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Moving to Dubai

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

    Leave a comment:


  • jbond007
    replied
    Originally posted by Jolie View Post
    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 !

    Leave a comment:


  • 1manshow
    replied
    Originally posted by Jolie View Post
    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...

    Leave a comment:


  • Jolie
    replied
    Originally posted by andyg View Post
    Perhaps have a read of this wrt vias reqts

    https://www.propartnergroup.com/2018...abu-dhabi-uae/

    I worked in both Qatar and Dubai but had sponsorship in both cases. Dubai has become quite expensive in the last year or two. PM me if you'd like info on living in Dubai.
    Yes whether I start my own company or use an umbrella, it will be in one of the free zones.

    Thanks for the link.

    I am pretty clued up in what is required to live in Dubai, I do spend a lot of time there and it just makes more sense to make the move.

    Leave a comment:


  • Jolie
    replied
    Originally posted by 1manshow View Post
    It is something I considered before, but I decided not to go ahead with it due to citizenship laws.

    As it stands, you can't be granted citizenship, so in essence, as soon as you are out of work (and haven't got a replacement job within a month or so), you need to leave the country. Even if you worked there 5-10 years and own a property.

    There are some ways to get citizenship (e.g. marrying an emirati, investing millions into to the country and other difficult methods - 30 years residency I think is one but don't quote me on that) but not many ways - so you have to think if you want to risk investing your life in a country which won't allow you to make it home.

    So I would make sure that you are confident you have a job there for a long time, decades even! Note that although the salaries are nice for expats, if you end up losing that job - other local jobs may not be at all as enticing. A lot of companies get very cheap foreign labour from the East.

    There could be changes in the future, but nothings confirmed yet.
    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.

    Leave a comment:


  • Jolie
    replied
    Originally posted by saptastic View Post
    Thank you for the link ;-)

    Leave a comment:


  • Jolie
    replied
    Originally posted by jbond007 View Post
    What nationality are you ? You need a visa to live in Dubai, employment visa being the most common one. For that, you need to be employed by someone in Dubai.
    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.

    Originally posted by jbond007 View Post
    Other types of visa are dependent visa, but you said you live alone, I interpret that as being single so couldn't get dependent visa
    Yes single and not interested in marrying an Emirati, well not yet anyway!

    Originally posted by jbond007 View Post
    If you own a property in Dubai, you could get a visa via your property but you need to also show a minimum income from other sources as well (interest from savings, overseas property rental income, etc)
    Yes I do intend to purchase property, anything over 1 million Dirhams will get you a 2 year visa. You only need to show a small amount of income, I can provide evidence of that from my company, even if the contract ends and I have other interests and investments.

    Leave a comment:


  • andyg
    replied
    Have you considered the UAE free-zones?

    Perhaps have a read of this wrt vias reqts

    https://www.propartnergroup.com/2018...abu-dhabi-uae/

    I worked in both Qatar and Dubai but had sponsorship in both cases. Dubai has become quite expensive in the last year or two. PM me if you'd like info on living in Dubai.

    Leave a comment:


  • 1manshow
    replied
    It is something I considered before, but I decided not to go ahead with it due to citizenship laws.

    As it stands, you can't be granted citizenship, so in essence, as soon as you are out of work (and haven't got a replacement job within a month or so), you need to leave the country. Even if you worked there 5-10 years and own a property.

    There are some ways to get citizenship (e.g. marrying an emirati, investing millions into to the country and other difficult methods - 30 years residency I think is one but don't quote me on that) but not many ways - so you have to think if you want to risk investing your life in a country which won't allow you to make it home.

    So I would make sure that you are confident you have a job there for a long time, decades even! Note that although the salaries are nice for expats, if you end up losing that job - other local jobs may not be at all as enticing. A lot of companies get very cheap foreign labour from the East.

    There could be changes in the future, but nothings confirmed yet.
    Last edited by 1manshow; 12 July 2018, 09:33.

    Leave a comment:


  • saptastic
    replied
    Originally posted by Jolie View Post
    My main long-term client has agreed that I can service my contract from Dubai.

    I have a UK Ltd and rented office space. I intend to close these and either start a company, or use one of the local umbrella companies.

    I will be selling up and moving permanently. I live alone, don't intend to return to the UK to live and will have no property or other financial ties that could attract tax.

    I would be interested to hear views from others who have done this / considering doing this and maybe help others along the way.
    This article may be useful https://www.contractoruk.com/oversea...ing_dubai.html

    Leave a comment:

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