Moving to dubai how hard is it..

sashafierce

This post has been deleted.

wuffly

You can get a thirty day tourist visa on arrival, there is no holiday work visa. If you get a job you will be sponsored by your company and they will pay your residence visa cost. visas are for 2-3yrs. Basically you need to get a job to get a visa and most companies aren't looking for short term western employees. You can stay longer without work by doing border runs, living here and not working is very costly you wont be able to get a lease on an apartment without a residence visa, there are hotel apartments for short term but they are very expensive.
What do you do? and i can give more specific information.
Dubai is on the 'up' again at the moment, although wages aren't rising as fast as rent and other costs but it can still be worth your while. It can take awhile to get work here, HR just moves slower and its starting to get hot now so that means it will get slower, not that the weather affects it really it just seems to go that way. Ramadan will be in July this year, Dubai doesn't shut down but no one will be hiring then, as a lot of seniors leave for the month or most of it, and most places have reduced working hours.

sashafierce

This post has been deleted.

wuffly

It would be best to have a job before coming here or at least good prospects, that way your not spending while not earning, it will take longer that way though. Do you know anyone here that you could stay with while you got sorted?
The main financial area in Dubai is called DIFC so you could look up companies/banks in that area. If you have never been here i would recommend coming out for a visit to see how you like the place and try and meet recruiters . It is very westernised but it can take some getting used to. Most international banks have a base here HSBC, Barclays, standard charter etc.. then there are the local ones the biggest being emirates nbd. With another boom looming experience with mortgages might be a very good thing to have. Recruitment agencies are brutal here, they work for the companies not for you so if they don't have something that you fit into they don't care. Its best to try and apply directly if you can, or try Michael Page they are ok and make sure you have a good linkedin profile.
Just a few other things, your salary is tax free (which is great) however you pay taxes in other ways, you pay 5% of your rent in a household fee deducted over 12 months on your electricity bills, so the more rent you pay the more household fee you pay. cars and petrol are cheap, booze is expensive but there are plenty of bars, you need a licence you cant buy in the off licence with out it but its no problem to get generally. Any job offer you get must include an annual flight home and medical insurance. Companies used to do packages with a basic salary, plus transport allowance, plus housing allowance, some still do this but generally its one lump sum broken down on your pay slip for show, at the end of the day generally it all goes to your account (some/a few companies will pay your rent directly) so its best to get your basic as high as possible as your end of service benefit will be based on this amount not your total salary. Rent is paid using between 1-4 cheques, so set up costs can be high, used to pay rent every 6 months its a killer when you are starting out.

sashafierce

This post has been deleted.

wuffly

Dubai is grand you'll only get stares in the older parts really, its more the heat, the mental drivers, the inequality and all the flaming malls! On the language barrier, it wouldn't be expected for you to speak arabic, it might exclude you from some roles but they might be specifically for locals anyway, I doubt it would be an issue tbh. I know a solicitor working for bank in Sharjah and she's Irish, not word of Arabic. I work in oil & gas safety and its not an issue for me, have friends in most industries and none of them need arabic, solicitors, accountants, IT, HR etc... As a western expat you'd want to be starting on at least 3k euros per month anything lower and it will be hard to get by.

davwain

wuffly wrote: »

You can get a thirty day tourist visa on arrival, there is no holiday work visa. If you get a job you will be sponsored by your company and they will pay your residence visa cost. visas are for 2-3yrs. Basically you need to get a job to get a visa and most companies aren't looking for short term western employees. You can stay longer without work by doing border runs, living here and not working is very costly you wont be able to get a lease on an apartment without a residence visa, there are hotel apartments for short term but they are very expensive.
What do you do? and i can give more specific information.
Dubai is on the 'up' again at the moment, although wages aren't rising as fast as rent and other costs but it can still be worth your while. It can take awhile to get work here, HR just moves slower and its starting to get hot now so that means it will get slower, not that the weather affects it really it just seems to go that way. Ramadan will be in July this year, Dubai doesn't shut down but no one will be hiring then, as a lot of seniors leave for the month or most of it, and most places have reduced working hours.

According to Transparency International, the UAE was perceived, in 2014, as less corrupt than any of the non-EU ex-Soviet republics. Furthermore, there is no language barrier for any English speaker looking for work in the UAE.