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What is the first thing I should do when I get there? Wife and children will be following a few months later...

subseaaggie wrote:What is the first thing I should do when I get there? Wife and children will be following a few months later...

The first thing you should do is "Sit down". I mean sit down because you are in for a shock if your question is "what is the first thing I should do" when you arrive at a place 9,000 miles away from your wife and children.

Unless of course you will be arriving in a year in which case you have plenty of time to figure it out.

Your biggest stress will be finding a place to live that suits all needs (location, cost, etc.).

There are lots of helpful posts here on this forum. Just browse around.

Good luck.

By the way, there is or will shortly be, a direct flight from Houston to Dubai (17 hr flight).

Thanks Concord...

Which airlines will be providing this flight?

i search your previous postings, but couldn;t find anything relating to work.

do you already have a job? or will you be looking for work?

I have a job and will be there in a few weeks. My wife and family will join me after our 2nd child is born in December.

ah, okay.

well i would wait on applying for residency visa's for you family until after your new baby has arrived and has been issued with a (US) passport - it is easier to have all your dependants processed at the same time.

take some time out once you arrive to look through what accomodation is available. one of the first things is get a decent up-to-date map of dubai so that you can familiarise yourself with the area and start to learn your way around.

Thank you for the advice. My company is in Sharjah and we would like to live in Dubai; can you point me in the right direction as to what areas I would look up where I can get a nice 3bdr villa w/ a maids quarter? Speaking of which; what is the best place to find a maid/nanny? We have some friends that had a nanny from the Philippines that moved back there after they left. We would like to hire her (she comes highly recommended) and bring her over to the UAE; how do we do this?

mirdiff is one option for you (this is where your map would be useful )
you can sponsor a domestic, i'll have to check the regulations and get back to you, there is a minimum salary level that you have to have to be able to do this, as well as a number of other charges that you need to pay to the department of labour and immigration. you could always hire a domestic through an agency, then after say a few months if you are happy with her service, approach the agency to take her on permanently - you will be unable to take over her contract as domestic servants get a one year ban when they change employers! if your friends worked in the UAE their nanny would have a one year labour ban before she could return tot he UAE!

there is also a regulation prohibiting you from employing the same nationality as yourself as a domestic servant (although this doesn't apply to yourself).