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I am moving to Dubai from Northern Ireland (UK) at the end of next month does anyone have any rules of thumb for getting ready 4 moving??

Muckman - as arnie said, I made the move last week.

Well, firstly let me say that finding this forum is a good start!

I read as much about the place as I could and as a result the guys here have been impressed with my knowledge of the issues/places. However, it is still a world of difference between reading about places/issues on line and actually experiencing them.

That said, I have been forewarned and haven’t been surprised yet.

In terms of a check list – things that I did, in no particular order were:

- get loads of passport photos and copies of your passport, photo page. Also, as soon as you get here, get a copy of the visit visa stamp in your passport – I did not do this and the passport is off with the authorities for my employment visa, and I’m being asked left right and centre for a copy of that page..!
- for passport photos – try epassportphoto.com – just upload a digital print, it converts it into 8 passport photo jpeg which you can download and get printed everywhere. I actually e-mailed this ahead of my visit and my company used this to process the initial visa. There are loads of on-line processing that do introductory offers – I used snapfish and pixmania and as a result have about 100 photos of myself and the family for a matter of a few pounds.
- I was e-mailed across the initial employment visa and thought you needed to collect the original on arrival – you don’t, they have it on the system, so just go straight through to passport control (and if you’re British, they’ll just stamp a visit visa at immigration control). Also, if you do get an advance employment visa, ignore the small print at the bottom which says you need a return ticket etc.
- If you meet the criteria, open up an HSBC Premier account or equivalent, and you will be able to transfer money between the UK and UAE without a fee – otherwise you have to pay for transfers. It also meant I opened up a Dubai account when I got here.
- Be prepared for no postal deliveries to home – you need to give a PO Box (I am using my work address)
- You may want to get an international driving licence – up until you get a residence visa you won’t be able to buy a car. Some rental places require the international driving licence, but I’m also told that you can rent a car with a UK driving licence as long as you’re still on a visit visa.
- Bring currency for taxis etc – I used travellex and ordered over the internet, and collected at the airport before flying out. They had the best rates from my brief search
- Familiarise yourself with the currency and don’t make the mistake I did mistaking a 10 DHs note for what I thought was a 1 Dhs note (they don’t exist)
- Check out the classifieds if you need to rent or buy accommodation – gulfnews.com has a classified sections. Rents there are a good indication of what you’d be asked for on the ground. You can get a good indication of what is available at what cost
- Note that houses and apartments here are generally bigger than in the UK – bear this in mind when considering what you want to get
- Bring sunglasses – these are not optional (although you probably can buy them here cheaper than the UK)
- You need to judge where to live in terms of price and travelling times to work etc – a 10 min journey with no traffic turns into a 1hr traffic jams regularly – believe the horror stories.
- (Actually, I haven’t seen an accident yet… may be we’ve been lucky?)
- Umm – can’t think of anything more just now – but read through the material here and on other sites that Google will throw up, and if you have specific questions just holler, the guys here are very friendly.

Cheers,
Shafique

what a great reply, thanks very much for taking the time to inform me of stuff i would never had thought of. brilliant thankyou

i have never travelled bar the odd package deal to majorca etc... so this is a pretty big step. I am lucky enough to be going out on a good salary and a good package (mind you i am sure there is other things i could ask for but i can't think).

Just wondering though if i have a UK driving lisence do i need a new one... what is the process in UAE.


Thanks again

New 10 yr UAE DL a dodle when you have got your residency, but in the mean time you can apply for a temp one (6 months) as you will have a work permit/visa.

shafique wrote:...
- I was e-mailed across the initial employment visa and thought you needed to collect the original on arrival – you don’t, they have it on the system, so just go straight through to passport control (and if you’re British, they’ll just stamp a visit visa at immigration control). Also, if you do get an advance employment visa, ignore the small print at the bottom which says you need a return ticket etc.

Hi Shafique,

I think you forget to mention about work permit. How do you apply for it ? What documents do you need to prepare ?

Thanks

Hiya

For the employment visa, my company handled everything - I needed to send copies of my passport and 12 (yes 12!) passport photographs. They needed personal information like the names of my parents.

I scanned and sent the documents - for the passport photos I had a digital shot of me and converted it to passport photo at www.epassportphoto.com - it formats the shot into a jpeg of 8 passport sized photos which can be processed at any photo place - very handy.

I was issued a visa which was printed off, scanned and then e-mailed to me. I thought I had to physically collect the visa at the airport (there is a counter there for this), but when I got there they said the copy I'd printed off was sufficient - so just go straight through to passport control.

When I got here I had to go for a medical to get the residence visa, try and do this through the company's PRO as he will breeze you through the red tape - we were in and out within 45min, jumping every queue - whereas it looks like you could be there for half a day if you didn't have the man ushering you through.

Good luck.

Cheers,
Shafique

shafique wrote:
When I got here I had to go for a medical to get the residence visa, try and do this through the company's PRO as he will breeze you through the red tape - we were in and out within 45min, jumping every queue - whereas it looks like you could be there for half a day if you didn't have the man ushering you through.

Yeah, when I did mine, I was thankful to have my PRO with me at all times

shafique wrote:I scanned and sent the documents

Hi Shafique,

What documents exactly did you send ?

From my understanding, when you're being spnsored by a company in Dubai, you will get an employment visa. But do you still need to apply for work permit ?

Thanks.

Passport copy (photo page), passport photos. No other documents were required from me for the visa.

I told them separately my parents names.

I guess the company provided the work contract etc.

Cheers,
Shafique

Hi Shafique

What is PRO ?

Thanks

PRO - public relations officer (I think) - and basically ours is a local guy that sorts out visa issues for us. He also deals with other interactions with the government/authorities.

I think most companies here have such a person.

Cheers,
Shafique

Hi

I think Shafique has covered almost everything.

I arrived from London a month ago, and I am doing very well. The first two weeks wre hectic, as with any admin work, but things now are settling down quite well, and I am looking forward to buying a new car then start driving around the UAE.

Few points worth adding:

- Buy yourself Dubai Explorer- I think 2006 Edition is out now, also the Explorer map book. I can't go anywhere without it.

- I advise you to find a place as close as possible to your workplace. Particuarly avoid having to cross the bridges to get to and from work.

- If you take a flat on a contract IT IS FOR ONE WHOLE YEAR. There is no notice period or cancellation. You have to pay a\the yearly rent in 2, 3, or 4 installments. Sometimes they ask for one. So beware of this.

I personally went for a decent big size room in a flat I share with another engineer 5 min away from my work with all facilities, a bit more expensive, but on a monthly basis. This will give me a feel and more time to look for a permanent suitable place.

- If your employer is sorting out your accommodation for you, that is a big plus. Otherwise, be ready for some expenses upfront (Deposit of AED3.5K, Commission AED 5% of yearly rent). I know that companies (up to recently) use to pay the full rent amount for their employees then deducted from their wages on monthly basis (Interest free!!!). Not anymore I believe, but check with your employer. Mine stopped doing it trwo weeks before I arriive. But you can still try top get a two of three months salary advance. All depends on your boss.

- For medical, avoid Maktoum Hospital, queues there are just unbelievable. Tell your comapny's PRO to take you to Dubai Hospital.

- I exchanged my UK license in an hour after having the Work visa stamped on my passport. Before then, I rented a car using my UK license for AED 1500 a month. You can do that if you avoid big car rental names (Hertz etc.)

- Keep on asking questions all the time, you'll get around better and quicker. All people you're going to meet are expats (Well 98% of them) so they've gone through the same process. Besides as Shafique said, this forum is very helpful, and people here are cool. Respect.

Finally, I am sure you will like it.

Good luck and Cheers

Zino

Hi Zino & Shafique

Did you have a degree verification thing ?

Thanks

Nusa - I didn't have to have my degree verified - I brought a copy of my professional certificate (I had to remove it from the picture frame and luckily my wife had kept the envelope it came in!), but my company hasn't asked to see it..

That said, a friend who is a lawyer had to get his degrees certified in the UK and sent over. I'd say ask your prospective employer..

Cheers,
Shafique

My company is doing my papers and they told me that there is a new law that u must verify ur graduation degree and ur transcript too and stamp them for the UAE embassy in ur country

great info lads - thanks.
is it easy to open a bank account here? Also is it easy to get credit for cars, loans, credit cards etc ? is this just based on your current employment or do they check past credit history from your home country?

that is a really good question dell and what if u don't have any credit in your country ?!!

They don't care about your home country.

You need your bank account statements for the past three month to get anywhere in the credit world here.

Liban is correct

Credit in th UAE has no connection or relevance to the sort of credit checks/history in other countries. It is based purely on the amount you earn and your recent bank statements.

Otherwise, like myself, the bank will give you a credit card if you lodge the same amount as the credit limit into a fixed savings account.

what if i just moved to Dubai ?!!

This is an incredibly helpful thread. Thanks to all who have contributed so far.

I am coming out soon from the UK and this checklist is invaluable.

Hi Nusa

Not me. I work for DEWA and all HR did ask for is copies of my degree certificates. I think because it's a Government Authority they didn't ask for . May be private companies are squeezed a bit more for their staff qualifications.

Cheers

Zino

You need to have your degree etc authenticated/attested-coming from Australia we had a notary republic sign and bind all docs then the dept of foreign affairs did their bit then the UAE embassy in Australia authenticated the docs. Then we came here to have them do it again!! (The Aussie embassy and some UAE govt dept). Depending where you come from the process can vary ........as does the cost!!

not just the certificate u will also need ur 4/5 university yrs transcript stamped as GAB stated