Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

Hi,
Me, my wife, and 2 daughters (age 5&7) are from South Africa and I have a very good posibility to move to Dubai and work for an International company.
Can anyone tell me please WHY SHOULD I MOVE? Pro's & Con's OR WHY SHOULD'NT I MOVE?

Honest answers would be much apreciated!!

JSV

howzit!

well there are plenty of reasons:

PRO's
saftey and security
no sierens!!!!!!!!!! well the occasional one
fair exchange rate against the rand (has been better)
no tax - you have to be out of sa for at least 186 days at a time
exposure to plenty of other cultures
plenty of south africans here already - vrystaat!
cheaper cost of living than sa, with the exception of rent and schooling
good quality of life
no barbed wire - hahahaha

CON's
not quiet the same outdoor activities that you may be used to in SA
poor driving, but no worse than the taxis back home
crappy summer weather - not dry heat like sa, very humid and hot (a cool 48 degrees this am)!
less lesuire past-times that you may be used to
high cost of schooling
high rental - depending on where u want to stay..

Thanks dbxsoul,
Yes i agree safety is a big one, for my kids? the company will pay my rent & kids schooling & 1 car, what would you say is a good package to support a family of 4 (20,000/mnt)? Where does most expats from SA live? I am worried about your summer the heat I was told is unbearable, what do you do when its so hot?

JSV

sounds like a good deal. clarify with the company that it is 20k + the benefits, not a "package" of 20k.

also clarify with them the schooling, it is normally an allowance and has a limit/cap! schooling is expensive here, your children will more than likily have to drop a standard, depending on which model school they go into (british or us model).

the schools have thier long break over summer (3 months), most expats and thier children head out of dodge for the summer. the school year runs differntly as well from sept to sept. in summer most people who stay behind, stay indoors as much as possible... you get used to it, it's still crap, but bearable....

they don't have very many communities like in sa, so people tend to stay all over the place, normally pretty close to where they are going to work. the further from the city "centres" it has a few... the cheaper the rental, but the worse the traffic...

cost of living is much cheaper than in sa, you can get about 2 full trollies of stuff for less than 800 bucks...

if you have any other questions drop me a line. i'll be out of the office for about 5 or 6 days, but will check in if i can.

regards