Moving to Dubai - practical questions!

[DaysofHoney]

Evening everyone,

DH is about to accept a job offer in Dubai, hooray! We have lived in the region previously and know Dubai reasonably well, so this isn’t a ‘should we move’ thread, it’s a ‘how/where/when thread’!

It looks likely that DH will go out just before Easter, with the kids and I joining him after summer in time for the new school year. We should be able to do some school tours if we come visit in May. Does the school half term there coincide with UK one generally?

I have a few questions on getting ourselves set up that it would be fab if anyone can help with? My last post on this board resulted in the creation of a long-standing beautiful friendship in our last country, which I’ve tried to pay forward over the years.

1. This is a medium/long term move for us. We are fed up with UK and will probably want to put down some roots in UAE, buying a villa at some point. Kids will finish primary (DCs are 8 and 6) and we hope, do high school there. Until we’ve saved the deposit for a villa, we’d like to live in an apartment. Can I pls ask for recommendations on good communities with 3BR apartment options? Ideally with a pool… We like Arabian Ranches but I’m presuming no apartments there?

2. On schools; assuming we’d like to live in the Ranches area, which school options should we consider? JESS, JAS, any others? I really don’t want a super long school commute, though will do so for the first year rather than move schools later. Ideally we want an apartment not too far from this area first?

3. Schools application process… in our last ME posting school places were sold as very hard to come by, but in reality pupil turnover was high and places were usually available even in the ‘best’ British curriculum schools. Any ideas on how oversubscribed the schools above are, if at all??

4. Cat… we’d like to bring our cat with us, but have no experience of this at all. Would he cope ok with climate transition or is it better to rehome him with a loving family member here in UK?

5. Any recommended moving companies please? Slow ship is fine…!

6. What are your top tips for planning the move? Kids are excited, so are we, just keen to get organised now!

Thanks so much in advance for any advice.

There is no May half term, and school admissions staff work all year round, so you will always be able to visit. You can do online interviews and depending on the age of DC may need to do entrance tests.

There are no apartments in Ranches - try Dubai Hills, Motor City, Arjan or Town Square. Rents have shot up recently. Property Finder app will help to narrow down areas.

There is a lot of competition for places in some schools, so try WhichSchoolAdvisor website and filter by curriculum and fee bracket. Some schools run a wait list but you won't know until you contact them, and they will not tell you where your child is on the list because they will pick the kids they want.

Does DH have school fees and rent allowance in his package, plus health insurance and visa costs for all of you?

You can bring the cat, but you will pay £££ to fly him over and there is no pet insurance available so any health issues will cost more £££. You'll have to weigh up what matters more to you. Plenty of stray and abandoned cats up for adoption if you want a cat having left him behind.

If you're on FB, there are Brits in Dubai groups that can help you with more advice. Just ship personal belongings and buy furniture when you arrive.

Happy to help with any further questions if I can.

Thanks very much @losingit31 - all really helpful. We will aim to get out over Easter time and look at a few schools. Thanks too for the tips on apartments, will look at those. DH leaning to buying something ASAP given the upfront rental required and 12 month commitment!

Package had medical, visas, flights, but no school or accommodation - the salary is enough but will need to be careful to make sure we actually save some of it!

No idea about anything else in your post. But my cousin runs an award winning pet relocation service in Dubai and a luxury cattery. It's called Pawsome Pets.

You need better local knowledge but in our experience of ME paperwork, everything stopped at Ramadan. I think Easter and Ramada coincide this year? So check what's happening with Ramadan and Eid.

Excellent point, thanks @CatOnTheChair - will check!

Thanks @Toddlerteaplease - leaning towards leaving the cat here with my parents but I’ll bite down the details, thanks!

Ramadan starts around 22 March and runs for a month. Everything is open but offices close early as the 8 hour working day is reduced to 6 hours. School hours are also shorter. Spring break is from 27 March for two weeks. The Eid holiday will be around 20-24 April so that is a time when nothing will happen. You cannot rent, let alone buy, a property without your Emirates ID so you need usually to allow a month after arrival for processing and being ready to do anything official - any kind of commitment requires your ID. DH can't sponsor you until his is sorted, and you have to be in the UAE for that process to begin.

Summer break starts around 24 June for many schools because of the second Eid holiday lasting until July begins.

I wouldn't rush to buy - there are too many things that you don't know yet about where you want to live. Better to rent for a year and give yourselves time. Not all rentals are 1 instalment but you will have a 12 month contract - often payments are 3 or 4 instalments, 12 is unusual. We often pay 12 months upfront but you need the capital to do so. Also, don't buy off plan, it may never happen and even if it does, it won't be to the time scale they indicated.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Dubai
This might be useful.

The lack of accommodation or schooling in his package is unusual and would be a red flag for me as these are the biggest costs of family life and almost always covered for professional jobs. Unless he's earning extremely highly then I would think twice about why that's not part of the package. Are they even helping when he first arrives with a serviced apartment until all his visa/emirates ID is sorted? You can't do much at all until it is.

The rental market has gone mad in the last year. People being evicted when they refuse rent rises of 60+%. A 3 bed plus maid room villa my friend rented for 85k in 2021 (there was a post covid dip it was probably 95/100 before that) is now being advertised at 200k.

Of the schools you mention JESS is very hard to get into, rightly so, as one of the few remaining outstanding (in reality not just KHDA) non-profit British schools. JAS perhaps less so especially as it's been bought over by one of the biggest, for-profit, school groups recently. Definitely get some visits in when you are over, no half term as the schools finish up end June/early July. There are so many schools and the websites and social media marketing are very glossy, like all things Dubai, and often hide the reality of pretty poor learning environments. There are many great schools too, just do lots of research! KHDA ratings really just tell you how good a school is at paperwork, it's all smoke and mirrors. Staff retention is the number one indicator! The nature of Dubai is transient, 2-3 year contracts for teachers but in the good schools they stay longer, in the bad ones they jump fast. I know of a school on its 3rd head of a core subject this academic year. Another that goes through principals faster than UK prime ministers. And others with almost a full new set of staff than 3 years ago.

For moving DASA are excellent and reasonable priced for one of the better known reliable companies. Crown also have a good reputation. Never use one without lots of good reviews on British Mums etc, there are a lot of cowboys out there. A friend of a friend went for a cheaper option and they went bust and all their belongings were impounded. Took a year, huge stress, and a lot more than the cost of a decent firm to get them back. With a lot of heat/mould damage.

Join British Mums Dubai on facebook and do searches to find up to date info about a lot of your questions.

Yawn. This is the living overseas board. Not AIBU. Next time OP don't put Dubai in the thread title. It brings them all out when it pops up in active threads.

Thanks @wildwadi, yes we’ve queried the lack of school and housing in the package. The recruiter has said it’s less standard in a new contract. Not sure whether to believe that, but the salary is high yes. Our last posting was actually the same, DH was paid a flat monthly amount and we covered rent and school fees from it.

And no, no serviced accommodation for first months etc either. It’s a big multinational corp. Do you think we should be negotiating on this or pushing harder?

Really helpful on schools too, will do some more research but reality is I don’t want a long school run so will be guided by location to an extent.

The crazy rent is another reason we’d like to buy something… but yes obviously not wedded to Arabian Ranches, just know we like the feel of it a lot.

Will join the Facebook groups too, thanks.

Top Tip! It’s why I haven’t named our previous location 😄

It's actually unusual not to have housing (because for various reasons it saves the employer money to pay a % of salary as housing) but if they're willing to give everything as basic that's a good thing (means more end of service benefit). Provided the salary is high enough of course, but there's a common misconception that companies don't just look at the whole salary - they're not just going to pay you 15k more a month so you have a housing allowance, they'd reduce the basic!

It's worth looking at DAMAC Hills, Laylan, Mudon Views and Remraan which all have apartments in the area you're talking about.

I strongly recommend you do not rush to buy. Take a year to settle in and decide what you want or you risk making a major mistake. Upfront fees to buy here are fairly high and you need a 20% deposit (although it can be 15), there's also some thought house prices may be at their peak (although people have been saying that for a year at least). It also allows you to see where your/your kids friends live as well.

There isn't as much turnover in Dubai for school places as there are in some other Middle East countries because there are far more long termers here (I used to live in Qatar where it was unusual to have been there more than 10 years, it's pretty common here). In my kids' classes it's been maybe one a year leaving Dubai. Some do move around between schools though. For the top schools people sit on waitlist for years but that's really just JESS from what I can see. That said there are a lot of good schools here, and getting places won't be hard.

Hi all

appreciate This thread is many months old nkw

I am actually looking at a job in Abu Dhabi down the road and had similar questions

really interested to know if OP ended up going to Dubai and what it’s like now for you?

thanks

What are your specific questions/concerns? How old are your DC? What is the package like?

I'm in Abu Dhabi and love it. Have been here 5 years,

Please don't subject your much loved cat to the stress of travel in the hold of an aircraft - my friends experience of transporting her dog trans atlantic, poor dog was so stressed for many months afterwards - to this day she has doubts about the care her dog received in transportation.

If you have the option to re-home with trusted family here in the UK, much kinder I feel.

I'm sure there will be many strays in Dubai you could adopt once you are settled.

@puffinstealer

I have just started searching across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain Qatar and I’ve chosen the UAE for multiple reasons including the weather (I can handle the heat) benefits like schooling - heard they have great institutions, healthcare, crime rates, quality of life, amongst others.

also I am a Muslim, and that was also a bonus consideration for example ample mosques, most companies currently having Fridays as the weekend for Friday prayers.

I’m not a great big spender but once or twice a month I will go out to the movies or eating out.
I currently live in a 2 bed terrace in the north west of the UK so won’t take much to step up from this.

Also Manchester is known as Rainchester!! So I won’t miss that!

Working currently in the British civil service as a Senior Finance Officer and have been in public sector finance for almost 6 years and private sector finance for 10 years prior to that.

I know cost of set up etc will be a consideration.

I’ve just started on this search and there’s obviously a lot to take on board so appreciate your time.

looking for jobs on naukri gulf, gulf talent, Michael page, hays and indeed amongst others currently

what’s difficult is most if not all jobs do not state salary like as is common in the uk so makes it harder to look into.

so difficult to know if a benefits package is included with help towards accommodation, utilities, schooling etc

My info is a bit out of date now, so can't be of specific help except to say we lived in the Ranches and my son went to JESS Ranches. We loved living there and it was a good school. Hope you get something sorted easily.

@UkExpatAbroad I think with specific jobs you just have to apply and get to know the offered salaries - or know people here in the exact industries/companies you are interested in that you can ask. You'll build a picture soon enough.

My British Muslim friends like it here because it's 'easier' to live as a Muslim than the U.K. (shorter working hours for Ramadan, lots of mosques, lots of Muslims!). However, the weekend here is now Saturday/Sunday, unless you're in Sharjah, although most companies offer an extended lunch break for Friday prayers (schools and government have a half day).

Mostly I'd say lifestyle/costs are what you make them. People have all sorts of lifestyles here and there are options for every budget. There's a lively second hand market as people are leaving all the time, food is now the same price as the U.K. (when we arrived the cost of food here was eye watering but now the U.K. has caught up)

Once you have an idea of what your salary/benefits would be it's easier to research specific areas and schools.

@UkExpatAbroad we actually ended up in Abu Dhabi! We’d been told Dubai but the head office is AD, and very pleased we are too - LOVE it here.

Do feel free to ask any questions or DM me.

@DaysofHoney - did you move your cat with you ....

No we didn’t, we’d tried to take him in the cabin with us but it became hugely complicated. He has stayed at home with my parents. We have indeed adopted two lovely kittens here.

Hey @DaysofHoney

Can I ask what it is you love so much about the place?

My husband is obsessed with the idea of moving, but I’m a bit of wary as we have an 11 month old daughter.

Do you miss home? Are there plenty of things to keep you busy?

I love loads about the UAE.

family life - families are prioritised, things are child friendly and family oriented

compound life - my children have freedom to roam, play, make friends, and a degree of autonomy and independence they can’t have at home

safety - I can run at night without fear. I can leave my door unlocked. I can lose my bag and be reunited with it.

ease and quality of life in general - education, healthcare, roads, infrastructure etc - it all works.

travel opportunities- major travel hubs mean easy flights to some amazing places

sunshine - yes it’s unbearable for 3 months a year (maybe 4), but the rest is all good and glorious.

lots to like in my opinion.