The Dubai Thread [Merged]

FURET

Doom wrote: »

Can you live in the same apartment as a boyfriend or girlfriend....what would happen if you got pregnant outside of marriage?

Both are illegal though cohabitation is widely practiced. If you're caught cohabiting, possibly 1-2 months prison followed by deportation. If pregnant, leave at warp 9.

Best not take the chance. If you aren't "guilty" of either of the above, it's a great place to be a westerner.

Doom

FURET wrote: »

Both are illegal though cohabitation is widely practiced. If you're caught cohabiting, possibly 1-2 months prison followed by deportation. If pregnant, leave at warp 9.

Best not take the chance. If you aren't "guilty" of either of the above, it's a great place to be a westerner.

Ha ha... post of the day

sashafierce

This post has been deleted.

FURET

sashafierce wrote: »

How strict is this. Realistically are you gonna be looking over your shoulder all the time

I was uncomfortable cohabiting. Whether I needed to be or not is another matter. But people do end up in trouble, so it's not just a theoretical law. I'm married now so I'm no longer concerned - but while my wife and I hold hands in public, we don't kiss in public, because that is also illegal.

seachto7

What about the slave labour?

TheBoss11

Save 50K a year? You must mean earn 50K a year surely

FURET

seachto7 wrote: »

What about the slave labour?

I already had an exchange with you before about this topic, here. I'm surprised you are asking again.

FURET

TheBoss11 wrote: »

Save 50K a year? You must mean earn 50K a year surely

No, save.

The Hill Billy

seachto7 wrote: »

What about the slave labour?

Take it to Humanities or another forum. This is off-topic here.

tHB

wuffly

TheBoss11 wrote: »

Save 50K a year? You must mean earn 50K a year surely

If both people are working on good salaries not paying crazy rent its quiet possible. The issue with Dubai is getting your foot in the door, as a westerner you will only get hired for senior roles therefore the salaries are higher but the jobs are harder to get. The money is good, but the work is hard. Almost all the people I know here are on blackberries therefore 'on' all the time.

Clonkeencole

Hi all

I'm moving to dubai in a couple of weeks.

Can anyone shine any light on what the situation is with bringing/transferring money back home to Ireland? Will I be liable to pay tax on it in Ireland.

I have read somewhere that a lot of expats save their money in an offshore account. Is this a route I should look into?

Also is there much difference between the banks there, I read that there is almost 50 of them. Any recommendations?

FURET

Clonkeencole wrote: »

Hi all

I'm moving to dubai in a couple of weeks.

Can anyone shine any light on what the situation is with bringing/transferring money back home to Ireland? Will I be liable to pay tax on it in Ireland.

I have read somewhere that a lot of expats save their money in an offshore account. Is this a route I should look into?

Also is there much difference between the banks there, I read that there is almost 50 of them. Any recommendations?

You should tell the Irish tax authorities that you're leaving by x date. That way you will be able to get a partial refund on taxes already paid for the tax year 2014. Don't volunteer any other information as they don't need to know and probably won't care anyway.

You will not pay any income tax in Dubai, but assuming you were resident in Ireland for the three years before your departure from Ireland, you will still be considered "ordinarily tax resident" in Ireland until you have been outside the country for three years. What this means is that you are technically taxable by the Irish Revenue on any worldwide capital gains or dividends. Quite how Revenue would come to know about such gains and dividends is another matter, but prudence is advisable so best to contact a tax adviser in Ireland who specializes in such areas.

In terms of remitting money, you can, but for peace of mind it's best to keep it off-shore. You can open an instant access savings account with someone like Lloyds in the Isle of Man. Don't expect a high rate of interest and to keep charges down, don't order a debit card. Keep the account online only - and very importantly, use an currency exchange kiosk (common in malls) to convert your money and send to your offshore bank account. Don't use your Dubai bank to exchange currency.

In terms of banks in Dubai, I would recommend Emirates NBD or HSBC. Use this account for salary and day-to-day purposes only. Don't keep your dosh in the UAE or Sharia Law will see your account frozen if you die.

What else...yes. You will find that you will receive phone calls regularly from two groups:

• Banks offering you credit cards
• "Financial Advisers"

Credit cards in Dubai come with lots of perks. If you choose a free-for-life credit card you can avail of benefits. For example HSBC offer a card that gives you a free cinema ticket whenever you use it to buy a cinema ticket. Handy and no strings. Similarly Emirates NBD offer a card that gives you 10% off at many popular restaurants. These types of cards are actually worth having as long as you clear the balances religiously. Also, when you get a credit card, banks always put travel insurance on the card which might cost something like 10 dirhams per month. When you take out the card, instruct the banks to remove this insurance as it's not required.

Financial advisers in Dubai are to be avoided at all costs. They are nothing but smooth-talking salespeople selling dodgy products. Many of these advisers are Brits and even Irish. Hang up on them if they call you and ignore them if you hear them on the radio or read their columns in the paper. Honestly, this is the best advice I can give you. The second best advice I can give you is to check out Andrew Hallam's blog on finance for expats. Lots of good stuff there.

Other things worth thinking about are taking out a life insurance policy in Ireland before you leave (if life insurance is something you will be likely to need at some point over the next few years). Life insurance policies are difficult to get in Dubai for expats. I would definitely have taken one out in IE before relocating. Now I have one that's consumer-unfriendly, because I had to take it out from here.

If you've any other questions, fire away. I've been here two years.

LK_Dave

FURET wrote: »

Keep the account online only - and very importantly, use an currency exchange kiosk (common in malls) to convert your money and send to your offshore bank account. Don't use your Dubai bank to exchange currency.

Can you please explain this point? Why would you not transfer money from your Dubai based bank account to an off-shore location or indeed back to Ireland? Is it a cost or a tracking concern?

Many thank - great post btw.

FURET

LK_Dave wrote: »

Can you please explain this point? Why would you not transfer money from your Dubai based bank account to an off-shore location or indeed back to Ireland? Is it a cost or a tracking concern?

Many thank - great post btw.

It's a cost issue. You get a far better exchange rate at the kiosks than with a bank-to-bank transfer. The kiosk rate is always better than the bank rate, but the more cash you bring to the exchange kiosk, the better the rate you can get. There will be an intermediary fee with the kiosk of course, but this is usually equal to or less than the fees charged by a bank-to-bank transfer. And, coupled with the much better exchange rate, you can save a lot of money by using kiosks. I have found in Dubai that some kiosks such as Orient Exchange and Al-Ansari are faster and more cost effective than even online currency exchange businesses like CurrencyFair.

wuffly

Furet has given the best advice, i would just reiterate what he has said about avoiding financial advisers here, treat them like the plague... they hire people with no experience and get them to sell all sorts of unsuitable products to the wrong people. And also as advised what ever you do don't keep your savings here. Personally I save back home as i worked with a bank years ago and am pretty happy with my portfolio but an offshore account is a good idea.
One other thing, research before you choose your bank/credit card and get one that gives you the most benefits ie some have great airmiles deals and if you travel a lot can be worth it. Don't let them give more than one unless you actually want it as they get to charge you fees on all of them. This happened to me with Emirates NBD, took me ages to them to accept one cc was enough, they are fine one of biggest banks here, i bank with ADCB now and find them good but be warned all banks here are pretty rubbish.

FURET

wuffly wrote: »

Furet has given the best advice, i would just reiterate what he has said about avoiding financial advisers here, treat them like the plague... they hire people with no experience and get them to sell all sorts of unsuitable products to the wrong people.

In my experience, even the advisers in Dubai who are qualified from the UK and Ireland are nothing but legalized con-artists who do not have your fiduciary interests at heart despite their protestations. Every expat should read this post.

Any investment "opportunity" offered by Zurich, Friends Provident, Royal Skandia, Royal London or their intermediaries in Dubai (Devere, Holborn, GlobalEye) match exactly what that article warns against.

Thankfully Irish expats in Dubai and elsewhere can open trading accounts with brokers like Saxo or International Brokers and do their own investing at miniscule costs compared to what the above-mentioned parties offer! So as wuffly says, avoid them like the plague. Pay no credence to their credentials.

wuffly

This is true, they not regulated here at all. At home you must complete a financial review for any investment product or any fixed product lasting more than 6 months, most Irish people would rather sell their first born than go through this BUT, i have to say they are good IF they are done properly. You should come out of it with an actual review of your finances and a bunch of suitable options for the short, medium and long term. As for Dubai the guys FURET mentioned are worse than the untrained guys as they know the products they are selling are completely incorrect. I used to work in EBS (way back when) & started my QFA's hated finance but did learn a lot about what not to do with my own money.

FURET

Clonkeencole wrote: »

Hi all

I'm moving to dubai in a couple of weeks.

Can anyone shine any light on what the situation is with bringing/transferring money back home to Ireland? Will I be liable to pay tax on it in Ireland.

I have read somewhere that a lot of expats save their money in an offshore account. Is this a route I should look into?

Also is there much difference between the banks there, I read that there is almost 50 of them. Any recommendations?

I do have a few other money-related tips for you if you like.

Since you're moving to Dubai in late September, you'll likely want to furnish your apartment within a few weeks of arriving. This was the mistake I made, as I bought all the furniture a few weeks before a massive sale in all furniture shops for the UAE National Day on 2 December. There might also be a sale on for Eid in October (Eid is an Islamic public holidays of three days duration). Basically, sit tight and you'll get a good deal on your furniture.

You can buy at Homecenter, Panemirates, Ikea, or HomesRUs. Homecenter is by far the most expensive.

As an alternative option, there are numerous carpenters in Karama (which is a district of the city inhabited mainly by Filipinos and people from the subcontinent) who make furniture to order at knock-down prices. The quality isn't sublime but it's perfectly fine! My wife and I were on the look out for a nice 5-door wardrobe for ages. They were all a minimum of 3000 AED in the furniture retailers mentioned above, but we got a lovely one made in Karama and delivered to our apartment for half the price.

You can get curtains in Dragon Mart - a huge Chinese mall full of all sorts of junk that you can't imagine, whose saving grace is curtains. Bargain really really hard as the traders will try to screw you. As a general rule, don't pay more than 50% of what they ask you for.

In terms of getting a mobile phone, Du are less expensive than Etisalat and offer a package of 300 national and international min per month + 2GB for 250DHs.

FURET

wuffly wrote: »

One other thing, research before you choose your bank/credit card and get one that gives you the most benefits ie some have great airmiles deals and if you travel a lot can be worth it. Don't let them give more than one unless you actually want it as they get to charge you fees on all of them.

Agreed. Another good one is the titanium credit card from RAK Bank. You get between 3-5% cash back depending on how much you spend per month. I got the card for one purpose only: to pay my rent with it in one go! I got 1,500 dirhams back at no cost.

I'm also using it now to pay for an upcoming costly vacation where it should save me 600 dirhams after I pay for all the flights and accommodation with it. Naturally I don't recommend using cards like this if you don't have the cash to settle what's owed immediately.

LK_Dave

Would the same (purchase in the sales around UAE National Day) apply to motoring expenses like buying a car and getting insurance?

What about the driving license – is it better to exchange the current one or sit the test and get a UAE driving license?

FURET

LK_Dave wrote: »

Would the same (purchase in the sales around UAE National Day) apply to motoring expenses like buying a car and getting insurance?

What about the driving license – is it better to exchange the current one or sit the test and get a UAE driving license?

Cars also go on sale / special offer at many dealerships around the national day.
Simply exchange your Irish license for an Emirati one - there's no need for you to sit the test in the UAE if you already have an EU license.

wuffly

Dubizzle is a great resource if you don't want buy everything new and if you are not in a rush to get everything straight away. Bought my car on there, found our apartment and most of our furniture is from there or ikea. We have picked up some lovely 2nd hand furniture for very little. Recently moved from an apartment to a villa and had to change some of our furniture and sold what we had for other stuff and didn't spend anything additional. Once you're sensible you wont get ripped off. if you are buying a car this way make sure you get it checked out at garage first. Car insurance is cheaper here don't think they have sales, i drive a focus and pay 250e. Licence is change is no issue, you just need a letter from your company, some passport photos and your irish licence. One of the least painful things here (although it took me 3 attempts as our PRO could not understand that Ireland is not part of the UK and kept writing in Arabic that i was british with a british licence!) I would recommend renting a car for a little bit until you get used to the roads, diamond lease are quiet cheap and once you have your 30day tourist visa in your passport and your irish licence you can rent a car. International licence is not required.

paul08

Hi,

I have just been offered a job in Mirdif International School and was wondering what it was like in terms of the area and the school if anyone has any experience. I am 22 yrs old so would be looking towards the nightlife and whether there is much to do in terms of the area. Also the contract offer is 9000 AED per month with accomodation and flights paid for, would this be in line with what I should be expecting?

FURET

paul08 wrote: »

Hi,

I have just been offered a job in Mirdif International School and was wondering what it was like in terms of the area and the school if anyone has any experience. I am 22 yrs old so would be looking towards the nightlife and whether there is much to do in terms of the area. Also the contract offer is 9000 AED per month with accomodation and flights paid for, would this be in line with what I should be expecting?

I don't know the school but Mirdif is a fine area. 9000 is not bad - it's about 1800 euro per month. Fine if you don't have to pay for accommodation and bills etc. I certainly don't think you'll save a lot of money if you go out a lot - drink is expensive in Dubai. And a word to the wise - don't get drunk or boozy in public.

Bluefoam

FURET wrote: »

And a word to the wise - don't get drunk or boozy in public.

Eh, drink within reason... But there's no need for scaremongering. Mirdiff is a nice area. But there is only a mall there, no bars or nightclubs - you will need to travel by taxi for those.

Make sure your accommodation is actually in Mirdiff... Just because the school is there doesn't mean the accommodation is too.

Young Blood

Hi everyone

I had an interview for a teaching school in Dubai this morning. The school is offering a salary of 2000 dollar a month plus expenses. The salary is not great and I told them I expected double that considering I have experience and from what I have heard.

Anyway, what I want to know is a move to Dubai a good idea? I'm looking at it from a long term perspective with other careers in mind if the teaching doesn't work out.

Thanks

Bluefoam

$2000?

Is that US currency? What are they offering in dirham?

Young Blood

Bluefoam wrote: »

$2000?

Is that US currency? What are they offering in dirham?

Yes he said US dollars.

Bluefoam

Salary is about right for teaching. It's not allot by Dubai standards, but very few teachers earn good money. The school will most likely provide accommodation, find out where it is... If it's in a good location you can save on getting taxis etc.

Young Blood

Bluefoam wrote: »

Salary is about right for teaching. It's not allot by Dubai standards, but very few teachers earn good money. The school will most likely provide accommodation, find out where it is... If it's in a good location you can save on getting taxis etc.

You're right. He said accommodation would be provided along with the salary free of charge.

Tbh when he said dollars I calculated in my mind that it was about 300-350 euro a week.

I didn't want to be taken for a ride by some Sheikh Muhammad.