Check travel agencies when exiting, Pinoys at UAE-Oman border told

MANILA, Philippines- Filipinos planning to exit through the border of United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman should double-check their travel agency, Philippine labor officials in the UAE advised.Online news site Khaleej Times also reported a Philippine team is now investigating at least three "fixer" telephone numbers."Filipinos should avoid them at all cost," said Labor Attaché Jeffrey Cortazar, head of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) help desk mission from Manila.Cortazar said these three suspected "fixer" telephone numbers are 04-2739555, 050-4209378, 050-4397547.He said the Philippine team can be contacted in Al Buraimi on hotline 00968-96903452.In issuing the advice to double-check the travel agent, Cortazar said this mean the difference between a few days and several months in waiting for a visa.He issued the advice after a three-week investigation and fact-finding mission at the Al-Buraimi border.According to him, the team found only one travel agency, Moonway Travel, to be doing well with the Filipino visa change seekers out of the 31 travel agencies in the UAE.The firm stationed a Filipino coordinator on UAE-Oman border to oversee the Filipinos, who are placed in very comfortable accommodation good at four individuals per chalet, he said."It has provided the fastest service in visa approval and has its own tourist buses from Dubai with daily trips," he added.The Philippine team inspected accommodations of the Filipinos billeted in the hotels and chalets on the border, and interviewed individuals.It learned there are 31 travel agencies in Dubai facilitating the exits of the Filipinos, 90 percent of whom are waiting for fresh tourist visas and only 10 percent waiting for employment visas.Cortazar said the team learned some of the agencies had their licenses revoked by UAE authorities for involvement in the visa runs, yet continued to facilitate visa processing by having alliances with legitimate travel agencies."We recommend Filipinos to transact business with Moonwalk Travel Agency and to check other travel agencies with the authorities, who may have approached them for their services, to find out their status," Cortazar said.