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My wife bought a new car on the Thursday and on the Friday I had to do a visa run to Oman, as she only had the car 12 hours we had'nt recieved the english version of the insurance documents and when we where at the border they said it was only valid in Dubai and made us buy insurance from them for 220 dirhams, next day I get a phone call from the car dealers to say the english documents had arrived and guess what it said??? VALID IN DUBAI & OMAN ONLY!!!!! 220 dirhams down the drain just to turn round a corner, this was just a total scam by the government and this as far as i'm concerned goes to show the corruption you face here, if they want to they'll make everything as difficult as possible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

isnt this the insurance company at the border scamming you rather than the goverment ?

No, it was a government official who said it was only valid in Dubai and sent us to the insurance room, the forms are laid out exactly the same in both Arabic and English so there’s no way he could have mistaken the details, just a REALLY bad example of how corrupt the government are, also watched a drunk “local” smash his cayenne in to a wall in the Spring’s and seven days said it was a malfunction with the vehicle, YEA RIGHT, he was absolutely pissed, and that also reminds me, don’t bother writing in to seven days if it has anything to do with the government cause it will NEVER be published as they are obviously censored by the powers that be.
220 dirhams is hardly bank breaking stuff but it just goes to show you, and serve as a warning to all expats, just cause they’re official, don’t mean there good!!!!

Most people working at the border barely have a high school education and I am surprised they can read at all. He probably just glanced at your papers and then wisked you away to the insurance desk to get protection. When I did a visa run once, I had no problems (mine also covers Oman). Its not a scam, its not the government making money, its a case of poor or lacking education of the border agents.

Its also your fault for not asking the car dealership before hand if your insurance was valid outside the UAE or not.

Also there is no such thing as Dubai insurance. The bare minimum insures in the UAE fully and not just this Emirate.

Seems to me that you were/are just as confused as that customs guy.

Have to agree with Liban on this one.. I dont think the goverment here is dying for your 220 dhs

If you had told me they jipped 220 million from you, you might have a story

Ok, I’ll accept that he may have been poorly educated, and I’m not under any pretences regarding my insurance, the reason I only mentioned Dubai was to save my typing Al Ain, Fujairah etc etc, I understand what my insurance says PERFECTLY, my whole point is for people to beware of these scams, which coincidently, is all they are as I do not believe that these people are so poorly educated that they can’t read their own language, he could write it well enough, as soon as they see a westerner they just see how far they can go!!!!!

PS : it’s got nothing to do with the 220 dirhams, it’s the whole principal, if they do that to everyone he’ll soon have his 220 million!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the subject “I’m sure the government aren’t DYING for your 220 dirhams” I know a lot of people here in Dubai and I’ve been told of a scam run by the ruler of Umm Al Quwain where he set all the speed cameras to 15 kph!!! then people could legitimately go to the roads and traffic department to pay, or at 50% reduced prices, they could go to his palace and pay their fines, and your trying to tell me that they’re not money grabbing S#$%@&

never heard this story before, sounds too urban legend-ish to me though.

Black Betty wrote: I’m not under any pretences regarding my insurance, the reason I only mentioned Dubai was to save my typing Al Ain, Fujairah etc etc, I

You could simply say UAE. Its even shorter than the word Dubai and would be representative of the country that welcomed you.

Black Betty wrote: PS : it’s got nothing to do with the 220 dirhams, it’s the whole principal, if they do that to everyone he’ll soon have his 220 million!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once again, the money doesn't go to the government. Seems to me the customs guy is not alone when it comes to miscomprehending things

Black Betty wrote:On the subject “I’m sure the government aren’t DYING for your 220 dirhams” I know a lot of people here in Dubai and I’ve been told of a scam run by the ruler of Umm Al Quwain where he set all the speed cameras to 15 kph!!! then people could legitimately go to the roads and traffic department to pay, or at 50% reduced prices, they could go to his palace and pay their fines, and your trying to tell me that they’re not money grabbing S#$%@&

Untrue.

The people you know here don't know much

You're complaining about the wrong government anyway. It's Omani border control that check your insurance documents, not Dubai/UAE.

I had a similar story once. When I pointed at where I thought it said insured for Oman, he said oh, yes, and let me through.

Please excuse my ignorance - but what is a visa run to Oman?

On our list of things to do is a visit to Oman, but I read you got a visa from the embassy in Dubai or at the border. So what is a visa run?

Cheers,
Shafique

for those who are outstaying their "visit visa" Shaf.

Its the cheapest option to renew.

Thanks Arnie - makes sense now.

Cheers,
Shafique

I needed to do a visa run to convert a visit visa to a residence visa. I had pre-arranged for my residence visa application to be submitted at Dubai the day after I were to arrive (flying) in Muscat. Soon after arriving in Muscat I received a phone call saying that it would cost 500 Dirhams extra for the visa to be processed because according to the computer, I was still in Dubai. The dickhead at the airport had failed to enter my exit details into the computer. I faxed my exit and entry stamps to Dubai, but yet another dickhead at the immigration department decided that I must be hiding inside the computer. So, I paid the 500 dirhams. Some things are worth arguing about, but in most cases like this, you are better off just taking it as a learning experience...