Pharmaceutical & Medical Supplies Company Managing Complex Visa Requirements

Background

A UAE-based pharmaceutical and medical supplies company with more than 700 employees regularly sends teams to regulatory inspections, manufacturer audits, international conferences, and medical congresses.

Although annual travel volume was moderate, their visa workload was not. Staff required Schengen, UK, US, Japan, and China visas throughout the year, often tied to fixed conference dates or tight regulatory schedules. The internal HR team handled visas manually and frequently faced late submissions, missing documents, and stressful last-minute escalations.

The company wasn’t trying to reduce travel spend; their leadership wanted predictability, compliance, and a smoother, more dependable process for employees travelling on time-sensitive assignments.

The Requirement

The business needed a structured visa support function that could standardize documentation, plan ahead for recurring events, track expiries, and minimize the risk of delayed approvals.

With more than 20–25 visa applications per month during peak periods, HR was spending a significant amount of time chasing information, coordinating appointments, and following up with embassies.

What Utravel Delivered

Utravel appointed a dedicated visa support team to handle the client’s end-to-end requirements. Each traveler was allocated a digital profile with updated passports, past visas, travel history, and role-specific documentation needs.

Document checklists were created for each destination to reduce back-and-forth. Utravel also tracked visa and passport expiry dates, sending early reminders to HR, especially for frequent travelers attending recurring conferences in Europe and Asia.

To support the client’s wide range of medical events, Utravel coordinated invitation letters, hotel confirmations, and flight itineraries tailored to the visa type and embassy rules.

During onboarding, Fadi Abu Rashed, Head of the Hotels Desk, commented, “For pharma teams travelling for conferences, documentation is everything. When we align the flights, the invitations, and the hotel confirmations in advance, ensuring the entire visa process becomes more predictable.”

Results

Within the first six months, the firm’s visa submission lead-time increased from an average of seven days to five days. Applications became cleaner and more complete, and embassy appointment scheduling improved due to earlier planning.

Visa approval reliability increased noticeably. The company reported far fewer last-minute escalations, fewer rescheduled trips, and no missed conferences due to incomplete documentation. HR also regained significant time, with visa-related administrative workload reducing by an estimated 30–40 percent.

Commenting on the operational uplift, Basel Abu Alrub, Managing Director, noted, “For companies with strict timelines, reducing uncertainty has more value than reducing cost. In this case, the win was creating a stable, predictable rhythm for their visa cycle.”

Client Impact

The organization now has a structured visa process supported by clear timelines, cleaner documentation, and proactive reminders. Employees experience smoother pre-travel preparation, and HR can plan with greater confidence.

The company did not aim for cost savings, but instead achieved operational stability – something particularly critical in the pharmaceutical sector, where travel is tied to compliance, training, and regulatory commitments.

Utravel’s involvement allowed the client to shift from reactive visa handling to a calm, predictable workflow that supports their operational needs year-round.