DH just got a job in Dubai

[FitbitAddict]

I'm delighted and dismayed all at once, as I'm in a job I love where my skills are really needed. However, relocating to Dubai has been our long term plan for the last three years and now it's coming to fruition. He'll go in March and I'll follow in August.

Any tips for packing up your life and moving overseas very welcome!

[allthegoodusernameshavegone]

Sounds like an exciting time for you both, you sound like you have your head screwed on. Have a wonderful new life.
Has there ever been a post about moving to the uk, I would love to read the warnings and stereotypes that people posted about moving here.

[YeahRightOk]

I live in Dubai. I love my life here. Pay is good and virtually no bills as my company covers my apartment and utilities. I have saved a ton of cash which would be impossible at home. No partner so I have to manage financially alone without the cushion of a second salary coming in. No longer am I scrimping and scraping by since I moved here. Very safe here for women. I come from a very rough town in Europe. Arab culture is welcoming and good manners here will get you far.
It will be very hot here in August but by November it will cool to a lovely temperature. You'll love it here.

[Snowysnowysnow]

@ImCollinswife - professional services. There are plenty of sectors still recruiting. Tax consultants can name their price at the moment. Some sectors (eg aviation) are hard hit at the moment but its certainly not everywhere.

[MyVisionsComeFromSoup]

going back to getting paperwork attested and stamped at the embassy - copies of educational certificates need to be attested on the same piece of paper as the photocopy. I got caught out with a notarised photocopy, but the notary bit was on page one and the certificate was on page two. Which meant a second trip up to London, annoyingly.

Also the embassy has changed their rules in the past year or so, and no longer accept cash (so thankfully I no longer have to walk through South Ken tube station with several thousand pounds in my bag, which is pretty scary, especially since it wasn't my money).

No advice for the Dubai side of paperwork (other than the rules and procedures change depending on the mood of the official from what I can see), and banking is great when it works, a nightmare when it doesn't, and no-one can/will explain to you what to do to sort it out.

Other than that, the women I know who are living and working in Dubai all seem pretty happy with life there.

[ImColinswife]

What field are you in?

[Snowysnowysnow]

Job market isn't saturated for all industries. It certainly isn't in mine, recruiters won't leave me alone (and that's not because I'm special, same for all my colleagues)

[ImColinswife]

First hand experience here and I am shocked at the ignorant comments on this thread about Dubai. The Emirate has a lot to offer and if you play your cards right you can get a lot out of it. You can travel to sooo many destinations, learn so much about different cultures, if you are religious you can practice whatever religion you wish, etc...

Some facts: 5% tax is introduced in January and there is already municipality tax of 10-12% on restaurant bills so no, it will not be a tax-free existence. Dubai is very expensive to live, rent is sky high as are grocery prices not to mention clothing and cosmetics, browse dubizzle and expatwoman for on the ground info as well, most activities will require you to spend money due to the weather and lack of green spaces.

So, my advice is do your research about local customs, accommodation, cars (you both will have to have a car each unless your workplace is near the Metro but it is incredibly unpleasant to take when it gets hot). I would also urge you to get fully acquainted with the private medical insurance that is offered as part of your husband's package, make sure it covers for instances of everything you need it to cover for (maternity, dental, etc).

The job market is extremely saturated at the moment with companies laying staff off and not wanting to pay much, so a job for you might be a challenge to get. Be prepared for that depending on what field you are in, do a lot of recruiter/headhunter/agency networking in advance, etc...Constant networking and a lot more effort will be required in Dubai as it is a transient place, people arrive and leave all the time.

There are certain things to know about Dubai as well, like if you both consume alcohol you will both need your own alcohol licence and the amount of alcohol you are allowed to buy in a month will be dependent on your salary, etc...You haven't mentioned if you had kids or not but be aware that if you decide to leave the country with your children your husband has to agree to it with a letter and vice versa. If you do have kids make sure their nursery and school fees are fully covered by your husband's package as they are super expensive here.

If you are under your husband's visa he can cancel your visa at any moment without you even knowing about it and you will have 30 days to pack up and leave. I am sure this won't happen to you but unfortunately happened to others. Different rules apply here. Quora offers a deeper insight into life in DXB.

We never ever had ANY issues there.

It is all about making sure you will be fulfilled as well, as it is a very lonely place without family and friends. The environment won't help you in August either as it will be extremely hot (50 degrees). Oh, another thing: make sure the accommodation you choose had the AC serviced in your presence, as in the filters and all the air ducts cleaned (it is chilled water that is circulated there and it goes mouldy if unserviced). It is the responsibility of the person owning the flat/house (house=villa there) or living in it. This is to avoid getting respiratory illnesses as most people get pneumonia shortly after arriving. Take vitamins!
Oh and also make sure the water that will come out of your tap is super clear, while there we had to change four heaters as the water is basically desalinated sea water and no one drinks it, and the pipes were so rusty the water was dark brown. Buy water filters too for every single tap, including showers, many people report hair loss, people only drink bought water....I have TONS of advice

[Whyamistillawake]

OP, hoping back to practicalities, as someone else says, get all your certificates attested now. You might mog need (eg) professional certificates and education certs now but you will need if you get a job yourself. What do you do? You might also find it better to start looking now (my industry hires from the UK all the time and salaries can be better if you're recruited from overseas).

On the bike, is he emotionally attached to it or is it particularly rare? I imported a car and customs duty was really expensive - in theory it's 5% of market value but they have a very over inflated view of market value. We imported a car, in hindsight we shouldn't have done. They valued if at about 3x actual market value in the UAE.

[BradleyPooper]

We used to vacation in Dubai when we lived in Azerbaijan (anyone want to discuss human rights issues there?!). We got posted to Dubai after that and weren;t married but lived together and I found a job with my own residency sponsor, no problem at all. We didn't stay very long at all before we got moved along but have plenty of friends and colleagues there (dh's company has a large office there) who live well. In certain industries (ours is oil), you will end up in countries with poor records in certain areas - work tends to be in Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, China, West Africa and Central / Southern America.... Dubai can be more tolerant in some areas than other countries we've experienced. For example, capital punishment is very rarely carried out in Dubai but Singapore (the expat pot of gold at the end of the rainbow), has one of the highest per capita rates of capital punishment in the world...

I would post on Dubai / Middle East expat forums for a more balanced view, especially if you want to hear from people who have lived there....

[AstridWhite]

Jaywalking is a crime in Dubai and a big no-no. They really clamp down hard on it. It's entirely possible that your colleagues were harassed purely for the jaywalking and nothing to do with them being black at all. I wonder if that thought actually occurred to anybody?

[BradleyPooper]

Jaywalking is illegal in Dubai and several other countries... They could have been fined, even for a first offence.

[WineGummyBear]

I've only been once. It was to a conference with delegates from middle East and North Africa. Three of my female colleagues (all black) had an awful experience, they were harassed by the police for jaywalking outside the hotel.

[OCSockOrphanage]

MN is not the place to get a balanced view of life in Dubai, or Oman, or Abu Dhabi. I know Dubai best but have been visiting the ME since 1987 on a regular basis, and it's not like the Daily Mail would have you believe. I last visited in February this year (my DSis has lived there for 17 years of married life, plus Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America for another 17) and Dubai is settling into becoming a pleasantly cosmopolitan and friendly place to live, with art and culture and farmer's markets as well as high status professional jobs without sex segregation. It's a bit small and cramped and the cost of living is astronomic but the migrant workers who build skyscrapers and do the gardening to earn their crust generally return home (there's no option of citizenship for anyone not emirati born, at all, unless at the ruler's personal invitation) wealthy by the standards of their homelands.

I do have an issue with their attitude to refugees. None of the GCC countries have taken any, leaving Europe to shoulder that burden. Last time I looked, Europe wasn't encouraging war in Syria or Yemen.

[MamaDuckling]

Lostmymojo- you've said more eloquently what I'm trying to get at....

[MamaDuckling]

Moussemousse, I hear you, truly I do.... but for DH to take a minimum wage job in UK or to sign on would mean losing our home, the security of my elderly DM. It's all relative, sadly. Some people, migrant workers in UAE included, don't often see another (or better) way to provide for their families.

Anyway, I didn't want to hijack a thread with this. Believe me I've struggled with this my entire time in the ME.

[Johnnycomelately1]

lost yeah , sorry, I was going on what was typical. I guess bottom line is always ‘dont draw attention to the fact you’re drunk’ so don’t have noisy parties that anyone would complain about to give the cops a reason to drop by.

My friend summed up the UAE as ‘it's all fine until it isn’t’ and I think that’s pretty accurate.

[Moussemoose]

Gulph not gulp!

[Moussemoose]

LostMyMojoSomewhere

I was referring to the Crown Princes recent pledge to move to a more moderate form of religion. I said "small" as a public commitment does not equate to action. I fully appreciate that Saudi lags a significant way behind other Gulp states.

However, as I am sure you are aware, there are still a significant number of human rights abuses in the more 'moderate' states - and I use the term moderate in the context of Wahhabism.

In terms of holiday destinations being restricted by human rights abuses it is indeed a spectrum and you have to draw the line somewhere or as you correctly say no one would leave their house.

However a big red line for me would be visiting a state where homosexuality is illegal. A law that is implemented in a "cruel and unusual" way. But I am sure you have educated yourself about this, in which case I must assume you simply don't care.

[Moussemoose]

MamaDuckling

Just out of interest mousmoose, would you sooner stay in the uk with no job, letting your family suffer

Please forgive my cynicism but I feel the types of jobs available in Dubai are not minimum wage jobs that the loss of involves penury.

The human rights abuses on the Arabian peninsula are many and varied. I've never been, but a quick perusal of the Amnesty or Human Rights Watch website gives an insight.
I choose not to live, work or holiday in a countries with such appalling records. More worrying than the status quo in those countries is the lack of desire for change (although there are small signs of hope in Saudi).

By visiting and especially by working in these countries you give your tacit approval to their actions. You are saying behaving like this is fine and I will ignore the basic human rights of others because I need a big swimming pool and a tax free income.

If you can ignore the human rights of others and sleep at night that is between you and your conscience. I couldn't and neither could lots of other posters. If you don't like it being pointed out to you because it makes you uncomfortable that is worse. You know it's wrong you just don't want to face up to it.

[justhereforthebootcamp]

Hi Fitbit,

I live in Dubai so please feel free to message me with any questions you might have.

[Runningwithscissors12]

www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/before-you-go/12108955/Life-in-Dubai-what-to-expect.html

[Johnnycomelately1]

To clear up the alcohol license thing: no-one needs a license to drink. Residents need a license to buy alcohol from liquor stores in Dubai. You don’t need one to drink in licensed establishments ( hotels/bars etc) or to drink alcohol bought duty free at the airport. Tourists can’t get a license- only residents. A lot of residents who travel frequently don’t bother with the license as the duty free allowances on arrival are massive. If you do, it’s just a formality. It’s only an issue if they think you’re a Muslim.