Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

Hi all,

I'm from Britian, and I've been doing some research for some time concerning residence in Dubai. I understand that if I buy a property in Dubai, I'm eligible for a residence visa. Cool. Eventually I'd like to leave the UK and live in Dubai. This is the plan I have in mind:

I am going to run a website, selling High Definition Digital Monitor Desktop Wallpaper downloads. I will be producing these myself and and selling them via the website. Basically selling HD images. The payment will enter my HSBC International Bank Account (just for the ease of potentially moving to Dubai). The website will be automatic, so people can view images, select, pay for and then download those which they like, and hey presto, I'm making money. Once I have enough money to buy a small property in Dubai, I'll go ahead and purchase one of my liking, and obtain a residence visa.

Now, this is where I am somewhat confused, and I've searched the web for ages but can't get any clear direction: Once I have my residence visa and I'm all settled in Dubai, and sent off my P85 to the UK government, making it clear I'm now a Dubai resident, etc... do I need to inform the Dubai government about my HD site? Remember, this is not a company, it's just my personal site on which I'm making some money. I mean, is it as easy as me just living in Dubai in the comfort of my small apartment and make a living via my website? Dubai is tax-free right, so is there any need to inform the government? Remember I won't be needing to open up a bank account because I'll be using an International Bank Account anyway.

And help / advice would be greatly appreciated!

hd_geezer

You're going to be rich!

Would doubt they care unless you want office space, which you clearly don't. Only possible restriction on your business is that parts of the internet are censored here, you'll need to buy a place in an internet free zone (e.g. Dubai Marina) to be sure. That said, it's the usual stuff like gambling, nudity etc. they ban so if your pictures are harmless enough you should be fine.

Yeah, the pictures gonna be cool man. I've done some more research, and I've now found out that if you wanna be self employed, then you've got to have a sponsor!! What the heck is that all about?!?! Why can't I just run my own business without a sponsor, especially if I have a residence visa. Stupid rule.

More importantly, would it be illegal for me just to run my website from my apartment and not get a sponsor / partner / whatever?

...If I were you, I would go offshore further. Gibraltar or Costa Rica, or something along those lines.

If you buy property, then you can get the residence visa I assume. From there, your company in Dubai could be owned by the offshore company, and then it might be easier for you.

Additionally, it would reduce your liability.

But that's just my 2c from what I've read.

"High Definition Digital Monitor Desktop Wallpaper downloads"

Who would want this kind of thing? you're delusional.

hd_geezer wrote:High Definition Digital Monitor Desktop Wallpaper

What's that? Means a picture of HD resolution (720i/1080i pixels/lines in height)? Hmm, I guess we're going back to the 1-2 mega pixels era like 5-10 years ago

Even my 2 years old 8 megapixels digital camera can produce 3264x2448 pixels resolution. What do we call that? HHHHD?
IMHO in general HD is such a hype and old in digital technology. But in analog TV world (640 lines in height), then yes it's a development.

There's no use/difference to cramp all those HHHHD megapixels into small computer monitor, unless you're talking about large plasma TV for outdoor presentation/advertisement (which you aren't).

Okay, I guess it's out of topic now