Are you moving to Dubai - this might help

[okos12]

Elphaba, you say, a negative attitude means a person will have a negative experience of this city.... You may be right. I tried to be positive, but when housing eats up about 50% of salary it is really hard. I thought buying a one bedroom was the answer but I found the prices highly unreasonable, and the quality of the apartments really low. No matter who builds it, lots of wasted space, poor quality. In bedroom window can not be opened. No window in bath, and my list would be much longer , and at what prices. I agree that JBR is not a good place to live, but where you work also comes into consideration. We start work at 7 a.m. and do not like much commute. It must be a great city for those who earn great money. For the rest, it is a different story. Have you read in today's paper that water/electricity was turned off in many villas? That is Dubai the great city also. I am bothered by that very much. The have's and the have not's. And why Dubai is a pretty safe city, do not discontinue the horrific accidents, the people who drive at high speeds, and the lack of public transport. Your opinion is appreciated and your experience sounds positive and it most likely is; you can afford to live in Dubai.
I find it sad that the people who build Dubai live in substandard housing, and can not even dream of bringing the family here. Do you think people need positive attitude and they will have a great life in Dubai? It did not work for me. I see way beyond the glitz and find that there are tens of thousends of sad stories in this city of people who work very hard. Everything is the best and the biggest, but at what price and for whom? There are people who could tell stories about that......

[Elphaba]

okos12, I am well aware of the downsides of life in Dubai and am heavily involved in a charitable organisation that helps the worst off here.

My point is that negativity breeds negativity. The city is far from perfect but there are many good things about life in the UAE, if you focus on that.

One of my reasons in getting involved with this website (for which I am not paid) is that too many people move here with insufficent knowledge of the cost of living. Rent is stupidly expensive for those now moving here. Many posters have been advised not to move here as they will find it too costly and others have been made aware of the real cost. Sadly, too few listen to the advice given to them. Surely you did some research regarding the cost of living before moving here, so if it was, in your opinion, too expensive, why did you move? If you really dislike JBR, why rent there? There are other places to live and many aren't that far from the Marina.

Driving here is dangerous, and has been mentioned many times on the forum, but other crimes are low compared to major conurbations around the world.

Personally, I do have a good income - for which I work very hard- but I did my research before moving to Dubai. You cannot blame Dubai, or JBR, for making you miserable. That responsibility rest solely with you.


-

[okos12]

Elphaba, I will take your advise to heart. I have been so upset about the fact that we can not buy a 1 bdr. apartment, that I turned into a negative person, and I do not like that. Yes, we researched out the cost of living and a lot more about Dubai before coming. What I could not research was that people buy apartments before they are built, and by the time they are ready these apartment have been changing hands several times over. Hats off to you for giving well informed and thoughtful advise here.

[mallen79]

Hi,

My wife and I will be moving over to Dubai at the end of August this year. I will be working for Mott McDonald who reside at Festival tower within dubai festival city. My first question is are there opportunities fir rental accommodation nearby where I will be working?

Do you have any advice on opening up an off-shore account? Is it best to do this prior to coming over?

My wife wirks for Halifax building society (Hbos) we are going to wait till we get over to look for work for her however are there any specific recruitment consultants to help us out?

Is it possible to bring our sky decoder over to dubai?

[Mac]

Originally Posted by mallen79

Do you have any advice on opening up an off-shore account? Is it best to do this prior to coming over?

Is it possible to bring our sky decoder over to dubai?

Hi Mallen, I'm heading over tomorrow. From everything I've read there isn't much point in taking your sky box. Gutted I know.... no idea how I'm going to cope without Sky+!!

It's easy enough to open an offshore account in Dubai. HSBC seem to have mixed reviews but that's who I'm going with. To be honest, I'm just looking for decent internet banking. If you need any help, just PM me.

[mallen79]

Hi Mac,

Hope all goes well for you over there! Thanks for the info too!

Mallen

[krakow]

Hi Everyone

thanks so much for your detailed responses, I've enjoyed reading your views. My husband and I are arriving in September from Sydney. I have a job and the employer is arranging a residence visa for me. My husband doesn't have a job yet but is a skilled IT professional. I've not been able to get any accurate information about what the visa situation for my husband will be. We tried the consultate here in Australia but they didn't have the information. I'd like to know whether he'll be able to enter on a visit visa, does he have to have a return ticket, can I sponsor him until he finds a job?

Also, if anyone has any tips about recruitment agencies my husband can speak to, it would be greatly appreciated.

many thanks!

[OXI PE]

Hi guys,

Out of interest, I'm a Business Analyst, however, I have not been able to find one single actual 'Business Analyst' job. Do they refer to a 'Business Analyst' as something different in Dubai?

I attended an interview in Dubai last month and the company I was interviewed by said they had no idea what a 'Business Analyst' does, but what I do is a shared role between 3 to 4 people???

[polarbear in dubai]

A quick one on the jobs - do you get annual leave like we do in Australia do you know? Here I get 4 weeks paid holidays - same in Dubai? Anything you know owuld be great

[Elphaba]

Originally Posted by polarbear in dubai

A quick one on the jobs - do you get annual leave like we do in Australia do you know? Here I get 4 weeks paid holidays - same in Dubai? Anything you know owuld be great

Yes, every gets annual leave. The exact amount varies between jobs/employers.


-