They say, your life as an ‘OFW’ in the UAE isn’t complete if you have not seen Kish – a small island in Iran 196 kilometers from Dubai. Well, at least during the time when Kish was still an option.
While it may be true for many, this is not really logical.
You actually have an option to fly back to your home country or go elsewhere, but Kish (and Oman) were the popular destinations back then primarily because of the lesser travel cost and the short distance from Dubai. These past few years, exits have taken different routes to Georgia or Armenia.
What is a visa run?
A visa run is an exit trip you have to take upon expiry of your visit visa, so you could re-enter the country and stay longer with a new visa – usually another visit visa. It is a short trip to a neighboring country.
I had 10 visa run experiences during my first 4 years in the UAE. Visa runs happen only to employees of small companies that could not give their employees legal work permits as soon as they join. Among the many reasons (or excuses) include the lack of financial capacity of new and small companies, or simply because the employer prefers not to invest in long-term engagement hence ‘abusing’ the visit visa cycle.
It’s also common to those who went to Dubai with tourist visas but could not find a job within the visa validity period (usually between 30-90 days), hence they have to exit or face overstaying penalty.
Although working on a visit visa is against the law, it was rampant during those times and many employers were taking advantage of it. They’d rather spend less on re-issuance of visit visas.
My first trip to Kish
It was a 30-minute flight on the ‘cute’ Fokker 50 Kish Air aircraft. I remember having mixed emotions that time: a bit of excitement because it is still a trip to an “island,” and loads of worries if I will stay there longer than usual until I receive my visa back to Dubai, or if the shaky aircraft could even make a good landing.
Upon arrival at the airport, ladies have to cover their hair with a veil. They cannot go out without a headcover, and they cannot wear short sleeve blouses or skirts. Men must not wear shorts. Those strict rules make me curious what it’s like to stay in Kish.
It was a 40-minute minibus ride to Farabi “Hotel.” On the way, Kish looked like a desert island. There aren’t too many commercial and even residential areas. No McDonald’s. Not even a single familiar brand can be found. (The closest would be KFC – Kish Fried Chicken). There was a mall and a roadside shopping complex though.
The Hotel
It surely wasn’t the kind of hotel I’m expecting though Farabi is one of the most popular destinations for Filipinos and Indians on visa runs. A night’s stay costs AED35. Men and women have separate quarters. It feels like barracks.
Every room has 6 – 8 single beds. I shared one room with 7 strangers. All but one of them, Filipinos, young and old. Each has a different story to tell. Some are feeling just fine, but most are worried and are just masking their fears through jokes and laughter.
“Taga-saan ka sa Pinas?” “Ano trabaho mo?” “Ba’t ka nag-Dubai?” were the common conversation starters. “May asawa ka ba?”
This first trip happened in January of 2007. Facebook was only accessible on the desktop. No WhatsApp. No one has mobile data at that time (or mobile data wasn’t a thing yet). I was still single. So checking for visa status was done via international calls to Dubai over the payphone, or renting a computer to check and send emails, or use Yahoo Messenger.
When not monitoring visas, people are at the beach which is just a stone’s throw away from Farabi; or at the tiangge next to the hotel. I go with other “hopefuls” strolling at the shore, meeting more people, trying to meet ladies (again, I was still single), making friends.
It was at Kish where I first tried shisha. It felt like I was on an isolated island in the Philippines, but instead of having a beer, we’re inhaling shisha. Loud 90s OPM in the background, fried ‘pulutan’, and everyone on that rooftop were Filipinos and “Filipinos by heart”.
The Food
Every single day, we would eat this one piece of 9-inch flat Iranian bread for breakfast. People who have stayed quite longer in the hotel already call it tsinelas (slippers) for its oval shape and rubbery texture.
We had to walk to the side street eateries to buy our lunch and dinner. Pinoy meals are always available. Chicken adobo, fried fish, and monggo are common items. It comes with a plate of salty steamed rice (allegedly cooked using seawater).
Some days, folks would go fishing to have something free for dinner – to save their money in case they need to pay additional AED35 per day at the hotel waiting for the visa.
At times it felt like we’re a big group of castaways.
After almost 3 days, I got my new visit visa. It was THE MOMENT. You’ll get cheers and congratulations from your roommates and new-found friends. You’ll exchange phone numbers hoping you could reconnect when everyone’s back in UAE.
I booked a flight right away for the next day.
I re-entered Dubai and started the countdown to the next visa run trip.
The next visa runs to Kish
The next trips to Kish didn’t really have much difference except that the visa waiting time is longer or shorter. There was one time I got the visa at the airport so I took the flight back to Dubai right away. It’s called A-to-A, or airport-to-airport.
The longest I waited was 6 days.
That’s nothing compared to many others who were waiting for weeks, or even months. A number of Filipinos and South Asians alike had to stay in Kish permanently because they never got a visa back from their devious employers.
I spotted donation boxes in a number of small restaurants with words written in Tagalog saying, “Tulong sa walang visa” in an attempt to help the stranded hopefuls to buy their own visas to re-enter Dubai.
Some took the consolation to work in eateries and shops and forget about going back to Dubai completely. Some had fallen sick and depressed. And a number of horror stories have been told about those who couldn’t take the circumstances they took their lives in hotel rooms or at the beach.
The worst experience I had at Kish is probably not really that bad at all. It was one summer when the heat is scourging high up to 55 degrees celsius on midday. All hotels were fully booked. Many visa runners decided to stay by the beach overnight. I bounced from one hotel to another until I reach Venus. I was told they can book me but I had to sleep on a mattress on the floor. The carpet stinks and it creates a really bad stench given that it was too humid as well. But I thought I have no choice but to make do of it. NOT until I felt cockroaches crawling in my body. I forgot what sleep is.
Not everything’s gloomy (or are we just really fun-loving people?). There are quite a few recreations available on the island. I did cycling by the beach road, I played pool, went fishing with new friends, uncountable walks in the nearby plaza, and “window shopping.”
Itch from Kish
One time, on my way back to Dubai, I brought bed bugs with me. Don’t know if I got it from the island or from the aircraft – maybe from both. So on my next return trips from Kish, my wife asks me to change clothes before entering the apartment and leave all my bags outside until she ensures that not one surot escapes and shares our bedroom.
As the trips keep repeating, there was a point I felt tired and asked, “when will this ever end?” “Could I ever find a job that will keep me.“ And right after my 10th exit, I got a good offer from Emirates. The Kish episodes in my history has ended. (That was 2011.)
What Kish taught me
Kish is not your typical stopover or transit. It’s definitely not part of the plan. What it reminds me is that every journey may go through unfavorable circumstances and it can even ripple. And while at it, you only have two choices – think of what could go wrong or imagine what could go right.
Staying calm allows you to think how a bad situation can turn out good. Eventually, like in the visa runs, there is a time to get back on track. Everything, good and bad, works together for good especially for those who look up to God and believing that He has a purpose on why things are happening. You don’t need to be hard on yourself. You just have to be patient in waiting.
