spite of being adults, there are some who aren’t left with a choice. “I want to go for the concert that is happening in Dubai this December but my parents for obvious reasons don’t wish to accompany me as a result of which I had to cancel my concert plans,” said a 21-year-old girl living with her parents.

There are a number of young working expat women, who live in the country alone without their parents and they will not be able to avail the e-visa facility at all. “I wanted to attend an important conference in Dubai, which I found out about just two days before the event. I missed an opportunity that could have changed my life because of the age restriction on the e-visa application. This wouldn’t have happened if I could avail the old visa-on-arrival or if the age restriction wasn’t there.”

There are a number of travel agents in Oman who provide a pre-arranged visa. An official from flydubai said, “If you apply for a pre-arranged visa then there is no age restriction. All you will need to do is submit a copy of your passport, resident card, and a photograph and your visa will be arranged within five days for a fee of OMR39.”

Alternatively, you can also ask a relative from Dubai to apply for a three-month visitor visa for you.