Travelling to UAE by Car

Hannibal
By Hannibal

My wife I want to drive to the UAE, next month. I understand about the visa situation, and I can cope with that. My question is: Am I allowed to drive out of Qatar in my car that I have not finished paying for from the bank? My friend told me he seems to remember hearing that it was not possible, and that somehow, they know this at the border and will not allow me to leave. Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks for your help.

Cheers!

By anonymous• 19 Jun 2011 13:08
anonymous

Hai hanibal

I am an indian Nationality, can i get on arrival visa from uae boarder by road, let me know plese, i also planned to go uae by road from doha, letme know please

thanks

jaleel

By Jfast_Jfurious• 24 Aug 2010 14:31
Jfast_Jfurious

Am planning a trip next week... let me see if its the same... am very excited about this... have been wanting to do this since 2008... couldn't do it for many reasons

By noentry.143143• 17 Mar 2010 00:49
noentry.143143

guys plz update this thread.... its 2010.. ppl who had a trip to dubai frm doha cn le us knw their experiences and if ny rules changed recebtly..

By KHATTAK• 26 Aug 2009 16:44
Rating: 2/5
KHATTAK

.....a good one...informative

-------------------------------------------------------

Whenever I find the KEY to SUCCESS...Someone STEALS it.

By bleu• 26 Aug 2009 16:19
bleu

_noms_, we're bored...

By _noms_• 26 Aug 2009 14:32
_noms_

Gosh!! what are you people doing in 1.5 YEAR OLD THREAD?!!

~noms~

-----------------------------------------

"Before God we are all equally wise ' and equally foolish" - Albert Einstein

By bleu• 26 Aug 2009 14:28
bleu

mattengineer, you would need his original ID card... or maybe he needs to be with you in the car.

By raghu• 26 Aug 2009 14:16
raghu

Thanks Hannibal, I was very informative. I am also planning a trip in the near future....

By mattengineer• 15 Aug 2009 22:37
mattengineer

can i got to uae with my uncles car. will there be some problem since the car is in my uncles name. there is no finance.

By purusho• 20 Apr 2008 17:40
purusho

 it is good discussion..   thanks for the information

By irf77• 18 Apr 2008 15:23
irf77

Hey folks good post i am considering doing his now, regards

By Hannibal• 30 Apr 2007 06:38
Hannibal

My wife wore an abiya (sp?) and had quite a lot of fun with it, but I think as long as your hair is covered, you should be ok. My wife never got out of the car and was never spoken to. I would say the hair cover would be wise, just to prevent any problems, at the border, or inside Saudi.

Good luck!

By Gypsy• 29 Apr 2007 09:12
Gypsy

What did your wife have to wear in the car? I think I'm going to do this trip in a couple of weeks and I need to know how to cover?

I feel your scorn and I accept it-Jon Stewart

By Hannibal• 29 Apr 2007 09:08
Hannibal

Oh, yeah... as for the original post, no questions at all regarding the ownership status of my car, and no need for any type of letter from the bank.

By Hannibal• 29 Apr 2007 09:06
Hannibal

Well, we are back safe from our trip to the UAE. No hassles whatsoever, and as in many of the posts before, the drive is quite easy. Saudi was not nearly as daunting as we thought it might be, and there are no radar cameras, so I was able to indulge my inner Gulf driver, and apparently my car WILL do more than 200!

The drive out to the Saudi border was about 90km. They asked for our registration (Malakia in Arabic) and passports. We bought insurance for two weeks (100QR) and we were on our way. Oh, they did search our car, but it was a formality and nothing was even really checked. The drive through Saudi was quick and painless (125km) although, we did witness a nasty truck accident, which caused some glimpses of the free-for-all traffic behaviour we had heard so much about. The UAE border was pretty straight forward too, although they did ask us to give a retinal scan, and xray our bags, but they were very friendly and carried our bags for us. We got two week insurance at the border as well (100QR) and were off to Abu Dhabi. The trip was easy and the road was very good. Just under 400km later, we were downtown AD. I didn’t spot any radar cameras for most of the trip in, until we got within 100km or so of AD. Apparently, despite the limit reading 100, they don’t go off till you go over 140 (or so I was told). I am generally not a speed freak, but you can only take so much barren wasteland, and even at 140, it seems to go on forever!

Our trip in the UAE was lovely, and on the way back we were somewhat worried about the customs at the border, not really knowing the rules and all. Leaving the UAE was slightly more complicated than entering. We needed to fill out an “Entry Card” (???) with a lot of info on it I had no idea about, but they just made me fill in the bare necessities and pay 20QR each, and we were done. The Customs Officer just looked at the gigantic pile of shopping in out car and asked what it was (we had the entire back of our SUV chock-a-block full of Ikea boxes and other shopping bags) and sent us on our way. They didn’t open anything or ask for receipts, so I guess if it is for your own personal use, they don’t seem to have any real (within reason) limit to what you can bring in.

The Saudi border was much the same, except they didn’t require any paperwork and actually had my print out ready for me at the window (I assume they just typed in my plate number) and they put a small sticker with an Arabic number in my passport on the way in, so they were very fast in processing this on the way out. They did the same basic check and questions of my shopping things and rechecked my Saudi Insurance was still valid, and we were through. The Qatar side was just as quick and looked at my shopping, asked if there was any drink or pork, and closed it up.

All in all, we clocked 2600km on our trip to UAE, and if you have a reliable car, with a good AC, I think it is a really good option, especially if you are going on a shopping holiday. Having our own wheel was so nice and gave us freedom to get around, not to mention get our stuff back with us, without worrying about baggage limits.

Hope this helps give others a better idea.

Good luck!

By osos• 18 Apr 2007 08:05
Rating: 4/5
osos

i did the same procedures Hannibal did, and went last week to Dubai by my car, it is nice if you hv some one sharing u the road. it takes 7 hrs (including stops in borders and fuell station for some rest)

it is totally 700 KM, and i was driving on 160 - 170 KM/hr

Nice trip hannibal

By Hannibal• 13 Apr 2007 22:20
Rating: 3/5
Hannibal

Well, I just got Transit Visa's for my wife and I from the travel agent. They seem to be all in order, and it was absolutely no hassel for us, whatsoever.

We dropped off a copy of our ID, 2 pitures (on a white background) and our passports. We also dropped off a copy of our car registration. I was a bit overly concerned and gave the guy at the agency a copy of our edding certificate and a copy of my driver's license, but this was NOT required. we also did not need a letter from the bank (for my financed car) and it only took about 4-5 days and two of those were the weekend.

We paid 75 QR each, and the visa costs 50, so essentially, they did everything for us for 25QR each... the best 50 rials I have ever spent!

Now... let's hope it works! I'll keep you posted...

H.

By prodigal• 12 Apr 2007 21:37
prodigal

I am selling my car, its taken on installments, how do I go about to sell it.

I mean I have to pay the bank first, get a letter or something from them, then transfer it to the new owner? I believe that is how it should be done, but not sure of the procedure.

By bigmama• 21 Mar 2007 21:26
bigmama

Does KSA still ban women from driving through to UAE either alone or accompanied by a male who is a friend?

I have my own car and would love to drive to UAE to tour about as I am sure this is much cheaper than flying each time.

Look forward to your experiences/knowledge on this matter.

By Hannibal• 20 Mar 2007 23:07
Hannibal

I spoke to the bank, and they said that there would be no problems because of my car still being under financing. Next stop, Saudi Embassy.... wish me luck!!!

By sfaridi• 14 Mar 2007 12:35
sfaridi

I am new to the region and hope to do much sight seeing via long drives. Can you share your experience driving, any tips or how long each leg of the journey was.

I have a feeling that some of the posts in this thread are rather cynical but again who knows it may depend on the person at the broder crossing too

By osos• 14 Mar 2007 12:15
Rating: 4/5
osos

I check with some friend, travilling through Saudi not related to ur nationality / job. you need only Pass permission. and all doc needed is a permission from yr sponser here / 1 photo. taht is all. but depend on the countery y going (for UAE) some proffission can go without visa others required a visa from UAE emmbassy here.

Who has more information pls tell us specially for installment car.

By rkale• 13 Mar 2007 22:11
Rating: 5/5
rkale

I have traveled to Abu Dhabi a few times with my family (wife & two kids). My car is taken on loan from Doha Bank. I did not have any problem. I did not require any documents from the bank. I have an account with Doha Bank and salary is transfered to the account.

By stealth• 13 Mar 2007 20:31
Rating: 5/5
stealth

Check with the saudi embassy or the transit visa agents. Maybe they can help out.

"If your number one goal is to make sure that everyone likes and approves of you, then you risk sacrificing your uniqueness and, therefore, your excellence."

By anonymous• 13 Mar 2007 20:15
anonymous

So me and the Boys can actually go for a Road Trip ? This is awesome !! Does nationalities concern ? we are not arabs but of asian origin so i am sure that law maybe applicable to us though, coz its always the Expatriates who have "N" number of laws, u cant do this, u cant do that .. could you confirm your info ? i guess need to check with the embassies....

By stealth• 13 Mar 2007 20:11
Rating: 5/5
stealth

That rule is outdated. Saudi has changed the rules for the shabab. now it doesnt matter.

Regarding the car on instalment you have to talk with the bank and see.

"If your number one goal is to make sure that everyone likes and approves of you, then you risk sacrificing your uniqueness and, therefore, your excellence."

By anonymous• 13 Mar 2007 20:07
anonymous

hey .. well as far as i know i am not sure about the info but this is how it goes, as per saudi.. a bunch of guys in a car a not allowed "Shabaab" as they call.. and / or only one guy per car or he has to be with his family .. this is Crazy ! Since you guys are planning do let us know how or what are the formalities .. i have a long way to go .. i am plannin to Drive down to Oman to meet my gurl .. and yeah i do have a car on Installments.. so i need to do my homework on that .. i am still not aware about the guarentee .. as in your car registration it clearly mentions that your car settlements are being with your bank you are dealing with, which will not allow you to sell the car in any part of the middle east without a clearance or i would say unless the car is in your name.. Yes i guess if you are transferring your salary to that bank it should not be problem as your Company is like a guarentee to the bank.

Do let me know when you guys are planning, probably i can join you till dubai and i`ll go ahead to Oman :)) Cant go with friends coz of the Crazy Saudi Rule .. i am not sure how far its true .. but thats what ppl say .. :)

By osos• 13 Mar 2007 18:10
Rating: 4/5
osos

Hi Hannibal

It depends on your bank, Some banks like QNB need a garantee from Qatari citizin, Some others like Commercial if your salary is transfered to them no need for that. it is better to chech with your bank regulations

Best of luck, and pls tell me wt is the final status coz i planning for the same

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