Introduction....

Currently I'm counting 36 years on my passport. I've just moved to Dubai last year, June 2007, together with my wife. Before I've already travelled the Middle East for business a lot. When I got the offer from my employer for a position in Saudi, I felt honored, but thankfully declined. I do enjoy my trips to the Kingdom, would I still be single, I think I would have done it. Imagine, working hard for a year or 2, low expenses and no massive distractions. I would have done it I guess, but my wife wasn't really up for it.

So, instead I got the same position offered, but based in Dubai. The territory I have to cover is spread all over the Middle East and North Africa. Quite an interesting and challenging opportunity.


I've relocated through several countries for my employer, in short from Holland to Ireland to England. Looking back, moving around within the EU (that is if you see the UK as EU) really is a piece of cake. The relocation to Dubai on the other hand was, the least to say, quite painful.

Should you be interested to do the same, be prepared for a huge walk on the Red Tape, it ain't a Red Carpet. A lot of paperwork, main problems of cause around the Visa. While the companies are very helpful, you still have to do a lot on your part. In example, you will need a certificate of your education. Easy you would say ... but digging deeper into the requirements ... it must be of cause in English, so mine needed a official translation .... not enough, you need this document to be officially stamped by UAE officials. This has to be done by the UAE Embassy in the country where you received the education. Well, you get the idea, it all takes a lot of action and most of all, time.

Meanwhile I needed to rent a car. My European license got rejected by the car rental, only UK or International Licenses are valid to rent a car. These new laws were just introduced shortly before my arrival. So, a visit to the Road and Transport Department, applying for a UAE Temp license. Remember, I couldn't get a full license yet without residence Visa and I was still waiting for the other paperwork to arrive from my home country. Good news is, they turnaround a temp license within a couple of hours. Good, got the rental car, a brand new Toyota Camry. Poor car, I got a lot out of it the first month. Dubai is fun to drive. You very quickly adopt to a crazy style of driving.

In the middle of all this, my wifes Visa, which is only valid for a month, is running out. I have to sent her back home to her family in Thailand. Once my residence Visa was finally ready, in theory I was able to sponsor her Visa. But not without valid Marriage Certificate, and you guessed it, that one must be officially translated into English as well and stamped by the UAE Embassy in the country of marriage. Okay, quickly a flight booked to Bangkok and off we go on paperwork tour again. Not to bad at the end, I love Bangkok, that helps a lot:-)

I've got colleagues who had to go back all the way to South Africa to get their paperwork done.

Well, there are tons of other little things, I didn't even mention the medical tests which we had to carry out in order to get the Visas done. On top of that I got myself loaded up with more paperwork by buying a property instead of settling down for a rental first. Also quite an interesting journey to get the mortgage approved, how different estate agents operate and the hidden costs which suddenly pop up on your bill.

Good, we finally could move into our new home in September'07, mission accomplished. Buying furniture and a nice car was all about fun, it's really very cheap here compared to the UK. We didn't ship any items from the UK, it's not worth the costs. You can decorate a complete Villa for good value.


All by all, we're very happy here. I love the every day blue sky and guaranteed sunshine. Only just a week ago it was raining. Quite a lot actually. All roads were completely flooded and it was just plain chaotic. But also very much fun driving my 4x4 through the waters:-)

If you have plans to move to Dubai and you have any questions, just shoot me an email, I would be grateful to provide you with insights or advise if it's within my powers.

Enjoy and have fun.

Greetings

Robert