Moving to Dubai

[1manshow]

Thank you for pointing this out. I spend a lot of time in Dubai and I know from other friends who have married Emirati's that getting citizenship is very difficult, even if you have been married for more than the required time frame.

I am purchasing property as an investment, which will give me investment visa options. Even if I cannot stay there for whatever reason, I will either rent out the properties and return back to the UK, or my preferred option will be to travel, with Dubai being my base.

So I understand the pitfalls, but they seem happy with me entering frequently, the nice immigration guys even added my UK passport to the e-gates, so as long as I don't stay longer than 30 days at a time, they just let me come and go as I please.

Yes, Dubai love people visiting and working there, hence they will appear nice. The UAE vision however, doesn't incorporate having expats making themselves home in their countries unfortunately unlike some other countries - just temporary visa's...

[jbond007]

I am British and yes I am aware of the visa requirements. You don't have to be employed by someone in Dubai, you can start your own company and get a 10 year residency visa, alternatively you can use one of the free zone umbrella companies, part of the contract with them is that they sort out the visa.

My understanding was this was only an announcement at this point but nothing has been implemented practically. Also, getting a 10 year visa will have requirements for a minimum amount of investment required. Not sure one person contracting company would qualify for 10 year visa.

You could go the freezone route, but again there are minimum "investment" required depending on the freezone you choose. And if going to be running your own company, I believe it is a requirement in Dubai to have physical office space, which cannot be your home but could be Regus service office or similar. But it seems you're already aware about all this.

Also, the rules in Dubai can change anytime, there is no requirement for public consultation. So if you're going to be investing significant amount to acquire a visa, hopefully you are on a very good day rate to cover these costs.

It looks like you've got strong ties to Dubai and may have good support system there, so you could give it a go !

[vwdan]

Honestly not a loaded question - what's the appeal of Dubai for you?

[molsang]

Honestly not a loaded question - what's the appeal of Dubai for you?

I returned to India and re-settled in Bangalore and I can say I am happy and made a right move for the sake of children at least. Schools are far better in India even comparing to grammar schools especially on STEM subjects. Me personally doing on-off freelancing in UK/EU as my family became citizen before I decided to move out of UK. I have no intention to come back, only being here for my work/contract purpose. I had not bought any property, bought multiple properties in cash in India and future is secured. I can say there is lots of appeal moving back to India and I know many Doctors and other Indian professionals have been thinking on that direction and some did so as well.

[jbond007]

I returned to India and re-settled in Bangalore and I can say I am happy and made a right move for the sake of children at least. Schools are far better in India even comparing to grammar schools especially on STEM subjects. Me personally doing on-off freelancing in UK/EU as my family became citizen before I decided to move out of UK. I have no intention to come back, only being here for my work/contract purpose. I had not bought any property, bought multiple properties in cash in India and future is secured. I can say there is lots of appeal moving back to India and I know many Doctors and other Indian professionals have been thinking on that direction and some did so as well.

India != Dubai

[Jolie]

Yes, Dubai love people visiting and working there, hence they will appear nice. The UAE vision however, doesn't incorporate having expats making themselves home in their countries unfortunately unlike some other countries - just temporary visa's...

Agreed, its only ever going to be temporary visa's. They want you to bring money to the Emirates to spend and while you do that they will encourage you to continue. The problems only arise if you run out of money or even worse fail to make a required payment.

[Jolie]

My understanding was this was only an announcement at this point but nothing has been implemented practically. Also, getting a 10 year visa will have requirements for a minimum amount of investment required. Not sure one person contracting company would qualify for 10 year visa.

You are probably right, which is why the freezone is likely to be the better option. But I will still try.

You could go the freezone route, but again there are minimum "investment" required depending on the freezone you choose. And if going to be running your own company, I believe it is a requirement in Dubai to have physical office space, which cannot be your home but could be Regus service office or similar. But it seems you're already aware about all this.

Yes already aware of this. I have a Regus account and have already identified where I want to be based.

Also, the rules in Dubai can change anytime, there is no requirement for public consultation. So if you're going to be investing significant amount to acquire a visa, hopefully you are on a very good day rate to cover these costs.

It looks like you've got strong ties to Dubai and may have good support system there, so you could give it a go !

The rules can change in any situation at any time and I am aware of the risks. I will choose the investment wisely and make sure I have an exit plan. I may just invest in a property to live and then take an umbrella situation in a free zone to limit the investment needed in order get a work visa.

[Jolie]

Honestly not a loaded question - what's the appeal of Dubai for you?

Without repeating the obvious, I am a single person with no ties, so the benefits of living in Dubai far outweigh staying in the UK. Plus I feel comfortable there, its safer, the weather is nice all year round, it has the activities I enjoy doing and I genuinely feel more at home there than any other country I have stayed in. I already spend a considerable amount of time there so it makes more sense to make it my place of residence.

[jbond007]

The rules can change in any situation at any time and I am aware of the risks. I will choose the investment wisely and make sure I have an exit plan. I may just invest in a property to live and then take an umbrella situation in a free zone to limit the investment needed in order get a work visa.

I believe this is key and you're aware about it too. Hopefully your client in UK is willing to pay whichever umbrella company you use in Dubai.

[Jolie]

I know it has been a while, but wanted to update this thread, just in case other single contractors in a similar position to me are considering this option as a way out of the upcoming IR35 changes.

My skill is very niche, there is little to no chance of the client finding a permanent employee to fill this position locally, not that they would want to because although there are probably a few years left until the projects are totally over, there's not always work required and I am paid on completion of each project.

There are very few contractors that have the skills relevant to my sector. In fact one agency once quoted that he had found only a handul of suitable candidates in the UK, but most if all of those were in contracts, so my client is quite rightly panicking.

In a very recent meeting, my client has sought legal advice and has now given me two options:

1. Remain in the UK as a PSC, outside of the current agency situation and invoice them direct on a project by project basis. (Not sure the legality of this and if it does dissolve any issue with IR35, but would welcome opinion.)
2. Move out of the country

My original intention was to move to Dubai, so I am continuing on that basis.

There are freezones in the UAE that now offer freelance packages. The freezone that you choose will depend on your area of expertise and the length of permit and visa will be unique to that package.

You don't need a local sponsor and can apply for each part of the process individually, which is great because if you fail at any part of the process, then you can just withdraw with a much more limited loss.

This is not an umbrella situation, once accepted you will be able to open your own bank account which can be used to receive payments from your UK client.

Here are the steps I am taking:

Apply for freelance permit from one of the freezones. You can apply for this online and approval is usually within 3 weeks. Once approved, you are expected to visit Dubai to pay the fee in person, so don't apply until you are ready to proceed. This is renewed annualy.

With the freelance work permit, you can then apply for:
An establishment card. This is required to apply for the visa.
The residency visa. In my case, this is a 3 year residency visa.

When you receive your visa, you will be provided with an Emirati ID card. At this point it's probably safe to assume you are ready to go and can then either arrange rented accommodation, or purchase of property.

Then you need to apply for a salary certificate, consulate and embassy letters as well as other letters required to open a bank account, obtain a driving licence etc.

If you get that far, then its happy freelancing all the way!

You are required to register for VAT, which currently stands at 5%. If, like me, you are only servicing UK clients, then you can apply to have this waived. If you take Emirati clients, then you need to account for VAT on each invoice.

Then the focus will be what to do with the limited company back in the UK. There will be considerable funds in the company that I will need to extract somehow. I am confident that my situation up until now is outside IR35 but I cannot be 100% sure, none of us can, because each case can end up with wildly different outcomes.

My main concern is closing the company and taking the money out will flag somewhere, along with my P85 declaration, will open up a can of worms. Surely it would be better to leave the company running and take the same income as I was before until the company runs out of money, paying UK taxes as I would have anyway. Then at that stage set it to dormant status. Again I would welcome your thoughts.