Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

My office is based in Sharjah and I live in Dubai. Still on a visit visa at the moment, waiting for my employment visa to be processed. Just found out that some of the people in the office have Dubai residency for some obscure reason while I will be getting Sharjah residency. Our PRO is saying that it is impossible to issue my residency in Dubai. Why? I don't know (fniding it hard to communicate with him, to be honest, maybe if I spoke another language...)

How will this affect me? Will I be able to get an alcohol licence?

What about when I buy a car, will I have to buy and register it in Sharjah?

I HATE SHARJAH. Was hoping that I could get away with driving in to work and out again as soon as possible for the duration of my stay in this country.

immigration and labour laws are regulated by the federal government, although each emirate is entiled to administer and "bend" them according to its own requirments. under the labour law if a business is regisered in dubai its employees are supposed to be registered with the labour department of th emirate of dubai - the same applies to sharjah, RAK etc.

in the case of any greivences they have to be lodged with the labour department of that emirate (as the local interpretation between the emirates does often vary - as mentioned above). in addition businesses registered in a particular emirate are given a labour quota by the department of labour (of that emirate), this is the amount of people that they may employ, the "quota profile" follows the regulations currently in favour by that particular emirate.

in some instances where a large company may have a number of registered branches - crossing a number of emirates they do sometimes swap or exchange employees, although this can cause problems if they had a labour inspection. you may find that if your company is registed in both sharja and dubai some of the employees were empoyed on thier dubai quota and the balance on the sharjah branch quota - if one is full they are forced to make use of the other.

you won't be able to get an alcohol license in sharjah, and probably not in dubai either as you have to provide your passport and residency stamp in the application to the police department.

the vehicle i don't think there is a problem, but am not certain.

hope this helps and doesn't confuse the issue more

too bad about the alcohol, but...cars are cheaper in sharjah!!! just stick with one of your mates that has a license. and oh, dont get busted.

I think with the car it'll be the same issue I had, as I have an Abu Dhabi visa, but wanted a Dubai driving licence, what a nightmare that was to get it.

If you have a Sharjah visa and live in Sharjah you will have to get a Sharjah driving licence, which means you can only buy a car there - as far as I'm aware, otherwise you have to pay an export fee to get a Dubai plate for it.

Stupid I know.

I noticed that you said you had a visit visa, and were waiting on a work visa. Did yoy have to supply any extra infomation different from the visit visa? I am currently supplying information to obtain a visit visa and then, my understanding is, when I arrive I will be required to obtain a work visa. What information should I be prepared to supply different from the visit visa? Currently all my prospective employer has is ll my personal information and copies of my education certificates.

Thanks for your replies, guys, but no-one really answered my question:

I WORK IN SHARJAH BUT LIVE IN DUBAI.

My company has branches in Dubai and Sharjah and company employees get residency of any of two emirates, seemingly at random (depending on quotas). So even someone at the Dubai branch could get Sharjah residence if it's his unlucky day.

How will Sharjah residency affect me, seeing as I live in Dubai (and hate Sharjah! Only intended to ever drive in to work and out of Sharjah again as fast as possible every afternoon!)

Will I have to buy and register my car in Sharjah? Will I be able to get an alcohol license? What else?

HELP!!!

okay, one thing you failed to mention are you getting a sharjah immigration stamp in your passport or dubai. you could theoretically have a dubai immigration stamp and a sharjah work permit.

your awnsers to your questions are directly related to your immigration stamp.

sharjah = NO ALCOHOL LICENSE

OKAY! Please clarify.

I just got my EMPLOYMENT VISA today and it is not yet in my passport.

How does the immigration stamp work? How do I get it stamped in Dubai rather than Sharjah?

Help?

it doesn't work like that! you cannot apply for a residency visa in one emirate and then have it issued under another emirate....

where was the application for the residency visa made? sharjah or dubai, if its sharjah then the passport residency stamp will come from sharjah, if the application was made in dubai the the visa stamp has to be issued from dubai - there is no choice in the matter

its a residency visa which only entitles you to work and reside in the uae, it is not an "employment visa" - employment is covered by your labour card which is issued under the department of labour

A small adendum if i may Dxb soul

There are now 2 types of residency visa. I have an "investors residency visa". This allows me residency obviously, but it does not allow me to work, and is quite clearly stated on my passport residency visa.

arniegang wrote:A small adendum if i may Dxb soul

There are now 2 types of residency visa. I have an "investors residency visa". This allows me residency obviously, but it does not allow me to work, and is quite clearly stated on my passport residency visa.

Its easy to get it switched.

A buddy of mine bought a home in the Springs a couple of years ago and decided that life was boring not doing anything and just playing the markets so he went out to get a job *gasp* and his visa was trasnfereed no hassle.

Yer i can see the logic in that Liban. I assume for example if i wanted a job the employer would just have to alter the status of my residency.

I think they separated it, because traditionally the only reason anyone could qualify for residency was as the result of employment.

Since 2002, this situation changed when freehold to investors was introduced.

Exactly.

thanks arnie, makes sense.
i've actually just run across another type/ variant of visa as well - one issued under a travel agency, although a "tourist visa" this does not allow the holder to extend it after the initial 60 period (as with other tourist visas), found this a little odd - if anyone could shed a little light?