Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

Hi,
I have been offered a job in Emirates Bank and they have offered me a salary of 10500 Dirhams. I will be working in the Information Technology dept with a post of a Storage Administrator. They are not providing me any accomodation. I plan to move in Dubai with my Wife and a Kid. Can you please advice me if the current package is fine if I have to rent a Studio or a 1 B/R Flat.
Should I be asking the company for more salary or a accomodation?
Also wanted to know if companies do file VISA's for the dependants?
Do they provide any medical facilities?
Kindly let me know if I need to ask for any for Facilities

Try to negotiate for a better salary. The costs are rising everyday in Dubai. If the company can provide accomodation, that would be best, as it is too much of a headache. The visa (for yourself and ur family) is usually arranged by company. For a decent studio / 1 B/R flat costs around 4000 - 5000 per month and initially you have to pay real estate agents a lot of commission too (approx 2000 - 4000). Other than accomodation, living expenses are minimal, and a family of three can easily live on expenses of 3000 per month.

hi Lee,
just out of my experience:
yes, definitely ask for more salary. if they give you decent accomodation (which is doubt), you're in better shape! - Look at gulfnews.com for housing price info - its very high. again this depends on what standard of living you come from & expect to live in.
companies mostly don't file for dependents visa, you have to do it yourself once ur there & have the visa stamped in ur passport - but if you negotiate well with them and ask for your family to be brought in on a visit visa accompanying you, they may agree to that.
make sure ur getting some kind of accomodation from the company when u fly in for about a month - untill u find a house of your own. if ur family is accompanying u, make sure they are included in the accomodation.
your package should include medical insurance - insist on it.

look around the forum - there's a great post about the cost of living and the facilities you need to expect as part of a package.

if u do decide to come, all the best!

I think that salary (10,500 dhs) will not be sufficient for 3 people. Rent is too expensive. Unless you already have accomodations at a reasonable price then ask for more money or stay put otherwise you will regret it.

Lee can you state your nationality please, so we can justify the answer to your question.

Some peeps survive with less than a 10k salary per month.

There is no definitive answer to your question. Different people have different expectations and are used to having a different level of standard of living.

That offer could be considered an insult or a silver lining depending on where you are from.

X is correct

To assess we would need more details to give you a difinative answer.

But 10k Dhs with no accomodation for a westerner would be laughed at.

I am from India and planning to move to Emirates bank.....I am being told that they do not provide accomodation for the employee. I would be a part of the IT staff....
Please let me know if I need to provide you all any more details which would you all in providing me a opinion

lee_pereira wrote:I am from India and planning to move to Emirates bank.....I am being told that they do not provide accomodation for the employee. I would be a part of the IT staff....
Please let me know if I need to provide you all any more details which would you all in providing me a opinion

Lee
its not a good salry especially if you have a wife and kid...as depending on how old the kid is the education here aint cheap...also the rents here are increasing by leaps and bounds and salaries are not being kept up...but then again there are a lot of families who survive on the same salary...meaning you'd probably have to live in sharjah and commute everyday for 1 hr each way...and you HAVE to know how to drive...otherwise its virtually impossible to get to and fro from sharjah...unless emirates bank provides its employees with transport or shuttles services...ok perhaps there arnt any taxes here like india...but also the standard of living here is much much higher...perhaps you might be able to save a thousand or 2...but frankly i would ask for more...as then at least coming to a foreign land would at least be profitable rather than a chore...all the best in whatever you decide...

lee_pereira wrote:I am from India and planning to move to Emirates bank.....I am being told that they do not provide accomodation for the employee. I would be a part of the IT staff....
Please let me know if I need to provide you all any more details which would you all in providing me a opinion

With or without accomodation..I think the salary is enough for a small family such as yours. You wont get that kind of salary in your country anyway right? But if you can still huggle for a higher salary, then try to do it. And remember opportunity knocks once ....

Thanks a lot for all your help and suggestions on this topic....
I have send a email to the HR person asking for a raise on this salary or probably a accomodation and will keep my fingers crossed for the best to happen....

Also can you let me know what will be the best offer that I can ask for...if the HR guy does ask me to quote a figure....

Dont want to lose out on this oppurtunity
thanks a lot for all your time and help....
Please do send me any more suggestions that you might have in mind for a situation such as mine....

Looking for a place to live and how to get to and from work (transportation) are major factors in the consideration of "how much?". Prices for each of those ranges but it is still expensive.

how many years of relevant experience do you have as a storage admin?
i can probably tell you what salary to peg yourself at.
Though 10500 is what an indian with 3-5 years of experience at a level of analyst/sr. engineer would get.

what i have noticed (specially with banks) is that they define a salary for the job position and offer just that - no matter whether you have 3 yrs or 7 yrs experience. you need to negotiate that with them.. be prepared- it may be a long negotiation.

also be open to the idea that you may be on call 24x7 since with a bank everything is mission critical! - no matter what the HR/your future manager says.

where in india are you from? if you have really good experience, MNCs specially in bangalore, hyderabad, pune, etc are paying really well now since there is an acute shortage of experienced infrastructure staff and if you offset the taxes with the rents in dubai, you end up with the same amount of money in some cases.

evaluate your options very well. dubai is a great place to live - provided you have the time and resources to fully enjoy it !

zaidinamdar wrote:how many years of relevant experience do you have as a storage admin?
iwhere in india are you from? if you have really good experience, MNCs specially in bangalore, hyderabad, pune, etc are paying really well now since there is an acute shortage of experienced infrastructure staff and if you offset the taxes with the rents in dubai, you end up with the same amount of money in some cases.

evaluate your options very well. dubai is a great place to live - provided you have the time and resources to fully enjoy it !

I will be honest with you lee...10,500 to begin with is a good salary...Irrespective of what nationality you are.....Try to negotiate on the salary but i would suggest you negotiate on the GRADE they give you thats more important.
As for accomodation if your bank is located in the city you can stay there and accomodation is alright. Even it it is in the free zone you can still stay in Bur Dubai/Karama NO need for SHARJAH.....

And as said weigh the pros and cons...Development in India is awesome with a huge growth oppurtunity.
So dont just see the money in terms of RS. Keep them as Dhs.
All the best

I still don't see reference to experience nor qualifications but if you are classed as an IT staff I think you are doing well on 10,500. We pay less than that for IT staff that I guess would be around your level.

Blindly speaking, if you go for a studio apartment you should be able to live and save off that current salary and still have a better standard of living than most people in the same circumstances as yourself - not sharing rooms with other families etc.

As devil has mentioned, keep your money in dhs - it goes a long way when u convert it back to RS later. Our secretary has managed to buy a nice mansion back home with the mondest wage she receives here.

i got an offer in dubai for 8K dirhams, without accomodation and transportation. can i survive with that amount of salary and have a little saving? i'm single.

haiza, sorry one sentence is not enough to work on.

you have to put everything in perspective:

type of work/ company
your work experience
location of the work in dubai
perks/ benefits that they offer, and what they don't offer
type of lifestyle you lead

etc....

Haiza, if u share ur accomodation ... u might be able to save a few grand. Many singles stay in 'bed spaces'; which is basically a couple of bunk beds in a room and turns out to be cheap , but at the price of privacy and hassles (if u dont get along with your roommates). Living expenses depend on ur lifestyle really. I know people who stay in dubai with a salary of 5-8 k and manage to save more than half of it.