First Stop. I booked the airline tickets. This is not easy cause my boss kept changing his itinerary. Finally when he made up his mind, I booked the tickets. The cheapest airline to Europe from here is Emirates, so Emirate it is.
Second Stop. I have to apply for Dubai Visa as they wanted to visit Dubai for several day. Dubai Visa is easy to apply. I found the form at DVPC website, filled it and prepared the necessary documents requested. For Dubai Visa, I don’t have to give the original passport. So, while applying for Dubai, I can apply for Italy. The requirements for Dubai Visa can be found at www.dubaivisa.net. Dubai Visa – DONE!
Third Stop. I booked the hotel. Why I book the hotel now, cause it is a requirement for the Italy / Schengen Visa. The only problem was, the Embassy is asking for the confirmation from the hotel. So, here is a trick, book the hotel thru a travel agent. The travel agent will issued the hotel voucher but not yet “issued”. Ask them to help you for the visa, they will understand. Some hotel, such as at Bologna & Modena, our supplier has provided. They helped us with the confirmation letter as well.
Fourth Stop. In applying Italian Visa, you have to make an appoint first. The requirements are easy to collect but not as easy as I thought. You can apply at 2 places: Italian Embassy or via VFS – Italy Center. At the Embassy the process take shorter time. Since I can’t make the appointment at the Embassy earlier, so I chose VFS.
The problem arouse as my boss have to go to Japan 3 weeks before Italy. So I can’t apply the schengen visa earlier as I expected. The other problem arouse as my coworker passport will expired in 3 months, so he has to renew it. Perfect! I applied the visa just 2 weeks before the departure date.
The appointment was made at VFS, the form & all requirements are complete. Another problem arouse… I am applying for tourism visa with company support. They rejected it. Company support can’t apply for tourism, it has to be business visa. Business visa require an invitation letter from Italy. Aiyo! My time was short and I have to get the invitation letter from our supplier. We force the VFS to accept our documents with a promise to send the invitation letter as soon as possible.
We contacted our supplier and got the invitation letter from 3 suppliers in 2 days time. The invitation letter must be supported by their business licence too. We forwarded it directly to the Embassy.
Departure date -1. VFS stated that the Embassy hasn't got the invitation yet. OMG! I rushed and checked my email and detected the attachment files are big. I guess that’s the reason why the Embassy can’t received it. So, I re-sized the document and sent it to the Embassy. They were supposed to leave at Nov 4. The agricultural exhibition was started at Nov 7
Departure date +1. The visa hasn't issued. I really didn't know what to do. Until my coworker called the Italian supplier and asked them to call the Embassy directly to ask about the Visa. Mr. Villani - one of our supplier called and the Embassy answered him with an email stating the visa can be picked up tomorrow.
Departure Date.. I called my coworker to picked up the passport & visa at VFS in the morning. Also asked her to buy the Euro Train Pass for both of them in the afternoon. I have to reschedule the tickets and hotels only in 8 hours. They finally left at Nov 7 – 00:15 am and reached Rome at 12:35 pm on the same date.
It felt like doing a miracle. The tension rise as my boss requested longer stay and I have to re-book the hotel. When the tension rise, I wrote status on my Facebook: “You want me to create a miracle? Am I God?” With His help, I can do the miracle. Thank you, Lord! In 8 hours, everything was set. It's a huge relief to be able to fly them to Rome.
Picture: wikiembassy.org
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