The Royal Oman Police (ROP) has clarified that regardless of the categories, visas of any type (be it a family or visit) will be provided only if an official representative of the previous sponsor attests that there is no objection to the visa being granted. “It does not matter what category of visit visa is to be issued. Family joining visa also requires no objection from the previous entity. But if it is a regular visit visa from a company then the concerned visa application will require a clearance, stating no objection from the previous organisation that sponsored the visit,” said Major Rashid al Abri, from the ROP’s Public Relations Department.
“It was a regular visit visa and we did not realise the requirement until we saw the rejection with an explanation of needing a no objection from the previous organisation,” said an administrative officer of a retail distribution company who initially thought what was needed was an NOC from the previous employer. However, these visas are different from tourist visas that are processed by travel agencies and tourism companies, including the hospitality industry. Some people feel the new development could complicate matters for business men or consultants who might be travelling frequently to extend their service to organisations.
The new step is to check misuse of visit visas for employment, pointed out the official. The process to follow for a visit visa now is to have official representatives from the two organisations, present at the office while applying for the visit visa. None of these regulations are applicable for visitors who are citizens from countries that have the facility to receive visas on arrival. The Observer had earlier reported that authorised travel agents in Oman can arrange for a tourist visa within three to four working days, provided all documents are submitted at one go. This would at times require hotel bookings or a guarantee amount from the clients.