Flying to Kish Island from Dubai for visa change.

These days anyone who come to Dubai on tourist visa should exit from Dubai and enter again to get the work visa, so the easiest way is to fly to the nearest country, there are many possible countries to fly such asOman, Qatar or any nearest countries. To fly to any country you must get a visa unless you cannot travel there. But Kish you do not need a visa since it’s a freezone Island, you do not need a visa to fly to Kish Island. You only need up and down ticket and your passport.

About Kish Island.

Kish Island is a beautiful island and touristic resort located on the north east of the Persian Gulf (Khalij-e Fars) about 17 km (10.2 miles) from the southern offshore of the mainland Iran. Kish is a free trade zone.

To know more about Kish : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kish_Island

Many people (most of all) do not have any idea about Kish and what happens there when you go, so I intend to write this to provide some information’s based on my experience in Kish Islands.

Needed things prior to fly Kish:

• Passport
• Air Ticket to Kish (around 700AED)
• Deposit at the airport  (around 1500AED)
• Pocket Money
• Hotel Deposit (500 for Arabian or Africans & 300 for others)
• Cloths & other things for minimum 3 days

Expenses with pricing

• Room charge : 40AED (free for first day) – Price may change depend on the Hotel or may have to keep a deposit.
• Breakfast : Free
• Lunch : 10AED
• Dinner : 5AED – 9AED
• Tea : 1AED
• Tea with Milk : 1.5AED
• Soft Drink : 2AED
• Internet for 1 Hour : 5AED (Very Slow)
• International calls : 1.5AED per Min
• Wifi 1 Hour: 5AED
• Photocopy : 5AED
• Scan : 7AED
• Du or Etisalat Cards : 5AED extra
• Taxi : 20AED up and down
• Bus to airport : 5AED (but it should be 1AED if many)

Over Stay

If you stay more than 14 days you will have to get an Iranian visa it might cost 70 AED

*You cannot call and your phone works on roaming, outgoing calls are not allowed, only incoming is allowed, but messaging is allowed.  If you stay for long days its better you buy a local SIM Card its cheaper (25AED).

 

When we book the ticket the ticketing office do not give us any information about what will happen in Kish, unless we ask them many times, some they charge extra amount for the hotel and other facilities, for me they charged 750AED saying it is for the hotel, but the truth is you only have to pay for the ticket do not pay for anything else.

According to my knowledge, the Kish airline has few affiliated hotels (lodge), you will have to stay there they are especially for the visitors who travel Kish for visa changing. If they say Hotel it means it’s a Camp or lodge, each room has around 5 – 6 beds, everything is shared, you are responsible for your things and you will find many nationalities in groups, so you can join them when you go there, as a Sri Lankan I was with a nice group of Sri Lankan, they treated me like their own blood. And every one helps each other.

 

Do’s and Don’ts when you are in Kish

From Dubai to Kish Island it will take around 40min, the flight is not comfortable but they provide a good service, they give you a box in it you will find a piece of cake, a drink packet (mango) and salted peanuts. When you arrive you will find a big signage which says “WELCOME TO BEAUTIFUL KISH ISLAND” and mostly all of them laughs, still I laugh when I think if my days in Kish because we are not in the beautiful part of the island we wore in an isolated place. When you arrive to Kish you should follow some important instructions and there are few things you must know before you fly there.

Do’s

• Take some extra money; you should take minimum 800AED, since you must pay for the hotel 500 deposits if you are Arabian or African, 300 for other nationalities.
• If you are a female you should cover your body with “Abaya” it is a must, so take some decent cloths, if you do not have they will provide you at the airport.
• Life there is not easy it’s expensive and you cannot assure that you will get the visa as your employer promised so be prepared.
• Send the hotel Fax & email to your employer so when they got your visa they will send to the hotel and then they will print it to you.
• When you receive your visa take it and go to the Kish Airline office and schedule your flight then go to the hotel and inform them so they will check out you and provide your passport and deposit money.
• There are two flights each day and your hotel will provide you the bus transport, there is a bus in the morning 7AM and there is one in the evening.
• Please check for the arrival airport and terminal when you are booking the tickets back to Dubai.
• Do not forget to get the deposit at the airport when you coming back.

                                                                                                                                               

Don’ts

• If you are a female please wear decent cloths, it is prohibited to wear open cloths.
• Drinking alcohol or any other is strictly prohibited but smoking is allowed
• Do not misplace or be carless on your belongings.
• Do not pay any think more than the ticket fare to the travel agency.
• Do not pay anything more than the deposit and room rent in the hotel, also do not forget to get your hotel deposit.
• Do not take photos at the airport, there are no sing boards, but it is strictly prohibited.

The life there in Kish is not really fun as we thought, it’s a hard life there, we are not tourist we go there to get our work visa, so it is normal to experience such stay there, but please keep in mind it may take many days to get your visa, some stay here for many weeks, I met one person he was there for 40 days, so be prepared for the consequences.

 

When you arrive to the Kish airport to fly Dubai, make sure you have your visa copy and tickets, the flight is mostly to Dubai, so if your visa is in Sharja or Abu Dhabi airport please inform to your employer. When you arrive to Dubai there is a counter to collect your Visas, you should show your visa copy and collect the original visa, then check out from the immigration.

Done! You are in Dubai.

Let’s enjoy our stay in this beautiful multidivers country.

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