Hi all, need some help please on working in Dubai. Have researched and not found discussion I'm looking for. Lots about getting contracts out there / going out to work and live full time, but not this.
I'm about to start a contract with a UK office of a global company in a PM role on a global programme. I will be home based a lot of the time, or in one of ClientCo's UK offices a couple of days a week. But I will be working with a chunk of Dubai based people too. I know I'll need at least one trip out there (a week?) And there is clearly the possibility of needing to go out again. It might get as frequent as once a month.
So I'm interested in work permit/ visa implications. I'd be grateful if those who've done similar or otherwise have knowledge could confirm their thoughts on the point at which I need to think work permit or visa than just attending meetings on visitor visa and any risks, plus views on difficulty or otherwise of getting appropriate visa.
To some extent number and shape of visits will vary depending what I find when I get there (this is a turnaround role where I need to go in and sort out) and to some extent will be down to me to shape but I'm thinking ahead. It may be one visit then remote is fine; it may be repeated visits are necessary. Nature of work will be meetings: I will not myself be personally delivering there, but working with a team on the ground who are (the nature of global projects). I've done this stuff before, usually in Europe but once elsewhere as both a permie and a contractor. Europe of course has until now been easy but elsewhere tricky and I know in some places harder legally if you are a contractor in my situation rather than permie of UK ClientCo. My experience is most people - employers/ clients and employees/ contractors - don't take this stuff seriously enough or understand that there are real consequences of getting this stuff wrong (and that they fall on me, not ClientCo!) but I do get this - hence thinking about it now. The client is somebody I've worked for previously who trusts me (this is mutual) so I have influence there and want to research now so that I know implications depending on how requirement to travel may evolve as I get in there. I am happy to travel out there as often as one a month if needed (more often than that is highly unlikely and could be less) and would be covered on expenses, so all I need to do is check out legalities. I'm a woman but have worked in a Muslim country before and am comfortable with that - also conscious that from friends, this might be problematic for me work wise friending on culture and individuals in ClientCo's Dubai office but. will work through that as I come to it! I don't care about drinking alcohol - if I'm out there, it's to work.
I should say - there's no question about tax residency. I will be being paid in the UK by MyCo, invoicing ClientCo in the UK in Sterling and paying all UK taxes as usual both individually and in MyCo. I have no desire to vary this. An aside is that I have always chosen to operate inside IR35 since starting contracting 6 years ago and will be doing that again now (this decision has always been based somewhere between moral reasons and attitude to risk, I have never cared what anyone else does but that's been my judgement for me. It does mean I'm less concerned about April 2020 than most as I have no historical risk!). Contract I'm about to start will likely be written to end March next year initially due to general uncertainty about the way IR35 is all going to pan out (I have requested this as think will be better for both MyCo and ClientCo and they'd have gone for either 6 or 9 months anyway) but if I then get extended and want to stay and ClientCo votes me inside IR35, the only real annoyance for me will be losing my 5% allowance and pension flexibility whether I stay through MyCo or switch to brolly - but the financial implications on future rate and historical risk are way lower for me than most.
So people - any thoughts? I'm assuming going out for a couple of days' meet and greet even on a tourist via should be ok (can I say 'business meeting' when they ask purpose of visit? I don't want to get into lying...) But for second and subsequent visits, if any...? For some countries I've found it easier to find this information than for Dubai. For some places what I'm talking about would be fine on tourist visa and such meetings are explicitly ok (typically with tight boundaries on what is just meetings and what is work) but for others it's more constrained. Where does Dubai fall on this? I don't like grey areas, particularly in countries where they can arrest you for 'not a lot'!
I'm about to start a contract with a UK office of a global company in a PM role on a global programme. I will be home based a lot of the time, or in one of ClientCo's UK offices a couple of days a week. But I will be working with a chunk of Dubai based people too. I know I'll need at least one trip out there (a week?) And there is clearly the possibility of needing to go out again. It might get as frequent as once a month.
So I'm interested in work permit/ visa implications. I'd be grateful if those who've done similar or otherwise have knowledge could confirm their thoughts on the point at which I need to think work permit or visa than just attending meetings on visitor visa and any risks, plus views on difficulty or otherwise of getting appropriate visa.
To some extent number and shape of visits will vary depending what I find when I get there (this is a turnaround role where I need to go in and sort out) and to some extent will be down to me to shape but I'm thinking ahead. It may be one visit then remote is fine; it may be repeated visits are necessary. Nature of work will be meetings: I will not myself be personally delivering there, but working with a team on the ground who are (the nature of global projects). I've done this stuff before, usually in Europe but once elsewhere as both a permie and a contractor. Europe of course has until now been easy but elsewhere tricky and I know in some places harder legally if you are a contractor in my situation rather than permie of UK ClientCo. My experience is most people - employers/ clients and employees/ contractors - don't take this stuff seriously enough or understand that there are real consequences of getting this stuff wrong (and that they fall on me, not ClientCo!) but I do get this - hence thinking about it now. The client is somebody I've worked for previously who trusts me (this is mutual) so I have influence there and want to research now so that I know implications depending on how requirement to travel may evolve as I get in there. I am happy to travel out there as often as one a month if needed (more often than that is highly unlikely and could be less) and would be covered on expenses, so all I need to do is check out legalities. I'm a woman but have worked in a Muslim country before and am comfortable with that - also conscious that from friends, this might be problematic for me work wise friending on culture and individuals in ClientCo's Dubai office but. will work through that as I come to it! I don't care about drinking alcohol - if I'm out there, it's to work.
I should say - there's no question about tax residency. I will be being paid in the UK by MyCo, invoicing ClientCo in the UK in Sterling and paying all UK taxes as usual both individually and in MyCo. I have no desire to vary this. An aside is that I have always chosen to operate inside IR35 since starting contracting 6 years ago and will be doing that again now (this decision has always been based somewhere between moral reasons and attitude to risk, I have never cared what anyone else does but that's been my judgement for me. It does mean I'm less concerned about April 2020 than most as I have no historical risk!). Contract I'm about to start will likely be written to end March next year initially due to general uncertainty about the way IR35 is all going to pan out (I have requested this as think will be better for both MyCo and ClientCo and they'd have gone for either 6 or 9 months anyway) but if I then get extended and want to stay and ClientCo votes me inside IR35, the only real annoyance for me will be losing my 5% allowance and pension flexibility whether I stay through MyCo or switch to brolly - but the financial implications on future rate and historical risk are way lower for me than most.
So people - any thoughts? I'm assuming going out for a couple of days' meet and greet even on a tourist via should be ok (can I say 'business meeting' when they ask purpose of visit? I don't want to get into lying...) But for second and subsequent visits, if any...? For some countries I've found it easier to find this information than for Dubai. For some places what I'm talking about would be fine on tourist visa and such meetings are explicitly ok (typically with tight boundaries on what is just meetings and what is work) but for others it's more constrained. Where does Dubai fall on this? I don't like grey areas, particularly in countries where they can arrest you for 'not a lot'!
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