Yes, that’s how I feel regarding our Dubai vacation. We already have our tickets, our hotel has been confirmed and the whole family is starting to feel excited to see the fastest growing cosmopolitan city in the Middle East. The only catch is that I still do not have my exit/re-entry visa, which I need to have in order for me to be able to leave and re-enter the Kingdom after our vacation.
For those who are not aware, all expatriates who work here in the Kingdom (and their dependents) are given the visa so they can freely travel in and out of the Kingdom. It is usually applied with the consent of (and/or through) the employer and is normally for a “single” use only. For some fortunate souls, like me, I am able to get away with a “multiple” visa since we occasionally have official bank activities in Bahrain.
The visa that was previously issued to me will expire a few days before our planned departure so I, confidently, applied for a renewal. Unfortunately, the HR Manager said that the bank has, for one reason or another, become more strict in granting these visas. In short, the approval of my direct line manager was not enough to secure me the document and I still needed to get a special approval from our Division Head, who is based in Jeddah. Grrrr!
So there, my life has been HELL the past few days because of this new policy. Although I was able to secure the approval already and (supposedly) my visa is currently in process, I am afraid that this privilege will eventually be removed from me. If ever that happens, that will definitely spell ”living hell” for all of us since will no longer be able to easily cross the causeway to Bahrain in order to have a few hours of normalcy.
Anyway, enough with the ranting. It is officially a little more than 3 weeks before my whole family flies back to Manila. So, to our family back home, please bring out the fattened pig and be ready to slaughter it . My children have been longing to eat Wiwa Petite’s ”crunchy” lechon kawali for the longest time now … hmmm, yum!
That’s all for now. I hope to share more good news with all of you soon.
Posted in Life in the Kingdom, Travels | Tags: Thoughts, Travels
pero in the end, all’s well naman at nakapag-enjoy kayo ng family mo talaga. hopefully, by the time na you need to renew your visa again, mas lenient na ulit sila and hindi ka na mabibigyan ng ganitong problema.
